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

160 VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA [SŪ 1. 3. 13 ADH. 4.] in the Brahma-world and included within the Brahmāṇḍa.¹ But the Highest Self alone, the topic of discussion, the Lord of His own special and non-material Brahma-world, is "the object which one sees". Why? "On account of the designation" of His qualities in the passage: 'That which is tranquil, ageless, fearless' (Praśna 5 7²) and so on Vedānta-kaustubha Thus, it has been said that prakṛti and the individual soul are not understood by the word 'Imperishable' which denotes Brahman. Now it is being pointed out,—by means of this aphorism, as well as by the text dealing with that topic,—that prakṛti (or the material sphere) is rejectible, while the world of the Highest Self is acceptable, and that the individual soul is the worshipper, one who is approaching (a goal), while the Highest Self is the object to be worshipped and the goal to be resorted to We find the following text in the Praśna-upaniṣad of the Āthar- vaṇas, introducing the topic of discussion thus: 'Verily, that, O Satyakāma, which is the syllable "om", is the higher and the lower Brahman. Hence a knower, through this very support, reaches one of these two' (Praśna 5.2), and continuing: "Again, he who meditates on the Highest Person with this very syllable 'om' of three elements comes to the light in the sun. As a snake is freed from its skin, so, verily, he is freed from sins. He is led by the Sāman verse to the world of Brahman. He sees the Person, lying in the city, and higher than the highest mass of souls" (Praśna 5 5) Here a doubt arises, viz. whether "the object which one sees",—i e. the Reality which one sees, in accordance with the declaration, viz. that through the meditation on Him, the worshipper of the three elements, freed from all sins, having come to the sun, and having been led by the Sāman verses to the world of Brahman, sees that very Person, lying in the City,—is the four-faced Brahmā, the presiding deity of all souls, and indicated before as the 'lower Brahman'; or whether the object which one sees is the Highest Person, denoted by the term 'Supreme Brah- man', the cause of the whole world and the topic of Scripture. The prima facie view is as follows: Let the four-faced Brahmā be the ¹ For the nature and constituent of a Brahmāṇḍa, vide V. R. M., pp. 32 et seq. ² R, ŚK, B.