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 ...
IV, 4, 5
5. By (a nature) like that of Brahman (the soul manifests itself); (thus) Jaimini (opines); on account of reference and the rest.
It has been concluded that the clause, 'by its own nature,' means that the soul manifests itself by its own Self only, not by some other adventitious character. What has now to be inquired into is the specific qualities of that nature. Here the Sūtra at first states the opinion of the teacher Jaimini. According to him the soul's own nature is 'like that of Brahman,' i.e. it comprises all the qualities beginning with freeness from sin and concluding with truthfulness of conception (i.e. the qualities enumerated in Ch. Up. VIII, 7, 1), and also omniscience and omnipotence; and in this nature the soul manifests itself.--Why so?--Because this is known from reference[1] and the rest. For the reference to certain qualities made in VIII, 7, 1, teaches that the Selfhood of the Self is such (i.e. such as made up of those qualities).--Again, the passage, 'He there moves about eating, playing, rejoicing,' shows that the Self possesses lordly power; so also the passage, 'For him there is free movement in all worlds' (Ch. Up. VIII, 1, 6). And thus also there is justification for such designations as 'All-knowing; all-powerful.'
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
The commentators say that the 'and the rest' of the Sūtra comprises vidhi and vyapadeśa, and give the following definitions. p. 409 Upanyāsa is the reference to something known (established elsewhere), which reference is made with a view to a vidhi, i.e. the establishing of something not yet known (upanyāso nāmoddesaḥ sa cā&'2365;nyatra jñātasyā&'2365;nyavidhānāyānuvādaḥ). Thus here the qualities--freeness from sin--are referred to as known, for the purpose of establishing the vidhi, 'That it is which we must search out.'--The passage, 'He there wanders about,' &c., is a vidhi; for it teaches what is not already known from elsewhere.--The mentioning of such qualities as omniscience and omnipotence is vyapadeśa, i.e. simple expression of something known without reference to a vidhi.