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

[SŪ 1. 3. 33 ADH. 8.] VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA 193 Brahman. Thus, Brahman alone being the object to be worshipped even in the honey-meditation and the like, the text: 'That the gods worship as the light of lights, as life, as immortality' (Bṛh. 4 4.16) is perfectly consistent. It cannot be said also that as the fruit of the honey-meditation is the attainment of Vasu-hood and the rest, and as Vasu and the rest have already attained that, they cannot be seekers, or wish for these again,—because in ordinary experience, a desire for wealth in a future life is found on the part of those who are rich in the present life Hence, it is established that the gods are entitled to the honey-meditation and the like 1 Here ends the section entitled 'The honey and the rest' (8). 1 The Madhu-vidyā, or the representation of the sun as the honey extracted from all the Vedas, as taught first to Prajāpati by Brahmā, then to Manu by Prajāpati, and then to his descendants by Manu, and to Uddālaka Āruṇi by his father (Vide Chānd 3.11.4) is given in Chand 3 1-3 11. It begins. 'Verily, the sun is the honey of the gods Its cross-beam is the heaven The ether is the honey-comb The rays are the sons (1 e the sons of bees)' (Chānd. 3 1.1), and goes on to represent the eastern rays of the sun, its red form, as extracted from the Ry-veda; the southern rays of the sun, its white form, from the Yajur-veda; the western rays of the sun, its dark form, from the Sāma-veda, the northern rays of the sun, its exceedingly dark form, from the Athar va-veda; and the up- wards rays of the sun, its centre, from the Upaniṣads (Chānd. 3.1~3.5). After that the different forms of the sun are designated as the objects of enjoyment for Vasus, Rudras, Ādityas, Maruts and Sādhyas who respectively enter into and arise from those forms (Chānd. 3.6-3 10). Finally, in the concluding section the sun is represented as standing in the middle, without rising or setting, and as neither rising nor setting for one knows this Brahma-upaniṣad (= secret of Brahman) (Chānd. 3 11). (1) Here the opponent's view is that Vasus and the rest are enjoined here as the objects of worship (Chānd. 3.6-3.10) and hence they themselves cannot be the worshippers. The answer to this objection is that the Madhu-vidyā has two sections The first section (viz Chānd. 3 6-3.10) designates Brahman in His effected state, 1 e. as appearing in the forms of Vasus and the rest The second section (viz Chānd 3.11) designates Brahman in His causal state, 1 e. as abiding in the sun as its Inner Self. And the concluding designation of the Madhu-vidyā as a 'Brahma-upaniṣad', proves that the meditations on the Vasus and the rest too are really meditations on Brahman as abiding within them. Hence Brahman is really the object to be meditated throughout in the Madhu-vidyā, and as such Vasus and the rest can be worshippers here, i.e. can practise the Madhu-vidyā. 13