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

[sū 1 3. 30. ADH. 7.] VEDĀNTA-PĀRIJĀTA-SAURABHA 187 As such, though they are makers of the sacred formulæ, the eternity of the Veda is perfectly justifiable 1 SŪTRA 30 "AND ON ACCOUNT OF HAVING THE SAME NAME AND FORM, (THERE IS) NO CONTRADICTION EVEN WITH REGARD TO THE RECURRENCE (OF THE WORLD), ON ACCOUNT OF PERCEPTION (I E. SCRIPTURE) AND ON ACCOUNT OF SMRTI." Vedānta-pārijāta-saurabha Thus, there is "no contradiction even with regard to the recur- rence", or the creation and destruction of the material world. Why? Because the objects which are to be created in the beginning of each age have the same names and forms as those in the past ages, "on account of perception" (i.e. scriptural text), viz 'The creator fashioned the sun and the moon as he did before' (Rg. V. 10 190 3 2), and 'on account of Smrti', viz. 'Just as the various signs of the seasons are seen to be the very same in their regular recurrence, so are the beings in the successive ages' (V P. 1 5 64 3). 1 That is, the Vedic mantras are said to be composed by different sages like Viśvāmitra and so on; and hence it may be thought that these sages being non-eternal, the mantras composed by them must also be so, i.e the Veda must be non-eternal. But the fact is that the sages are not really the composers of the mantras, which are really eternal; but when they are said to be the composers of those mantras, it is simply meant that they utter, i.e. reveal the eternally existent mantra in different ages. Thus, e g Viśvāmitra in one particular age utters a mantra which is then said to be Vaiśvāmitra. Then, in course of time, Viśvāmitra perishes, but the mantra remains intact, and in the next age, a new Viśvāmitra is deputed to utter and reveal the very same mantra and so on. Thus, the mantra itself remains unchanged from all eternity, only its revealers change from age to age Hence the Vedic mantras are really eternal and so is the Veda. 2 Pp. 143-4 Ś, Bh. ŚK, B. 3 P 50 Ś, Bh Cf. a very similar passage in Mahā 12 8550, p. 667, lines 9-10, vol. 3, which is the same as the above passage, only reads 'Tathā Brahma- harādīsu' in place of 'Tathā bhāvā yugādisu'.