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 ...

22. And on account of the words expressive of becoming.

Moreover the text exhibits words of clearly injunctive meaning, in connexion with the passages quoted above, viz. 'Let him meditate on the udgītha' (Ch. Up. I, 1, 1); 'Let him meditate on the Sāman' (Ch. Up. II, 2, 1); 'Let him think: I am the hymn' (Ait. Ār. II, 1, 6). Now these injunctive forms would be rendered futile by the assumption of the texts under discussion aiming at glorification only. Compare the following saying of those who know Nyāya, 'Let him do, let it be done, it is to be done, let it become, let it be; these forms are in all Vedas the settled signs of injunction.' What they mean thereby is that injunction is the sense of all potential, imperative, &c., verbal forms.--Moreover in each of the sections to which the passages under discussion belong the text states special fruits, 'He becomes indeed a fulfiller of desires' (Ch. Up. I, 1, 7); 'He is able to obtain wishes through his song' (Ch. Up. I, 7, 9); 'The worlds in an ascending and a descending line belong to him' (Ch. Up. II, 2, 3). For this reason also the texts about the udgītha and so on are meant to enjoin devout meditations.

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