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

[SŪ 1. 2. 22. 128 VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA ADH. 6 ] be understood here (in the above text), owing to the absence of that (i.e. owing to the fact that the above text contains no reference to the qualities of a sentient being). In the Ātharvaṇa, it is said: 'There are two knowledges to be known' (Muṇḍ. 1 1 4). Among these, the knowledge of works, viz. the Ṛg-veda and the rest, is the lower.¹ With a view to teaching the higher, viz the knowledge of Brahman, in contrast to it, it is said: 'Now, the higher is that whereby the Imperishable is appre- hended, that which is invisible, incapable of being grasped, without family, without caste, without eye, without ear, it is without hands and feet, eternal, all-pervasive, omnipresent, excessively subtle, it is unchangeable, which the wise perceive as the source of beings' (Muṇḍ. 1.1.5-6), 'Without the vital-breath, without mind, pure, higher than the high Imperishable' (Muṇḍ. 2 1.12) and so on. Here a doubt arises as to whether here the Imperishable, the source of beings and possessed of the qualities of invisibility and the rest, is pradhāna, or the individual soul, or the Highest Self. The prima facie view is as follows :—As invisibility and such other qualities are possible on the part of pradhāna and the individual soul; as pradhāna is established to be the source of beings; and as the individual soul too, the cause of the body and the rest through its own works, can be so,—let one of these two be the Imperishable. With regard to this, we reply: The Imperishable, the source of beings and possessed of the qualities of invisibility and the rest, is the Highest Self alone. Why? "On account of the mention of qualities", i.e. because in the passage: 'He who is all-knowing, omniscient, whose penance consists of knowledge, from Him alone Brahman, name and form, and food arise' (Muṇḍ. 1.1.9), the permanent attributes of the Highest Self, viz. omniscience, etc. are stated, with a view to laying down the attributes of the Imperishable, the source of beings. If it be objected: This view is not reasonable. Having referred to the Imperishable in the passage: 'The Imperishable is apprehended' (Muṇḍ. 1.1.5), then again having designated the Imperishable as a limit in the passage: 'Higher than the high Imperishable' (Muṇḍ. 2 1.2), the text next goes on to designate the meaning of the word 'higher' as the Highest Self, in the passage: 'He who is all-knowing' (Muṇḍ. 1.1.9). If here the Highest Self be understood by the word ¹ Vide Muṇḍ. 1.1.5.