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

[sū. 1. 1. 23. 72 VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA ADH. 8] and so on, in the passage ‘From the “ether”, the “air”’ (Tait. 2.1), the elemental ether (is meant here)— We reply: In this text “the ether”, i.e. the object meant by the term ‘ether’, is the Highest Self alone. Why? “On account of his characteristic marks,” i.e. “his”, or the Highest Self’s, “characteristic marks”, viz. being the creator of all beings, being superior, being the supreme refuge, and so on,—on account of that,¹ i.e. on account of the peculiar qualities of the Highest Self. It cannot be said, also, that in accordance with the rule ‘When there is a collocation of scriptural statement, mark, text, topic, place and name, each following one is weaker (than each preceding one), on account of its remote- ness from the meaning’ (Pū. Mī. Sū. 3.3.14 ²), the scriptural state- ment is of a greater force than the mark,—for in accordance with the rule: ‘The strength and weakness of those which are spoilt by meaning- lessness are in the opposite proportion’, the scriptural statement: ‘the ether’, is set aside by the mark mentioned in the text: ‘All these beings, verily, arise from the ether alone’ (Chānd. 1.9.1). If the word “ether” were to refer to the elemental ether, then no sense would follow, for such a mark (viz. being the creator of all) is not possible on the part of the elemental ether, on the contrary, the elemental ether is declared by Scripture to be created by the Highest Self, in the passage ‘From this soul, verily, the ether arose’ (Tait. 2.1). Further, on the ground of the etymological interpretation too (of the word ‘ether’ or ākāśa), viz. ‘The ether is that which shines everywhere’, ³ as well as on the ground of its conventional meaning, given in the passages: ‘If there were not this bliss in the ether’ (Tait. 2.7), ‘The ether, verily, is the revealer of names and forms’ (Chānd. 8.14.1) and so on, it is established that by the term “ether”, the Supreme Self alone is denoted. Here ends the section entitled ‘The ether’ (8). ¹ This explains the compound ‘tal-liṅgāt’. ² P. 284, vol. 1. Vide Śabara-bhāṣya. ³ Ā samantāt kāśata ity ākāśaḥ.