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[SŪ. 1. 2. 9. ADH. 2.] VEDĀNTA-PĀRIJĀTA-SAURABHA 105 Adhikarana 2 The section entitled 'The eater' (Sūtras 9-10) SŪTRA 9 "THE EATER (IS BRAHMAN), ON ACCOUNT OF THE COMPREHENSION (OR TAKING, I.E. DEVOURING) OF THE MOVABLE AND THE IM- MOVABLE." Vedānta-pārijāta-saurabha In the text: 'He to whom both the Brāhmaṇa and the Kṣatriya are the food and death the condiment, who thus knows where He is?' (Kaṭha 2.25 ¹), the eater is the Lord, the Highest Person, "on account of the comprehension (or taking, i.e. devouring)" ² of the food which has death for its condiment, i.e of the Universe, consisting of the movable and the immovable, implied by the terms 'Brāhmaṇa' and 'Kṣatriya' Vedānta-kaustubha In the preceding section, after having shown that the text: 'All this, verily, is Brahman' (Chānd. 3 14.1) and so on refers to Brahman, the author has shown also the absence of any experience of pleasure and pain due to karma on the part of Brahman. Now, by showing that the text: 'He, of whom the Brāhmaṇa' (Kaṭha 2 25) and so on refers to Him, he removes the suspicion, that, as before, He cannot be an eater of the movable and the immovable ³ In the Kaṭha-vallī it is recorded 'He, to whom both the Brāh- maṇa and the Kṣatriya are the food and death the condiment, who thus knows where He is?' (Kaṭha 2 25). Here by the word 'food' edible objects are understood, and by the words 'of whom', indicating connection, an eater is understood. A doubt arises, viz. whether the eater here is fire, or the individual soul, or the Supreme Soul, since here all the three have been referred to before. What is reasonable ¹ ŚK. B 1 2.8, pp 327 et seq., Part 4 ² It is not clear what Nimbārka means exactly by the term 'grahaṇa' here. It may mean appropriately both 'understanding' and 'taking or devour- ing'. Thus, Brahman is the eater, because the movable and the immovable are understood as the food here; or because, the movable and the immovable are devoured as the food here. The same remarks apply to Śrīnivāsa's interpretation. ³ I.e it may be thought that since Brahman is not an enjoyer, as shown above, He cannot be an eater too