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गोविन्द भाष्य (श्रील बलदेव विद्याभूषण - अचिन्त्यभेदाभेद वेदान्त ब्रह्मसूत्र भाष्य सटीक)

Govinda Bhashya of Baladeva Vidyabhushana with Commentary

श्रील बलदेव विद्याभूषण (संपादक: कृष्णदास बाबा जी) द्वारा

DevanagariHindipublished647 पृष्ठ

प्रारंभिक पृष्ठ एवं श्रीगोविन्ददेव मंगलाचरण

Sri Vedanta-sutra Preface All Glories to Guru and Gaurāṅga. Oṁ Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya. Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. First of all let me offer my respectful obeisances to my spiritual master Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Prabhupāda, then my respectful obeisances to the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is associated with Śrī Advaita Prabhu, Nityānanda Prabhu, Gadādhara Prabhu, Śrīvāsa Prabhu, as well as whose eternal assistants are the six gosvāmīs, headed by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, Sanātana Gosvāmī Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa Gosvāmī, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī, Ragaunātha dāsa Gosvāmī, as well as whose private secretary is Śrī Svarūpa Dāmodara dāsa and His eternal attendant Govinda. Then let us talk about the Brahma-sūtra or Vedānta-sūtra. There are many comments on the Vedānta-sūtra. In India especially the system is that anyone who is the head of a religious institution must be well conversed with the Vedānta- sūtras, and is expected to write comments on the Vedānta-sūtra, without which one is not accepted as an ācārya. Ācārya means one who knows the purpose of Vedic knowledge. He personally practices them as well as teaches to his disciples the system of Vedic knowledge. There are many ācāryas, especially of the vaiṣṇava-sampradāya, like the four sampradāyas: rāmānuja-sampradāya, madhvācārya-sampradāya, viṣṇusvāmī- sampradāya, and nimbārka-sampradāya. Our sampradāya is called gauḍīya- sampradāya, or the Vaiṣṇavas who are in the disciplic succession of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. The gauḍīya-sampradāya actually belongs to the madhva-sampradāya and the madhva-sampradāya belongs to the brahma-sampradāya. Besides these four vaiṣṇava-ācārya-sampradāyas, there are also non-vaiṣṇava- sampradāyas, especially the impersonalist school headed by Śaṅkarācārya. Śaṅkarācārya has written a commentary on the Vedānta-sūtras, known as Śārīraka- bhāaṣya. generally this Śārīraka-bhāṣya made by Śaṅkarācārya is very popular on account of the present Indians being influenced by materialistic activities. But still the other different bhāṣyas, or commentaries, made by the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas are also available in the gauḍīya-sampradāya, specifically headed by Rūpa Gosvāmī. In the beginning there was no commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra because according to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said that the real commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra is Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam itself, presented by the author, Śrī Vyāsadeva Himself. In our english commentary on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam First Canto, First Chapter, we have explained this fact that Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the right type of commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. As such the gauḍīya-vaiṣṇava-sampradāya did not take much care to present their commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra.

About 200 years ago there was a conclusion in Galta district in Jaipur, wherein the ācāryas or followers of other sampradāyas challenged the gauḍīya-vaiṣṇava- sampradāya that it has no commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. At that time Śrī Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura was living in Vṛndāvana, but he was too old, and when the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas approached him to present a commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra, he asked his disciple, Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa to write a commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra. As Vaiṣṇavas are generally very humble and meek, Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa thought himself unfit to write an authorized commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra, so he approached Lord Govinda in the temple of Jaipur. He placed himself down before Lord Govinda to take his permission and authority to begin writing a commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra, and he was assured by Govinda that he could do so. With this inspiration he wrote the Vedānta-sūtra commentary known as Govinda-bhāṣya. This Govinda-bhāṣya is very authorized and accepted by all the vaiṣṇava-sampradāyas, This commentary, which may be known as Bhaktivedanta-bhāṣya, follows the footprints of Govinda-bhāṣya. The necessity of presenting the Bhaktivedanta-bhāṣya commentary on Vedānta- sūtra should also be explained herein. My spiritual master, Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Paramahaṁsa Śrī Śrīmad Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, ordered me to present the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava philosophy in English as far as possible, and in this attempt for the english-knowing persons, since 1965 I have been in the western countries with my three books of the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Then I presented my commentary on the Śrīmad-Bhagavad-gītā known as The Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, and similarly I have presented The Teachings of Lord Caitanya. Also, requested by many of my western disciples, especially my worthy disciples Śrīmān Hansadutta Das Adhikari and Janardana Das Adhikari, who are in charge of the Montreal Center, and I am trying to present an English commentary on the Vedānta-sūtra as follows. At the present moment all over the world there are major portions of godless persons. Generally people are very attached to the void philosophy presented by Lord Buddha or the impersonal philosophy presented by Śaṅkarācārya. In other words, to be more plain and simple, people are becoming very atheistic. To say that there is no God, as the atheists declare, is rather bold and simple, but to say that there is a supreme cause that is void, or there is God but He has no form, is more dangerous than the simple declaration that there is no God. Our society, known as the international Society for Krishna Consciousness, has now started the movement for Kṛṣṇa Consciousness , and it is very gratifying that the younger generation of the western part of the world, in America, Canada, and Europe, are taking interest in this great movement. We already have branches in almost every important city of the United States and Canada, and we have started centers also in London and Hamburg. We hope that our Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement will gradually increase, as predicted by Lord Caitanya, who said that His missionary activities, the same as the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement, will be preached all over the world, in every village in every country. Taking into consideration the present activities of this movement, it is hoped that the prediction of Lord Caitanya will soon be fulfilled and the people of the world will be very happy, having Kṛṣṇa Consciousness. As referred to above, generally the commentary known as Śārīraka-bhāṣya is taken by the people as the purport of Vedānta, or in other words Vedānta means

according to the opinion of the followers of Śaṅkarācārya's purport as explained by him in Śārīraka-bhāṣya. Besides the Śārīraka-bhāṣya of Śaṅkarācārya there are many other atheistic schools preaching Vedānta on the basis of godlessness. One of the prominent followers of Śaṅkarācārya, namely Sadānanda Yogīndra, has compiled his book known as Vedānta-sāra, in which he writes to prove that the to understand both the upaniṣads and the Vedānta-sūtra, Śaṅkarācārya's Śārīraka- bhāṣya is the only means. This is the claim of monopoly by the māyāvāda school. Actually Vedānta-sūtra has many commentaries and all those commentaries are not on the basic principal of monism or impersonalism. All the prominent ācāryas of the different vaiṣṇava-sampradāyas have complied commentaries on Vedānta-sūtra, but they do not follow the principles of the Śaṅkarite school. On the other hand the impersonalist monists stress more on non-duality. Generally they declare themselves God and there is no existance of God separately. The monistic school does not recognize the Vedānta commentaries presented by the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, known as the śuddhādvaita, viśiṣṭādvaita and dvaitādvaita, as well as the inconceivably-one-and-different philosophy of Lord Caitanya, known as acintyābhedābheda-tattva. According to them the monistic commentary on Vedānta-sūtra is final, Lord Kṛṣṇa has a material body, and the followers of the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa Consciousness are not transcendentalists. Vedānta means the last word in the matter of pursuing knowledge. Everyone is pursuing some sort of knowledge. There are universities, institutions, and many educational establisments pursuing knowledge, but Vedānta means the last word in the pursuit of knowledge. This last word in the pursuit of knowledge is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā by Lord Kṛṣṇa. The purpose of Vedic knowledge is to understand Kṛṣṇa. The exact words in the 15th Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā are sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ. "the Lord is situated in everyone's heart. He gives intelligence and delusion. He is the original source of knowledge. He is the goal of knowledge. He is the compiler of Vedānta-sūtra, and He knows what is Vedānta.." These words are a very significant explanation of Vedānta-sūtra by Kṛṣṇa himself. In another place also He has referred to the Vedānta-sūtra by saying, "By the course of Brahma-sūtra one can actually understand what is the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā." Bhagavad-gītā and Vedānta-sūtra are very intimately interrelated. To understand Vedānta-sūtra rightly is to understand Bhagavad-gītā rightly. The word sūtra means "summarized code". In the Skanda and Vāyu Purāṇas the word sūtra is explained as "when a thesis is presented in few words, but with great volumes of meaning and, when understood, is very beautiful." Mentioned herein are the names of different commentaries on Vedānta-sūtra by different ācāryas. This Śārīraka-bhāṣya of Śaṅkarācārya is also known as Vedānta-siddhānta. The summary of non-dualism philosophy expounded by Śaṅkarācārya is as follows. According to this philosophy there is only the Absolute Truth. To this philosophy the living entity is Brahman and the cosmic manifestation is false. The example of reality and falsity is given by them in the comparison of mistaking a serpent and a rope. In the darkness, in illusion, a rope may be accepted as a serpent. When one comes to his senses he understands that the rope was not a serpent. Then the "serpent" becomes false. Similarly, according to Śaṅkara's philosophy this cosmic manifestation actually is not. Māyā means “What is not." Ma means "not" and ya means "this". In other words the phenomenal

representation of the material world has no reality. Behind this phenomena the noumenon is reality. According to Śaṅkara's philosophy the Absolute Truth is impersonal. As such there is no diversity. In the material world there are different kinds of diversity, just as diversities of the species of life. The dog species are not like the human being species. This speciality, dog species or human species, is present in the material world, but spiritually there is no such differentiation. Even in personal considerations there are diversities. In a personal form one has legs, hands and head. But this differentiation, according to the māyāvāda philosophy of Śaṅkarācārya, is also false. Śaṅkarācārya does not recognize qualifying the Brahman, just as Vaiṣṇava philosophy qualifies the Supreme Brahman. Take for example: God is merciful. This is a qualification of God or the Absolute Truth. But, Śaṅkara's philosophy being impersonal, they do not accept the Absolute Truth qualified by mercifulness, or beauty, or opulence. They do not accept. According to them if the Absolute Truth is qualified then it becomes limited by the qualification. Their conclusion is that if Brahman, or the Absolute Truth, is unlimited, there should not be any limitation by qualification. The incarnation of the Absolute Truth, or Godhead, is accepted by them as a manifestation of material designation. In other words, according to Śaṅkara's philosophy when God or the Absolute Truth incarnates He assumes a material body. Therefore He is designated. In that designated form only the Absolute Truth becomes the creator, sustainer, and annihilator of the cosmic manifestation, although in his commentary on the Bhagavad-gītā, in the beginning, Śaṅkarācārya has accepted that Nārāyaṇa is beyond this cosmic manifestation. Everything that is manifested in the material world is produced from the unmanifested mahat-tattva, but Nārāyaṇa is still transcendental to the mahat-tattva. In other words, he has accepted that the mahat-tattva is also created by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Nārāyaṇa. There are so many contradictions in his philosophy. That is a different subject matter. We do not wish to enter into the contradictions of his philosophy, but as far as possible we are presenting the summary of māyāvāda philosophy, non-dualism. According to Śaṅkarācārya, in the highest spiritual conception the Absolute Truth is without any contamination of material existance, and therefore He has no connection with the creation, sustenance, or annihilation (of the material world). He is always devoid of all qualities, without any diversity, without any material condition, and without any responsibility of activities. As such, the cosmic manifestation is also false. Similarly the Personality of Godhead, who accepts His designation from this false material manifestation, the conception of the Personality of Godhead, is also false. The Absolute Truth is only conceived as eternal, full of knowledge, and full of bliss. The appearance as Nārāyaṇa, or as an incarnation, is not eternal, but is temporary. For some purpose He appears like that. The ultimate end is impersonal. According to Śaṅkara's philosophy, the differentiation between God and the living entities is an illusion. Actually, that is not the fact. The living entities are not subordinate energy of the Supreme. Simply being covered by the conception of māyā, the living entities appear to be different from the Absolute Truth. This differentiation between the living entities and the Supreme is manifested in the material world in ordinary dealings. Spiritually there is no such difference. The

activities of the living entity in the spirit of enjoyment in the material world, his infinitesimal quality, or his minuteness, or his inumerableness, are only designations of the false māyā. An example in this connection given by the māyāvādī philosophers is that , when reflected by a red flower, crystal glass appears to be red, although this has nothing to do with the redness of the glass. It is completely different from the color. Similarly, the living entity in the contamination of māyā becomes active, or becomes an enjoyer, or becomes infinitesimal, or in other words becomes individual. All these things are artificial color reflection only. Actually, a living entity is pure Brahman. This theory of reflection is called pratibimbavāda. According to this philosophy, transcendentally there is no difference between the Absolute Truth, the living entities, and material nature. This non-differentiation between the Absolute Truth, the living entities, and the cosmic manifestation, is exemplified by the māyāvādī philosopher by the following example of the entire sky and the pot. The sky in the pot and the entire sky are the same. But the sky within the pot appears to be limited on account of being designated by the pot cover. When the pot is broken, or the illusion of māyā is dissipated, there is no such difference that this pot is different from that pot, or this sky is different from that sky. According to Śaṅkarācārya this cosmic manifestation is also māyā. When these material elements dissappears, then only existential Brahman will remain. Therefore, Brahman is truth and this cosmic manifestation is false. Śaṅkarācārya does not accept the theory of transformation, as the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas, do. The theory of transformation is explained in this way. Just as milk is transformed into yogurt under certain conditions, but yogurt cannot be transformed again into milk, nor can it be used as milk, in the same way the living entities cannot become the Supreme Absolute Truth. This theory of transformation is not accepted by the mayavādī philosopher. Actually, this kind of propaganda by Śaṅkarācārya was done under Supreme order to dissipate the dark Buddhist philosophy and to establish the Vedic philosophy, the Absolute truth. According to Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śaṅkara's māyāvāda philosophy is another edition of Buddha's philosophy. Buddha's philosophy of voidness is almost equal to the impersonal philosophy of Śaṅkara. Therefore, according to Śaṅkara's philosophy, impersonal non-variegatedness is the ultimate stage of perfect knowledge. The greatest opposition was offered by Śrī Rāmānujācārya to the Śaṅkara philosophy. Rāmānuja's philosophy is known as viśiṣṭādvaitavāda. This doctrine of viśiṣtādvaitavāda was not newly presented by Śrī Rāmānujācārya, but before him there were other exponents of this doctrine and they are known as Nāthamuni and Yāmunācārya. The basic principle of the viśiṣṭādvaitavāda doctrine is that in God's creation there is the division of sentient and non-sentient, just as in studying our own self we find that our body is material, or non-sentient, and our mind intelligence and false ego are the path between my self and my body. My self is sentient. Similarly, the Supreme Lord is sentient, and this material cosmic manifestation is His body. Combined together, the Absolute Truth forms a combination of the sentient and non-sentient features. This is called viśiṣtādvaitavāda. According to Śrī Rāmānujācārya there are three truths: namely the sentient, the

non-sentient, and the Supreme Lord. They are generally called tattva-traya. The inumerable living entities as a group are called the sentient energy of the Supreme Lord, wheras the cosmic manifestation is called the material energy of the Lord. The Lord Himself is above them. He has all-auspicious transcendental qualities. He is omniscient and omnipotent. He is self-effulgent. He is the Lord of the creation. He is known as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Vāsudeva. The material world and the living entities are sentient and insentient bodily parts of the Lord. Śrī Rāmānujācārya has elaborately delineated his philosophy in 12 divisions as follows;

  1. The Supreme Absolute Truth is one in the combination of gross, subtle, sentient, and insentient groups,
  2. He has protested against the doctrine of dualism as well as the doctrine of monism.
  3. He has accepted that the Absolute Truth, Brahman, has transcendental qualities and transcendental potencies, and therefore He is not impersonal.
  4. He has vehemently protested the doctrine of an impersonal, non-qualitative Absolute Truth.
  5. He has deliberately established the doctrine of the living entities being infinitesimal and the in the supreme Lord being infinite, and therefore the infinitesimal living entities are constitutionally meant for serving the infinite Supreme Personality of Godhead.
  6. He has established that the living entities, who are infinitesimal, are subject to fall victim under ignorance, but when they are out of that position of ignorance they become again liberated.
  7. He has proved that only transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord is the means of liberation from material entanglement.
  8. According to his oppinion, devotional service is the supermost prosecss for self-realization.
  9. He has stated strongly that even in the state of liberation one cannot be equal with the Supreme Lord.
  10. He has put strong arguments against the impersonal doctrine of monism.
  11. He has proved that this material world is abominable, and the spiritual world is real life for eternal bliss.
  12. He has established that the living entities and the cosmic manifestation are different bodily parts of the Supreme Lord. Also, Rāmānujācārya has explained that the Supreme Personality of Godhead descends in five different features, namely arcā, the Deity in the temple, the incarnations, such as the fish-incarnation, tortise-incarnation, boar-incarnation, and Nṛsiṁha-incarnation, which are called vaibhava. Then He has expansions called vyūha, such as the expansions of Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna, and Aniruddha. His impersonal expansion is the effulgence of His body. He is also present in everyone's heart as Antaryāmī, or the Supersoul. All these different plenary portions of the Supreme Lord are beyond material contamination, eternal, without any lamentation, always superior than the living entities, and full of six opulences. According to Rāmānujācārya, there are five kinds of methods of worship, which are called abhigamana, upadāna, ijyā, sadhyāya, and yoga. When devotees go to the temple, clean the temple or the path to the temple, and decorate the temple in

various ways, such activities are called abhigamana. The collection of ingredients such as flowers and other paraphanalia for worship is called upadāna. Worship of the Lord in the temple is called ijya. Chanting different mantras and offering different kinds of prayers is called sadhyāya. Meditation, or remembering the activities of the Lord in full absorption, is called yoga. Practicing all different kinds of worship one can attain the planets in the spiritual world known as Vaikuṇṭhaloka. According to Śrī Rāmānujācārya, attainment of Vaikuṇṭha is the highest perfectional stage. The greatness of Rāmānujācārya is that he himself, and later on his disciplic succession, ever-increasingly protested the impersonalism of Śaṅkarācārya. Still in southern India these two parties come in conflict and generally the party belonging to the rāmānujācarya-sampradāya is victorious. Pañcarātra regulative principals were current before the advent of Śaṅkarācārya, but on account of the influence of Buddha's philosophy such pañcarātra regulative principals were stopped. Śaṅkarācārya, instead of directly re-establishing the pañcarātra method, took shelter of māyāvāda philosophy to defeat Buddha's philosophy. Śrī Rāmānujācārya re-established the pañcarātra, or worship. After Śrī Rāmānujācārya is the appearance of Madhvācārya, whose doctrine is śuddha-dvaitavāda. He very strongly established the doctrine of duality, that God, or the Absolute Truth, and the living entities are completely different entities, on the evidence of Brahma-sūtra or Vedānta-sūtra, as well as Bhagavad-gītā, the purāṇas, and the Nārada-pañcarātra. He proved duality in every stage namely that the Supreme Lord and the living entity are two different entities. Similarly the cosmic manifestation and the Supreme Lord are also two different entities. One living entity is different form another living entity. In other words, each and every living entity is individual. There is a difference between sentient and non-sentient entities, and there is also a difference between one kind of insentient matter and another kind of insentient matter. Madhvācārya established that two is not one, but two. One truth is completely independent and the other truth is dependent. Lord Viṣṇu is the supreme independent Personality of Godhead, qualified with transcendental qualities without any material contamination. Therefore He is fully independent. Except Lord Viṣṇu, anything else, either cosmic manifestation or living entities, are not independent but are dependent on the Supreme Lord. The living entities are qualitatively representations of the Supreme Lord. The doctrine that man is made after God is accepted by Madhvācārya. The features of man are an exact reflection of the feature of the Supreme Lord. He also accepts that the Supreme Lord expands in multi-pleanary-portions, as well as separated- portions called jīva-tattva. All the jīva-tattvas, or living entities, are eternally associates of the Supreme Lord to render transcendental loving service to Him. The living entities' knowledge is always inferior or incomplete. The Supreme Lord and the living entities are always in the position of Supreme and subordinate. The living entities are always subordinate. They have no independent power. As is confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā, 5th Chapter, 15th Verse, the Lord says that knowledge and remembrance are always given by the Supreme Lord, as antaryāmī, or Supersoul, to the living entities. Otherwise, the living entities have no independent power to memorize, think, or act. In contrast to the living entity, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, is

complete in knowledge and complete in bliss. He is always worshipable by the living entities and He is the original supreme dominator whereas the living entities are the original predominated. He is, therefore, the original creator of the cosmic manifestaton, which is also eternal, although temporarily manifested. Therefore both the living entities and the cosmic manifestation are under the subordination of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is always differently situated, as is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā, where it is said that everything is resting on the Supreme Lord, but still He is always different from everything. According to Madhvācārya, even at the time of cosmic dissolution the living entities and the material energy remain separate from the Supreme Lord. They are never mixed up as is advocated by the impersonalists. Madhvācārya was in very great opposition to the doctrine of Śaṅkarācārya. Practically the madhvācārya-sampradāya followers are simply fighting against the doctrine of māyāvāda philosophy propounded by Śaṅkarācārya. He defeated the doctrine of Śaṅkarācārya and established the doctrine of duality. Apart from the above mentioned two doctrines of viśiṣṭādvaitavāda and śuddha- dvaitavāda, there are other doctrines advocated by the viṣṇusvāmī-sampradāya and nimbārka-sampradāya. The viṣṇusvāmī-sampradāya later on developed into the baladeva-sampradāya. Their doctrine is called śuddhādvaitavāda, and the doctrine of nimbārka-sampradāya is called dvaitādvaitavāda. An adjustment of all the doctrines: viśiṣṭādvaitavāda, śuddha-dvaitavāda, śuddhādvaitavāda, and dvaitādvaitavāda was very nicely done by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu in his doctrine acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. In this doctrine, Lord Caitanya has discussed very elaborately all kinds of old and new doctrines in the matter of understanding transcendental subject matter, and in order to minimize the different views of different philosophers, He has added a very nice conception which is called acintya. This word is very applicable to the philosophical doctrines of the conditioned soul. A conditioned soul actually cannot ascertain the nature of the Absolute Truth simply by speculation, but only through the authority of Vedic knowledge. The word acintya applies in all the doctrines. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was not very concerned about these doctrines to understand the Absolute Truth. His main business was to distribute to the general mass of people the principles of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the natural commentary on Vedānta-sūtra. According to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, all philosophical speculation and religious priniples combined together culminate in the understanding of love of Godhead. Man cannot be satisfied simply by religious sentiments or philosophical speculation but, according to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, when one is elevated to the platform of rendering loving service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead without any motive and without being hampered by any material condition, that stage of transcendental realization is the highest principle of spiritual understanding, and in that stage only one can be fully satisfied. Caitanya Mahāprabhu was more concerned to deliver to the people this status of life without much bothering about philosophical speculations. Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu never labored very much to present a thesis of this doctrine in a seperate book, but later on his diciplic succession, especially, among the six

Gosvāmīs, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has presented six theses, which combinedly are called Ṣaṭ-sandharbha. Of the six sandharbhas the one known as Tattva-sandharbha is a practical presentation of this doctrine and explains Vedānta-sūtra strictly according to the principles of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. Later on, Śrī Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa took this doctgrine and explained Vedānta-sūtra strictly according to that principle of acintya-bhedābheda-tattva. His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda Introduction by Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa satyaṁ jñānam anantaṁ brahma-śivādi-stutaṁ bhajad-rūpam govindaṁ tam acintyaṁ hetum adoṣaṁ namasyāmaḥ Lord Govinda is the Supreme Brahman, the absolute transcendental reality. He is transcendental knowledge. He is the original cause of all causes. He is limitless and faultless. Lord Śiva and all the demigods praise Him. The devotees worship His transcendental form. We offer our respectful obeisances unto Him. sūtrāṁśubhis tamāṁsi vyudasya vastūni yaḥ parīkṣayate sa jayati satyavataye harir anuvṛtto nata-preṣṭhaḥ All glories to Śrīla Vyāsadeva, the son of Satyavatī. Vyāsadeva is the incarnation of Lord Hari, and He is very dear to the devotees. With the effulgence of His Vedānta- sūtra He has dispelled the darkness of ignorance and revealed the truth. During the Dvāpara-yuga the Vedas were destroyed. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, responding to the prayers of Lord Brahmā and the other bewildered demigods, appeared as Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, restored the Vedas, divided them into parts, and composed the Vedānta-sūtra in four chapters to explain them. This is described in the Skanda Purāṇa. At that time many fools propounded various misinterpretations of the Vedas. Some said that the highest goal of life was to act piously in order to reap the benefits of good karma. Some said that Lord Viṣṇu is Himself bound by the laws of karma. Some maintained that the fruits of good karma, such as residence in svarga (the upper material planets) were eternal. Some said the jīvas (individual living entities) and prakṛti (material energy) acted independently, without being subject to any higher power, or God. Some said the jīvas (individual living entities) are actually the Supreme Brahman (God), and that the jīvas are simply bewildered about their identity, or that the jīvas are a reflection of God, or separated fragments

of God. Some said that the jīva becomes free from the cycle of repeated birth and death when He understands his real identity as the perfectly spiritual Supreme Brahman (God). The Vedānta-sūtra refutes all these misconceptions, and establishes Lord Viṣṇu as supremely independent, the original creator and cause of all causes, omniscient, the ultimate goal of life for all living entities, the supreme religious principle and the supreme transcendental knowledge. The Vedānta-sūtra describes five tattvas (truths): 1. īśvara (The Supreme Personality of Godhead); 2. jīva (the individual living entity, or spirit-soul); 3. prakṛti (matter); 4. kāla (time); and 5. karma (action). The īśvara is omniscient, but the jīva has only limited knowledge. Still, both are eternal beings, are aware of the spiritual reality, and have a variety of spiritual qualitites. Both are alive, have personality, and are aware of their own identity. At this point someone may object: "In one place you have said that the Supreme Godhead is omniscient, and in another place you have said that He is knowledge itself. This is a contradiction, for the knower and the object of knowledge must be different. They cannot be the same. To this objection I reply: Just as a lamp is not different from the light it emanates and it's light is both the object of knowledge and the method of attaining it, in the same way the Supreme Personality of Godhead is simultaneously the supreme knower and the supreme object of knowledge. There is no contradiction. Īśvara is supremely independent. He is the master of all potencies. He enters the universe and controls it. He awards both material enjoyment and and ultimate liberation to to the individual spirit souls (jīvas)residing in material bodies. Although He is one, He manifests in many forms. They who understand the transcendental science maintain that He is not different from His own transcendental form and qualities. Although He cannot be perceived by the material senses, He can be perceived by bhakti (devotional service). He is changeless. He reveals His own spiritual, blissful form to His devotees. The many jīvas are situated in different conditions of existence. Some are averse to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and turn their faces from Him. Such jīvas are bound by material illusion. Other jīvas are friendly to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and turn their faces to Him. These jīvas become free from the two-fold bondage of material illusion, which hides the Supreme Lord's form and qualities, and in this way they become able to see the Suprerme Personality of Godhead face-to-face. Prakṛti (material nature) consists of the three modes: goodness, passion, and ignorance. Prakṛti is known by many names, such as tamaḥ and māyā. When the Supreme Personality of Godhead glances at Prakṛti, she becomes able to perform her various duties. Prakṛti is the mother of many variegated material universes. Kāla (time) is the origin of past, present, future, simultaneity, slowness, quickness, and many other similar states. Kāla is divided into many different units from the extremely brief kṣaṇa to the extermely long parārdha. Turning like a wheel, time is the cause of repeated creation and annihilation of the universes. Time is unconscious. It is not a person. These four tattvas (īśvara, jīva, prakṛti, and kāla) are eternal. This is confirmed by the following scriptural quotations:

nityo nityānāṁ cetanaś cetanānām "Of all the eternals one (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) is the supreme eternal. Of all conscious entities one (the Supreme Personality of Godhead) is the supreme consicous entity." ——Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.13 gaur anādy anantavatī "Prakṛti is like a cow who was never born and never dies." —Culika Upaniṣad mantra 5 sad eva saumyedam agra āsīt "My dear saintly student, please understand that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is eternal. He is existed before the manifestation of this universe." —Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.1 The jīvas, prakṛti, and kāla are subordinate to īśvara, and subject to His control. This is confirmed by the following statement of Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.16): sa viśva-kṛd viśva-vid ātma-yonir jñaḥ kāla-kāro guṇī sarva-vid yaḥ pradhāna-kṣetrajña-patir guṇeśaḥ saṁsāra-mokṣa-sthiti-bandha-hetuḥ "The Supreme Personality of Godhead (īśvara) is the creator of the material universes. He is the creator of everything that exists within the universes. He is the father of all living entities. He is the creator of time. He is full of all transcendental virtues. He is omniscient. He is the master of pradhāna (the unmanifested material nature). He is the master of the guṇas (three modes of material nature). He is the master of the individual spirit souls residing material bodies (kṣetrajña). He imprisons the condiditoned souls in the material world, and He also becomes their liberator from bondage." Karma (the result of fruitive action) is not a conscious, living person. It is an inert material force. Although no one can trace out its beginning, it has a definite end at some point in time. It is known by the name adṛṣṭa (the unseen hand of fate) and many other names also. These four (jīva, prakṛti, kāla, and karma) are all potencies of īśvara, the

supreme master of all potencies. Because everything that exists is the potency of the Supreme, the Vedic literatures declare: "Only Brahman exists, and nothing is separate from Him." This fact is nicely explained in the four chapters of this book, the Vedānta-sūtra. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, which is the perfect commentary on Vedānta-sūtra, the Supreme īśvara and His potencies are described in the following words: bhakti-yogena manasi samyak praṇihite 'male apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam "Thus he fixed his mind, perfectly engaging it by linking it in devotional service [bhakti-yoga] without any tinge of materialism, and thus he saw the Absolute Personality of Godhead along with His external energy, which was under full control.* yayā sammohito jīva ātmānaṁ tri-guṇātmakam paro 'pi manute 'narthaṁ tat-kṛtaṁ cābhipadyate "Due to this external energy, the living entitiy, although transcendental to the three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and thus undergoes the reactions of material miseries.* anarthopaśamaṁ sākṣād bhakti-yogam adhokṣaje lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām "The material miseries of the living entity, which are superfluous to him, can be directly mitigated by the linking process of devotional service. But the mass of people do not know this, and therefore the learned Vyāsadeva compiled this Vedic literature, which is in relation to the Supreme Truth."* —1.7.4-6 dravyaṁ karma ca kālaś ca svabhāvo jīva eva ca yad-anugrahataḥ santi na santi yad-upekṣayā

"One should definitely know that all material ingredients, activities, time and modes, and the living entities who are meant to enjoy them all, exist by His mercy only, and as soon as He does not care for them, everything becomes nonexistent."* —2.10.12 That Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the commentary on Vedānta-sūtra is confirmed by the following statement of Garuḍa Purāṇaartho 'yam brahma-sūtrāṇām "Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the commentary on Vedānta-sūtra."* In this Vedānta-sūtra the first chapter explains that Brahman is the real subject matter discussed in all Vedic literatures. The second chapter explains that all Vedic literatures present the same conclusion. They do not actually contradict each other. The third chapter describes how to attain Brahman. The fourth chapter explains the result of attaining Brahman. A person whose heart is pure, pious, and free from material desires, who is eager is associate with saintly devotees, who has faith in the Lord and the scriptures, and who is peaceful and decorated with saintly qualitities, is qualified to study the scriptures and strive after Brahman. The relationship between Brahman and the scriptures is that the scriptures describe Brahman and Brahman is the object described in the scriptures. The Vedānta-sūtra and other Vedic scriptures describe Brahman as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose form is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss, who is the master of unlimited inconceivable potencies, and who possesses unlimited pure, transcendental attributes. The result of properly understanding the Vedānta- sūtra and other Vedic scriptures is that the spiritual aspirant becomes free from all material imperfections, and able to see the Supreme Brahman, Personality of Godhead, face to face. The Vedānta-sūtra is written in adhikaraṇas, Vedic syllogisms, which consist of five parts: 1. viṣaya (thesis, or statement); 2. saṁśaya (the arisal of doubt in the tenability of the statement); 3. pūrvapakṣa (presentation of a view opposing the original statement) 4. siddhānta (determination of the actual truth, the final conclusion, by quotation from Vedic scriptures), and saṅgati (confirmation of the final conclusion by quotation from Vedic scriptures). Chapter 1 Pada 1

Adhikaraṇa 1 Inquiry Into Brahman The first adhikarana of the Vedānta-sūtra discusses brahma-jijñāsā (inquiry into Brahman). The adhikarana may be shown in its five parts in the following way:

  1. Viṣaya (statement): One should inquire about Brahman. This statement is confirmed by the following statements of Vedic scripture: yo vai bhūma tat sukhaṁ nānyat sukham asti bhūmaiva sukhaṁ bhūmatveva vijijñāsitavyaḥ "The Supreme Personality of Godhead (bhūma) is the source of genuine happiness. Nothing else can bring one actual happiness. Only the Supreme Personality of Godhead can bring one happiness. For this reason one should inquire about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. —Chāndogya Upaniṣad 7.25.1 ātmā vā are draṣṭavyaḥ śrotavyo mantavyo nididhyāsitavyo maitreyi "O Maitreyī, one should see, hear, remember, and inquire about the Supreme Personality of Godhead." —Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.5
  2. Saṁśaya (doubt): If one has studied the Vedas and dharma-śāstras, need he inquire about Brahman or not? The following statements of Vedic scriptures nourish this doubt: apāma somam amṛtā abhūma "We have attained immortality by drinking the soma-juice." —Ṛg Veda 8.18.3 akṣayyaṁ ha vai cāturmāsyājinaḥ sukṛtaṁ bhavati "They who follow the vow of cāturmāsya attain an eternal reward."
  1. Pūrvapakṣa (presentation of the opposing view): There is no need to inquire about Brahman. Simply by discharging ordinary pious duties described in the dharma-śāstras one can attain immortality and an eternal reward.
  2. Siddhānta (the conclusive truth): In the first sūtra Bhagavān Vyāsadeva replies to his philosophical opponent. Sūtra 1 athāto brahma-jijñāsā atha—now; ataḥ—therefore; brahma—about Brahman; jijñāsa—there should be inquiry. Now, therefore, one should inquire about Brahman.* Purport by Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa In this sūtra the word atha means "now", and the word ataḥ means "therefore". The sūtra means "Now one should inquire about Brahman." Atha (now): When a person has properly studied the Vedic literature, understood its meaning, adhered to the principles of varṇāśrama-dharma, observed the vow of truthfulness, purified his mind and heart, and attained the association of a self-realized soul, he is qualified to inquire about Brahman. Ataḥ (therefore): Because material piety brings results of material sense- happiness, which is inevitably limited and temporary, and because the transcendental form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which is realized by the proper attainment of real transcendental knowledge, and which is full of imperishable, limitless bliss, eternity, transcendental knowldege, and all transcendental attributes, brings eternal bliss to the devotee-beholder, therefore one should renounce all material pious duties for attaining material sense- gratification, and inquire about Brahman by studying the four chapters of Vedānta- sūtra. At the point someone may object: Is it not true that simply by studying the Vedas one attains knowledge of Brahman, and as result of this knowledge one abandons the path of material piety and fruitive work and instead takes to the worship of the Supreme Personality of Godhead? If this result is obtained simply by studying the Vedas,, what need is there to study the four chapters of Vedānta- sūtra? To this objection I reply: Even if one carefully studies the Vedas, misunderstanding and doubt may destroy his intelligence and lead him away from the real meaning of the Vedas. For this reason it is necessary to study the Vedānta-

sūtra, to stregnthen the students's understanding. Performing the duties of āśrama-dharma are also helpful in purifying the heart and understanding the transcendental reality. How the āśrama duties of the brāhmaṇa help in this regard is described in the following statement of Bṛhad- āraṇyaka Upaniṣad (4.4.22): tam etaṁ vedānuvacanena brāhmaṇā vividiṣanti yajñena dānena tapasānāśanena "By Vedic study, sacrifice, charity, austerity, and fasting, the brāhmaṇas strive to understand the Supreme Personality of Godhead." The usefulness of the brahminical duties such as truthfulness, austerity, and mantra chanting is described in the following scriptural statements: satyena labhayas tapasā hy eṣa ātmā samyak jñānena brahmacaryeṇa nityam "By constant truthfulness, austerity, transcendental knowledge, and austerity, one becomes eligible to associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead." —Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 3.1.5 japyenaiva ca saṁsiddhyad brāhmaṇā nātra saṁśayaḥ kuryād anyan na vā kuryān maitro brāhmaṇa ucyate "Whether he performs other rituals and duties or not, one who perfectly chants mantras glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead should be considered a perfect brāhmaṇa, eligible to understand the Supreme Lord." —Manu-saṁhitā 2.87 Association with those who understand the truth also brings one transcendental knowledge. By this association Nārada and many other spiritual aspirants attained interest to ask about spiritual life and were finally eligible to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead face-to-face. Sanat-kumāra and many other great sages have also helped many devotees by giving their association in this way. The great value of contact with a self-realized soul is described in the following statement of Bhagavad-gītā (4.34): tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ

jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ "Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth."* The material benefits obtained by following the pious rituals of the karma- kāṇḍa section of the Vedas are all temporary in nature. This fact is confirmed by the following statement of Chāndogya Upaniṣad (8.1.3): tad yatheha karma-cito lokāḥ kṣīyante evam evāmutra puṇya-cito lokaḥ kṣīyate "By performing good works (karma) one is elevated to the celestial material world after death. One is not able to stay there forever, however, but one must lose that position after some time and accept another, less favorable residence. In the same way, by amassing pious credits (puṇya) one may reside in the upper planets. Still, he cannot stay there, but must eventually relinquish his comfortable position there, and accept a less favorable residence somewhere else." The following statement of Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (1.2.12) affirms that only transcendental knowledge will help one approach the Supreme Brahman: parīkṣya lokān karma-citān brāhmaṇo nirvedam ayan nāsty akṛtaḥ kṛtena tad-vijñānārtham sa gurum evābhigacchet samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham "Seeing that the celestial material planets, which one may obtain by pious work, provide only temporary benefits, a brāhmaṇa, in order to understand the truth the of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, should humbly approach a bona-fide spiritual master learned in the scriptures and full of faith in the Supreme Lord." In contrast to the temporary material benefits obtained in the celestial material planets, the Supreme Brahman is the reservoir of eternal, limitless bliss. This is confirmed by the following statments of Taittirīya Upaniṣad (2.1.1): satyaṁ jñānam anantaṁ brahma "The Supreme Personality of Godhead is limitless, eternal, and full of knowledge."

ānando brahmeti vyajānāt "He then understood that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is full of transcendental bliss." The Supreme Brahman is eternal, full of knowledge and endowed with all transcendental qualities. This is confirmed by the following statements of Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad: na tasya kāryaṁ karaṇaṁ ca vidyate na tat-samaś cābhyadhikaś ca dṛśyate parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate svā-bhāvikī jñāna-bala-kriyā ca "He does not possess bodily form like that of an ordinary living entity. There is no difference between His body and His soul. He is absolute. All his senses are transcendental. Any one of His senses can perform the action of any other sense. Therefore, no one is greater than Him or equal to Him. His potencies are multifarious, and thus His deeds are automatically performed as a natural sequence."* —6.8 sarvendriya-guṇābhāsaṁ sarvendriya-vivarjitam asaktaṁ sarva-bhṛc caiva nirguṇaṁ guṇa-bhoktṛ ca "The Supersoul is the original source of all senses, yet He is without senses. He is unattached, although He is the maintainer of all living beings. He transcends the modes of nature, and at the same time He is the master of all modes of material nature."* —3.17 bhāva-grahyam anidākhyaṁ bhāvābhāva-karaṁ śivam kāla-sārga-karaṁ devaṁ ye vidus te jahus tanum "The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the creator and destroyer of the entire material cosmic manifestation. He is supremely auspicious, and He does not posesses a material body, for His body is spiritual in all respects. He may be

reached and understood only by loving devotional service. Those who thus serve Him and understand Him may become free from having to repeatedly accept various material bodies for continued residence in the material world. They become liberated from this world, and obtain eternal spiritual bodies with which to serve Him." —5.14 That the Supreme Personality of Godhead grants eternal transcendental bliss to His devotees is confirmed by the following statement of Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad (1.5): taṁ pīṭha-sthaṁ ye tu yajanti dhīrās teṣāṁ sukhaṁ śāśvataṁ netareṣām "The saintly devotees who worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the spiritual world attain eternal transcendental bliss. Except for them no others can attain this eternal bliss." This uselessness of the temporary benefits obtained by following the material piety of the karma-kāṇḍa section of the Vedas will be described in the third chapter of this Vedānta-sūtra. This may be summed up by saying: One who has studied the Vedas, Upavedas, and Upaniṣads, understood them, associated with a self-realized soul, and in this way understood the difference between the temporary and the eternal, who has lost all attraction for the temporary and chosen the eternal, becomes a student of the four chapters of Vedānta-sūtra. It cannot be said that simply by completely studying and understanding the karma-kāṇḍa section of the Vedas one will naturally take up the study of Vedānta- sūtra. They who have studied karma-kāṇḍa but not associated with saintly devotees do not become eager to understand Brahman. On the other hand, they who have not studied karma-kāṇḍa, but who have become purified by association with saintly devotees, naturally become attracted to understand Brahman. Neither can it be said that simply by understanding the difference between the temporary and the eternal, and simply by attaining the four qualities of saintly persons, one will become attracted to understand Brahman. These things are not enough. However, if one attains the association of a self-realized soul and follows his instructions, then these ordinarily difficult-to-attain qualifications are automatically attained at once. Three kinds of persons inquire into the nature of Brahman: 1. Sa-niṣṭha (they who faithfully perform their duties); 2. Pariniṣṭha (they who act philantropically for the benefit of all living entities); and 3. Nirapek\sa (they who are rapt in meditation and aloof from the activities of this world). According to their own respective abilities all these persons understand the nature of Brahman. They become more and more purified, and they eventually attain the association of Brahman. At this point someone may raise the following objection: Is it not so that the words oṁ and atha are auspicious sounds that sprang from Lord Brahmā's throat in ancient times? Is it not also so that these words are traditionally used at the

यहाँ प्रस्तुत पृष्ठ का शुद्ध एवं प्रामाणिक देवनागरी रूपान्तरण (वेदान्त-भाष्य, पूर्वपक्ष, सिद्धान्त, उपनिषद्-श्रुति, सूत्र एवं सुस्पष्ट हिन्दी-अनुवाद सहित) पंक्ति-दर-पंक्ति दिया गया है:


ग्रन्थारम्भे मङ्गलार्थं विघ्नोपशमनार्थं च प्रयुक्तः? अत एवास्मिन् सूत्रे 'अथ'-शब्दस्य न "आनन्तर्यम्" अर्थः, अपि तु केवलं मङ्गलवाचकत्वमेव, न त्वन्योऽर्थः। अत्रोच्यते—नैतद्युक्तम्। वेदान्तसूत्रकर्त्ता भगवान् बादरायणो व्यासः साक्षात्परमेश्वरस्यावतारः, अतस्तस्य न मङ्गलाचरणस्य विघ्नविनाशस्य वा कश्चिदपि प्रयोजनमस्ति। व्यासदेवस्य साक्षात्परमेश्वरत्वं स्मृतिशास्त्रवचनेनापि समर्थितम्— कृष्णद्वैपायनं व्यासं विद्धि नारायणं प्रभुम्। अर्थात्—"भगवान् कृष्णद्वैपायन व्यास को साक्षात् परमप्रभु श्रीनारायण ही जानिए।" तथापि प्राकृता लोका मङ्गलार्थमेव वेदान्तसूत्रे 'अथ' शब्दं प्रयुक्तं मन्येरन्, यथा मङ्गलार्थं शङ्खध्वनिः क्रियते। तस्माद् अस्माभिः पूर्वमेव प्रतिपादितं यत् साधनचतुष्टयसम्पत्त्यनन्तरं ब्रह्मानुसन्धाने जिज्ञासा जायते। अत्र पूर्वपक्षी पुनः प्रत्यवतिष्ठते—'भूमा' अथवा 'ब्रह्म' शब्दः जीवात्मानमपि प्रतिपादयितुं शक्नोति, न केवलं परं ब्रह्मैव। एतद् हि छान्दोग्योपनिषदि स्पष्टम्। अपि च शब्दकोशव्याख्यानानुसारम्—"ब्रह्म" शब्दस्य अर्थः—यद् बृहत्त्वगुणयुक्तम्, ब्राह्मणजातिः, जीवात्मा तथा पद्मविष्टरो ब्रह्मा चेति विधीयते। तस्यास्य पूर्वपक्षस्याक्षेपनिरासार्थं श्रुतिप्रमाणं प्रदर्श्यते— भृगुर्वै वारुणिः वरुणं पितरमुपससार अधीहि भगवो ब्रह्मेति... यतो वा इमानि भूतानि जायन्ते येन जातानि जीवन्ति यत् प्रयन्त्यभिसंविशन्ति तद् ब्रह्म तद् विजिज्ञासस्व॥ (तैत्तिरीयोपनिषद् ३.१) अर्थात्—"वरुणपुत्र भृगु ने अपने पिता वरुण के समीप जाकर निवेदन किया: 'हे भगवन्! मुझे ब्रह्म की शिक्षा दीजिए।' पिता ने कहा: 'जिससे ये समस्त भूत-प्राणी उत्पन्न होते हैं, उत्पन्न होकर जिसके द्वारा जीवन धारण करते हैं और प्रलयकाल में जिसमें विलीन होते हैं—वही ब्रह्म है; उसी को जानने की इच्छा करो।'" अत्र कश्चित् संशयी भवेत्—"अस्मिन् वेदान्तसूत्रे 'ब्रह्म' शब्दः जीवात्मानं प्रतिपादयति अथवा परमपुरुषं परमेश्वरम्?" पूर्वपक्षी हि स्वीयपक्षपोषणार्थं 'ब्रह्म' शब्दस्य जीवात्मवाचकत्वं प्रदर्शयितुं तैत्तिरीयोपनिषदः (२.५) वचनमुदाहरति—