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 ...
III, 4, 39
39. Better than this is the other (state of belonging to an āśrama), on account of the indicatory marks.
'Than this,' i.e. 'than standing between,' a better means of knowledge it is to stand within one of the āśramas, since this is confirmed by Śruti and Smṛti. For scripture supplies an indicatory mark in the passage, 'On that path goes whoever knows Brahman and who has done holy works (as prescribed for the āśramas) and obtained splendour' (Bṛ. Up. IV, 4, 9); and Smṛti in the passage, 'Let a Brāhmaṇa stay not one day even outside the āśrama; having stayed outside for a year he goes to utter ruin.'