Brahma Sutras (Shankaracharya)

by George Thibaut | 1890 | 203,611 words

English translation of the Brahma sutras (aka. Vedanta Sutras) with commentary by Shankaracharya (Shankara Bhashya): One of the three canonical texts of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy. The Brahma sutra is the exposition of the philosophy of the Upanishads. It is an attempt to systematise the various strands of the Upanishads which form the ...

30. On account of remembrance; so Bādari opines.

Or else the highest Lord may be called 'measured by a span' because he is remembered by means of the mind which is seated in the heart which is measured by a span. Similarly, barley-corns which are measured by means of prasthas are themselves called prasthas. It must be admitted that barley-grains themselves have a certain size which is merely rendered manifest through their being connected with a prastha measure; while the highest Lord himself does not possess a size to be rendered manifest by his connexion with the heart. Still the remembrance (of the Lord by means of the mind) may be accepted as offering a certain foundation for the Śruti passage concerning him who is measured by a span.--Or else[1] the Sūtra may be interpreted to mean that the Lord, although not really measured by a span, is to be remembered (meditated upon) as being of the measure of a span; whereby the passage is furnished with an appropriate sense.--Thus the passage about him who is measured by a span may, according to the opinion of the teacher Bādari, be referred to the highest Lord, on account of remembrance.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Parimāṇasya hṛdayadvārāropitasya smaryamāṇe katham āropo viṣayaviṣayitvena bhedād ity āśaṅkya vyākhyāntaram āha prādeśeti. Ānanda Giri.

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