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

[SŪ. 3. 4. 40. ADH. 10.] VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA 759 absence of texts, on account of the absence of a cause, on account of the absence of good custom. Vedānta-kaustubha Now the problem is being considered, viz. whether those also who have fallen from the stage of a perpetual religious student bound by chastity and so on are entitled to knowledge or not. It has been established above that there are such stages of life where chastity is obligatory. The doubt is as to whether those who have fallen from these are entitled to the knowledge of Brahman, or not. If it be suggested that like widowers and so on, they are so entitled, through the muttering of prayers and so on,— We reply: The word "but" is meant for disposing of the objec- tion. "Of one who has become that," i.e. of one who has reached, as a supreme fruit, the stage where chastity is obligatory, there is "no becoming not that", i.e. no falling off,—this is the view "of Jaimini too". The word "too" indicates that the author’s own view is confirmed through being held by Jaimini as well. The sense is that it being impossible for a perpetual religious student bound by chastity ¹, a hermit belonging to the third religious order ² and a mendicant belonging to the fourth religious order ³ to stay outside a stage of life like widowers and the rest, they cannot be entitled to the knowledge of Brahman The author states the reasons why such a falling off is not allow- able thus: "On account of restriction, on account of the absence of the forms of that", that is, on account of the restriction with regard to the non-deviation from a stage of life, in the passages: A "student of sacred knowledge, dwelling in the house of a teacher, exhausting himself completely in the house of a teacher, is the third" (Chānd. 2.23.1), "One should go to the forest, thence one should not return any more". "Having once given up the fire, one should not return any more" (Kaṭha 5.4). The compound "on account of the absence of the forms of that" is to be explained as follows: The word "that" means 'not becoming that'. The words "the forms" mean scriptural texts. Hence, the clause means: because of the absence of texts indicative of the falling from a stage of life. That means, there are

¹ Naiṣṭhika. ² Vaikhānasa. ³ Parivrājaka.