{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/sbe48/sbe48097.htm","path":"hin/sbe48/sbe48097.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/sbe48/sbe48097.htm","text":"31. On account of meditation, B\u00e2dari thinks.\nThe teacher B\u00e2dari thinks that the representation in the text of the supreme Self in the form of a man is for the purpose of devout meditation. 'He who in this way meditates on that Vaisv\u00e2nara Self as \"pr\u00e2desam\u00e2tra\" and \"abhivim\u00e2na,\" he eats food in all worlds, in all beings, in all Selfs.' What this text enjoins is devout meditation for the purpose of reaching Brahman. 'In this way' means 'as having a human form.' And 'the eating' of food in all worlds, &c. means the gaining of intuitional knowledge of Brahman which abides everywhere and is in itself of the nature of supreme bliss. The special kind of food, i.e. the special objects of enjoyment which belong to the different Selfs standing under the influence of karman cannot be meant here; for those limited objects have to be shunned by those who desire final release. A further question arises. If Vaisv\u00e2nara is the highest Self, how can the text say that the altar is its chest, the grass on the altar its hairs, and so\non? (V, 18, 2.) Such a statement has a sense only if we understand by Vaisv\u00e2nara the intestinal fire.--This difficulty the next S\u00fbtra elucidates.","title":"SBE 48: The Vedanta-Sutras with commentary by Ramanuja, George Thibaut, tr.: Second P\u00e2da: 31. On account of meditation, B\u00e2dari thinks","type":"page"}