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

[SŪ 1. 3 42. ADH. 10.] VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA 207 Highest Person. Why? "On account of the designation" of the Supreme Soul "as something different" from even the freed souls,— He being the producer of all objects possessing names and forms implied by the term 'name and form',—as well as on account of the designation of Brahmanhood, immortality and the rest on its part. Vedānta-kaustubha Thus, by means of the aphorism: 'On account of the text only, what is measured (is the Lord)' (Br Sū 1 3 24), the text regarding the Person of the size of merely a thumb has been shown to be referring to Brahman, and this has been confirmed once more immediately after the end of the incidental sections. Now, with a view to desig- nating the non-attachment and the omnipresence of the Supreme Self, it is being shown that the text about the ether, too, refers to Him. In the Chāndogya, we read: 'The ether, verily, is the producer of name and form. That within which they are is Brahman, that is immortal, that is the soul' (Chānd. 8.14.1). Here a doubt arises, viz. whether by the term 'ether' the elemental ether is to be under- stood here, or the soul freed from the bondage of mundane existence, or the Supreme Soul. If it be said that the elemental ether is to be understood, since the term 'ether' is well-known to denote that alone,—(we reply:) no, on account of the term 'soul'. What then should be understood? If it be suggested: the freed soul, Why? For the following reasons: First, the freed soul alone has been men- tioned previously as the topic of discussion, in the passage: 'Shaking off (evils) as a horse shakes off his hairs' (Chānd. 8.13.1),—the phrase: 'That within which they are' means: That soul, freed from mundane existence, from which 'they', i.e. name and form 'are different' (antara), i.e. outside. Further, the discarding of the well-known name and form is possible on the part of the soul in its state of release, as declared by the passage: 'Just as the flowing rivers, discarding name and form' (Muṇḍ. 3.2.8). And, finally, the term 'ether', too, is appropriate with regard to the freed soul, it being possessed of fully manifest knowledge. The phrase: 'That is Brahman, that is immortal' denotes the state of salvation. (Author's conclusion.) We reply: The meaning of the term 'ether' here can fittingly be the Supreme Soul alone. Why? "On account of the designation