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

[SŪ. 1. 2. 11. ADH. 3] VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA 109 We reply: The souls entered into the cave, viz. the heart, are two sentient beings alone. If it be objected: The entering of the individual soul stands to reason, since it is atomic; but entering into a cave is not appropriate on the part of the Supreme Soul who is all-pervasive, and hence the above objection remains in force,—(we reply:) No. "Because that is seen." That is, because in this very Upaniṣad, the text: 'The Person, of the size of merely a thumb, abides within the soul, the Lord of the past and the future' (Kaṭha 4.12) enjoins the Supreme Soul to be looked upon as abiding within the caves (i.e. hearts) of His sincere devotees in accordance with their wishes, though He Himself is all-pervading; because this is found in the texts: 'Hidden in the cave, dwelling in the abyss' (Kaṭha 2.12), 'He who knows him, hidden in the cave' (Tait. 2.1.1); and, lastly, because in the text: 'She, who arises with the vital-breath, who is Aditi, who is made of the deities, who, entering into the cave abides therein, who was manifested through the elements' (Kaṭha 4.7), the individual soul is designated as entering into the cave. Moreover, in the text: 'Drinking of righteousness' (Kaṭha 3.1), one being ascertained to be a sentient being as the enjoyer of the fruits of works, the other too must be understood to be a sentient being alone, because we find that in ordinary life whenever a number is mentioned, beings of the same class are meant. When, e.g. it is said 'Look out for a second for this cow', people look out for a cow only, and not for a horse or an ass. This is established in the Mahā-bhāṣya. To the objection, viz. that a question is found which seeks to know the individual soul as different from buddhi,—(we reply:) the reply to this question is something else, and not this text. It cannot be said also that there is anything inconsistent in the 'drinking of righteousness' (Kaṭha 3.1), since the statement: 'Drinking of righteousness' (Kaṭha 3.1) is justifiable, just like the statement: 'Men with umbrellas are going'; ¹ since it is possible to say that while the individual soul drinks, the other (viz. the Lord) causes it to drink, 1 That is, referring to a crowd of hurrying people, we often say: 'Men with umbrellas are going', though really only some of them are carrying umbrellas, and not all. Similarly, here too, when it is said: 'The two drinking', etc. what is really meant is that only one (viz. the individual soul) is drinking, and not the other (viz. Brahman).