{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/sbe38/sbe38267.htm","path":"hin/sbe38/sbe38267.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe38/sbe38267.htm","text":"The Vedanta Sutras of Badarayana, Commentary by Sankara (SBE38), tr. by George Thibaut [1896]\n6. And the ideas of \u00c2ditya and so on (are to be superimposed) on the members (of the sacrificial action); owing to the effectuation (of the result of the sacrifice).\n'He who burns up these, let a man meditate upon him as udg\u00eetha' (Kh. Up. I, 3, i); 'Let a man meditate on the fivefold S\u00e2man in the worlds' (Kh. Up. II, 2, i); 'Let a man meditate on the sevenfold S\u00e2man in speech' (Kh. Up. II, 8, i); 'This earth is the Rik, fire is S\u00e2man' (Kh. Up. I, 6, i).--With regard to these and similar meditations limited to members of sacrificial action, there arises a doubt whether the text enjoins contemplations on the udg\u00eetha and so on superinduced on \u00c2ditya and so on, or else contemplations on \u00c2ditya, &c. superinduced on the udg\u00eetha and so on.\nNo definite rule can here be established, the p\u00fbrvapakshin maintains, since there is no basis for such a rule. For in the present case we are unable to ascertain any special pre-eminence, while we were able to do so in the case of Brahman. Of Brahman, which is the cause of the whole world and free from all evil and so on, we can assert definitively that it is superior to \u00c2ditya and so on; the udg\u00eetha and so on, on the other hand, are equally mere effects, and we cannot therefore with certainty ascribe to any of them any pre-eminence.--Or else we may decide that the ideas of the udg\u00eetha and so on arc to be superinduced exclusively on \u00c2ditya and so on. For the udg\u00eetha and so on are of the nature of sacrificial work, and as it is known that the fruit is attained through the work, \u00c2ditya\nand so on if meditated upon as udg\u00eetha and so on will themselves become of the nature of work and thereby be causes of fruit.--Moreover, the text, 'This earth is the Rik, the fire is the S\u00e2man,' is followed by the complementary passage, 'this S\u00e2man is placed upon this Rik,' where the word 'Rik' denotes the earth and the word 'S\u00e2man' the fire. Now this (viz. this calling the earth 'Rik' and calling the fire 'S\u00e2man') is possible only if the meaning of the passage is that the earth and the fire have to be viewed as Rik and S\u00e2man; not if the Rik and the S\u00e2man were to be contemplated as earth and fire. For the term 'king' is metaphorically applied to the charioteer--and not the term 'charioteer' to the king--the reason being that the charioteer may be viewed as a king.--Again in the text, 'Let a man meditate upon the fivefold S\u00e2man in the world,.' the use of the locative case 'in the worlds' intimates that the meditation on the S\u00e2man is to be superimposed on the worlds as its locus. This is also proved by the analogous passage, 'This G\u00e2yatra S\u00e2man is woven on the vital airs' (Kh. Up. II, 11, 1).--Moreover (as proved before), in passages such as '\u00c2ditya is Brahman, this is the instruction.' Brahman, which is mentioned last, is superimposed on \u00c2ditya, which is mentioned first. In the same way the earth, &c., are mentioned first, and the hi\u1e45k\u00e2ra, &c., mentioned last in passages such as 'The earth is the hi\u1e45k\u00e2ra' (Kh. Up. II. 2, i).--For all these reasons the idea of members of sacrificial action has to be transferred to \u00c2ditya and so on, which are not such members.\nTo this we make the following reply. The ideas of \u00c2ditya and so on are exclusively to be transferred to members of sacrificial action, such as the udg\u00eetha and so on. For what reason?--' On account of effectuation '--that means: Because thus, through their connexion with the supersensuous result (of the sacrificial work under discussion), when the udg\u00eetha and so on are ceremonially qualified by being viewed as \u00c2ditya and so on, the sacrificial work is successful 1. A scriptural passage--viz. Kh. Up. I, 1.10,\n[paragraph continues] 'Whatever one performs with knowledge, faith, and the Upanishad is more powerful'--moreover expressly declares that knowledge causes the success of sacrificial work.--Well then, an objection is raised, let this be admitted with regard to those meditations which have for their result the success of certain works; but how is it with meditations that have independent fruits of their own? Of this latter nature is e.g. the meditation referred to in Kh. Up. II, 2, 3, 'He who knowing this meditates on the fivefold S\u00e2man in the worlds (to him belong the worlds in an ascending and a descending scale).'--In those cases also, we reply, the meditation falls within the sphere of a person entitled to the performance of a certain work, and therefore it is proper to assume that it has a fruit only through its connexion with the supersensuous result of the work under the heading of which it is mentioned; the case being analogous to that of the godohana-vessel 1.--And as \u00c2ditya and so on are of the nature of fruits of action, they may be viewed as superior to the udg\u00eetha and so on which are of the nature of action only. Scriptural texts expressly teach that the reaching of \u00c2ditya (the sun) and so on constitutes the fruit of certain works.--Moreover the initial passages, 'Let a man meditate on the syllable Om as the udg\u00eetha,' and 'Of this syllable the full account is this' (Kh. Up. I, 1, 1), represent the udg\u00eetha only as the object of meditation, and only after that the\ntext enjoins the contemplations on \u00c2ditya and so on.--Nor can we accept the remark that \u00c2ditya and so on being meditated upon as udg\u00eetha, &c., assume thereby the nature of work and thus will be productive of fruit. For pious meditation is in itself of the nature of work, and thus capable of producing a result. And if the udg\u00eetha and so on are meditated upon as \u00c2ditya, &c., they do not therefore cease to be of the nature of work.--In the passage, 'This S\u00e2man is placed upon this Rik,' the words 'Rik' and 'S\u00e2man' are employed to denote the earth and Agni by means of implication (lakshan\u00e2), and implication may be based, according to opportunity, either on a less or more remote connexion of sense. Although, therefore, the intention of the passage is to enjoin the contemplation of the Rik and the S\u00e2man as earth and Agni, yet--as the Rik and the S\u00e2man are mentioned separately and as the earth and Agni are mentioned close by--we decide that, on the ground of their connexion with the Rik and S\u00e2man, the words 'Rik' and 'S\u00e2man' are employed to denote them (i.e. earth and Agni) only. For we also cannot altogether deny that the word 'charioteer' may, for some reason or other, metaphorically denote a king.--Moreover the position of the words in the clause, 'Just this (earth) is Rik,' declares that the Rik is of the nature of earth; while if the text wanted to declare that the earth is of the nature of Rik, the words would be arranged as follows, 'this earth is just Rik'--Moreover the concluding clause. 'He who knowing this sings the S\u00e2man,' refers only to a cognition based on a subordinate member (of sacrificial action), not to one based on the earth and so on.--Analogously in the passage, 'Let a man meditate (on) the fivefold S\u00e2man in the worlds,' the worlds--although enounced in the locative case--have to be superimposed on the S\u00e2man, as the circumstance of the 'S\u00e2man' being exhibited in the objective case indicates it to be the object of meditation. For if the worlds are superimposed on the S\u00e2man, the S\u00e2man is meditated upon as the Self of the worlds; while in the opposite case the worlds would be meditated upon as the Self of the S\u00e2man.--The same remark applies to the passage, 'This G\u00e2yatra\n[paragraph continues] S\u00e2man is woven on the pr\u00e2nas' (Kh. Up. II, 11, 1).--Where again both members of the sentence are equally exhibited in the objective case, viz. in the passage, 'Let a man meditate on the sevenfold S\u00e2man (as) the sun' (Kh. Up. II, 9, 1), we observe that the introductory passages--viz. 'Meditation on the whole S\u00e2man is good;' 'Thus for the fivefold S\u00e2man;' 'Next for the sevenfold S\u00e2man' (Kh. Up. II, 1, 1; 7, 2; 8, 1)--represent the S\u00e2man only as the object of meditation, and therefrom conclude that \u00c2ditya has to be superinduced on it. and not the reverse.--From this very circumstance of the S\u00e2man being the object of meditation, it follows that even in cases where the two members of the sentence have a reverse position--such as 'The earth (is) the hi\u1e45k\u00e2ra,' &c.--the hi\u1e45k\u00e2ra, &c., have to be viewed as earth and so on; and not the reverse.--From all this it follows that reflections based on things not forming constituent members of the sacrifice, such as \u00c2ditya and so on, are to be superimposed on the udg\u00eetha and the like which are such constituent members.\n346:1 Certain constituent members of the sacrificial action--such as p. 347 the udg\u00eetha--undergo a certain ceremonial purification (samsk\u00e2ra) by being meditated upon as \u00c2ditya and so on. The meditations therefore contribute, through the mediation of the constituent members, towards the ap\u00fbrva, the supersensuous result of the entire sacrifice.\n347:1 The sacred text promises a special fruit for the employment of the milking-pail (instead of the ordinary kamasa), viz. the obtainment of cattle; nevertheless that fruit is obtained only in so far as the godohana subserves the accomplishment of the ap\u00fbrva of the sacrifice. Analogously those meditations on members of sacrificial works for which the text promises a separate fruit obtain that fruit only in so far as they effect a mysterious samsk\u00e2ra in those members, and thereby subserve the ap\u00fbrva of the sacrifice.","title":"The Vedanta Sutras of Badarayana: Fourth Adhy\u00e2ya. F...","type":"page"}