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

Purport by Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa Āśmarathya maintains that the promise ātmano vijñānena sarvaṁ viditam (By knowledge of the Self everything is known) indicates that the Self referred to here is the Paramātmā. It is not taught here that by knowledge of the jīva everything becomes known. On the other hand by knowledge of the cause of all causes everything becomes known. It is not possible to interpret these words in a figurative way because after promising that by knowing the Self everything becomes known, in the passage beginning brahma taṁ parādāt (One who thinks the brāhmaṇas rest in a place other than the Self is spurned by the brāhmaṇas. One who thinks the kṣatriyas rest in a place other than the Self is spurned by the kṣatriyas. One who thinks the worlds rest in a place other than the self is spurned by the worlds) he affirms that the Paramātmā is the form of everything and the resting place of the brāhmaṇas, kṣatriyas, and world. For these reasons it is not possible that the Self here can be any other than the Paramātmā. It is also not possible for the individual living entity who remains under the control of karma to be the original cause of all causes decsribed in the passage beginning tasya vā etasya mahato bhūtasya niḥśvasitam (transcendental he Vedas were manifested from the breathing of this Supreme Being). It is also not possible for (the sage Yājñavalkya) to have taught his wife, who had renounced all wealth and material benefits to attain liberation, only about the jīva and not about the Supreme Brahman. It is also not possible that the Self referred to here is the jīva because on cannot attain liberation simply by knowing the jīva. That liberation is attained only by understanding the Supreme Brahman is confirmed in the following statement of Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 3.8 and 6.15: tam eva viditvāti mṛtyum eti (By understanding the Supreme Brahman one is able to transcend death). For all these reasons it should be understood that the Self described in this passage is the Paramātmā. Pūrvapakṣa: The objection may be raised: Because the Self in this passage is described as the object of love for the husband and other persons, this self must be the jīva bound to the cycle of repeated birth and death and not the Paramātmā. It cannot be said that the Self described here must be the Paramātmā because that interpretation answers the promise (of Yājñavalkya to speak certain words), nor can it be said that the Self here must be the Paramātmā because this Self is the shelter of the devotees, the creator of everything, all-powerful, and the origin of transcendental bliss. The jīva may also be these things, as the Padma Purāṇa explains: yenārcito haris tena tarpitāni jaganty api rajyanti jantavas tatra sthāvarā jaṅgamā api (One who worships Lord Hari pleases all the worlds. All moving and non-moving creatures love the devotee). In this way the Self described here is not the Paramātmā. Siddhānta: Fearing that the opponent may speak these words, he says: Sūtra 21