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

[sū. 1. 3. 14. ADH 5.] VEDĀNTA-PĀRIJĀTA-SAURABHA 163 whether Brahman or Brahmā, the four-faced. The conclusion, of course, is that the higher Brahman is meant.¹ Adhikaraṇa 5. The section entitled 'The small'. (Sūtras 14–23) SŪTRA 14 "THE SMALL (ETHER) IS BRAHMAN, ON ACCOUNT OF WHAT FOLLOWS" Vedānta-pārijāta-saurabha The "small" ether, mentioned in the passage: 'In this city of Brahman is a small lotus, a chamber; small is the ether within it' (Chānd. 8.1 1²), can be the Highest Self alone. Why? "On account of what follows", i.e. on account of the peculiar qualities of the Highest Self, which are designated subsequently in the passage: 'As large is this ether, so large is that ether within the space. In it both the heaven and the earth are contained. This soul is free from sins, ageless' (Chānd. 8.1.3³) and so on. Vedānta-kaustubha Thus, on the ground of the text. 'He sees the Person lying in the city' (Praśna 5.5), 'lying within the city', as well as 'being the object which one sees', fit in on the part of the Highest Self as possessing a manifest auspicious form. In the very same manner, smallness, too, fits in on His part as residing in the abode, viz. the heart-lotus. With this in his mind, the reverend author of the aphorisms says now: We find the following text in the Chāndogya immediately after the doctrine of the Plenty⁴. 'Now what is within this city of Brahman is a small-lotus, a chamber; small is the ether within it. What is within that should be searched for, that, verily, should be enquired into' (Chānd 8.1.1). The meaning of the text, according to us, is as follows. 'what is' within 'this city of Brahman',—i.e. within the body which is the abode where the individual soul, a part of Brahman, enjoys the fruit of its karmas and which is the place where it realizes ¹ S B. 1.3.13, p. 321 'Kim asmin vākye paraṁ Brahma abhidhātavyam upadiśyata ahasvit aparam iti'. ² Ś, R, Bh, ŚK, B. ³ Op. cit. ⁴ V.K., 1.3.8.