वेदान्त पारिजात सौरभ (भगवद् निम्बार्काचार्य - द्वैताद्वैत वेदान्त ब्रह्मसूत्र भाष्य सटीक)

[SŪ. 1. 2. 11. 108 VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA ADH. 3.] teaching the following attributes of the Lord—viz. 'being easily attainable', 'being easily knowable' and the rest—which result from His close association (with the individual soul¹),—to one who desires for salvation, who desires to attain His nature, who desires to know Him, and who is submerged in the pit of mundane existence consisting of the movable and the immovable, the author is showing that the text: 'Righteousness' (Kaṭha 3. 1) and so on refers to the Lord. Immediately after the above-quoted text, we find the following in the Kaṭha-vallī: 'There are two, drinking of righteousness in the world of good deeds, entered into the cave, in the highest upper region. Those who know Brahman speak of them as "light" and "shade", as well as those who maintain the five sacred fires,² and those too who thrice kindle the Nāciketas fire'³ (Kaṭha 3.1). Here a doubt arises as to whether here buddhi and the individual soul are designated as entered into the cave, or the individual soul and the Supreme Soul? What is reasonable here? If it be suggested: Buddhi and the individual soul,—because in accordance with the statement: 'Entered into the cave' (Kaṭha 3.1), entering into a cave is impossible on the part of the Supreme Soul who is all-pervasive; because it is impossible for the Supreme Being who has all His desires fulfilled to be the enjoyer of the fruits of works, as stated in the passage: 'Drinking of righteousness' (Kaṭha 3. 1); because any connection with the 'world of good deeds',—i.e. with the world where one enjoys the fruits of the works done by one's self, viz. the body generated by works,—is impossible on His part, and, finally, because a question is found, seeking to know the individual soul as different from buddhi, viz. '"There is this doubt when a man is dead, some saying, 'He is', others, 'He is not'. This I should know, as taught by you"' (Kaṭha 1. 20⁴). Hence, these two alone (viz. buddhi and individual soul) are established by this text,— ¹ I.e. the Lord abides with the individual soul in the same place, viz. the heart, and as such is easily knowable and attainable by it. ² Viz. Anvāhārya-pacana or Dakṣiṇa, Gārhapatya, Āhavanīya, Sabhya, and Āvasathya. M.W., p. 577, Col. 3. ³ Vide M.W., p. 458, Col. 2. ⁴ The sense is: Naciketā wants to know here what happens to the soul after death, i.e. he wants to know the self as distinct from the body, buddhi and so on. Hence, in reply, Yama must speak of the individual soul and buddhi, and as such the passage in question must deal with these two alone.