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

412 VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA [sū. 2. 3. 18. ADH. 8.] the knower, because of his imperishability' (Bṛh. 4.3.30), ' “ Whereby should one know, O ! the knower ? ' ” ' (Bṛh. 2.4.14; 4.5 15), 'This person simply knows', 'For he is the one who sees, .1 hears, smells, .2 thinks, conceives, does, the intelligent self ' (Praśna 4 9) and so on. The doctrine of the non-sentient soul, on the other hand, is to be rejected,—because then the attribute of knowledge by itself, being the effector of all practical transactions, will come to attain primacy, and hence the non-sentient substratum of the attribute (viz. the soul), being non-liable to salvation or bondage, virtue or vice, will come to be non-primary or useless like the nipple on the neck of a goat; 3 and finally, because of its opposition to Scripture. The doctrine of mere consciousness, too, is to be rejected, because if consciousness be all-pervading, then there will be no perception of the pleasure and the like pertaining to the entire body; but if it be atomic in size, then there will be no experience of the pleasure and the like pertaining to hands, feet and so on. Hence it is established that this soul, known through self- consciousness, is knowledge by nature and a knower. Here ends the section entitled “The knower” (8). COMPARISON Śaṁkara Interpretation different—viz. he interprets the word “jña” as eternal consciousness and not as a knower.4 1 Touches. 2 Tastes. 3 An emblem of any useless or worthless object or person. 4 Ś.B. 2 2.18, p. 609.