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

[sū. 1. 1. 1. ADH. 1] VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA 5 initiated, as enjoined by the text 'One's own scripture should be studied' ¹; having found, in a general way, the texts which are mutual- ly contradictory, some depicting the non-permanence and others the permanence of the fruits of works thus : 'Undecaying, indeed, is the good deed of one who performs the Cātur-māsya ² sacrifices' (Āp Ś.S. 8.1.1 ³), 'We have drunk the soma-juice, we have become immortal' (Ṛg. V. 8.48.3 ⁴), 'Where there would be no heat, no cold, no weakness, no opponents' and so on ⁵, and, 'Just as here the world, obtained through merit perish' (Chānd. 8.6.1), 'That (work) of his has an end' (Bṛh. 3.8.10), 'The permanent, verily, cannot be obtained through the non-permanent (Kaṭha 1 2.10), 'What is not made is not (obtained) through what is made' (Muṇḍ. 1.2.12), 'Frail, indeed, are these boats of sacrifices' (Muṇḍ. 1.2.7), and so on; ⁶ being thereby assailed with doubt; and unable to determine (the exact nature of the fruits of works) in particular, one, with a view to re- moving it (viz the doubt), proceeds to make an enquiry into religious duties, and having, through such an enquiry, determined properly the nature of works, the mode of performing them and their fruits, one comes to have such a knowledge,—after that, this is the sense ⁷ The word "therefore" means 'because of the reason'. That is, the enquiry into Brahman should be undertaken, because the fruit of works are ascertained to be finite and surpassable from the scriptural passage : 'Just as here the world acquired by work perishes, so exactly hereafter, the world acquired by merit perishes' (Chānd. 8.1.6), and from the Smṛti passage : '"The worlds beginning with the world of Brahmā come and go, O Arjuna"' (Gītā 8.16); secondly, because ¹ A similar passage is found in Tait. Ār. 2.15, p. 153. ² Name of the three sacrifices performed at the beginning of the three seasons of four months. Vide Ved. In., p. 259, vol. 1. ³ P. 1, vol. 1 ⁴ P. 139, line 3. ⁵ These texts denote the permanence of the fruits of work. ⁶ These texts denote the non-permanence of the fruits of works. ⁷ That is, first a man studies (a) the Veda and finds mutually contra- dictory statements about the fruits of works. (b) This leads him to study the Pūrva-mīmāṁsā, with a view to learning the real nature of works and their fruits, and he finds that the fruits of works are not everlasting. (c) This leads him to study the Vedānta, with a view to attaining what is permanent, viz. salvation. Hence the term 'atha' means that the Vedānta is to be studied after the study of the Veda and the Pūrva-mīmāṁsa.