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

[sū. 1. 1. 26 ADH 10.] VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA 77 Vedānta-kaustubha If it be objected: As the Gāyatrī metre is referred to in the preced- ing passage viz.. 'The Gāyatrī, verily, is all this' (Chānd. 3.12.1), the designation of beings as the foot, viz. 'One foot of him are all beings' (Chānd 3.12 6), may refer to this very metre. It is not reasonable to hold that this text establishes Brahman,— (We reply.) "No." Why? "On account of the declaration of the application of the mind thus," i.e. on account of the mention of the fixing of the mind "thus" to Brahman who is denoted by the term 'Gāyatrī', since the latter is predicted to be the soul of all, in the passage 'The Gāyatrī, verily, is all this' (Chānd. 3 12.1) Here, the term 'Gāyatrī' denotes Brahman who inheres in the metre, it being impossible for a metre, which is a mere collection of letters, to be the soul of all. "For thus it is seen," i.e. in very same manner, a parallel case is mentioned in the Aitarīya-upaniṣad, in the passage:— "The Bahvrcas consider Him in the great-hymn, the Adhvaryus in the sacrificial fire, the Chandogas in the Mahā-vrata ceremony" ¹ (Ait. Ār. 3.2 3, 12). The sense is that those who are conversant with the Rg-veda, those who are conversant with the Sāma-veda, and those metre, yet it denotes the 'kṛta' or the group of ten substances in Chānd. 4 3 8. Similarly, though the word 'Gāyatrī' denotes a kind of metre, yet it may denote Brahman too. See V K below. C S.S. ed. reads: 'Kṛta-para',—meaning comes to the same, viz. the word 'vyāg' stands for the 'kṛta'. ¹ A Bahvrca is one conversant with the Ṛg-veda, a priest of it, or the Hotṛ priest who represents it in the sacrificial ceremonies. M.W., p. 726. An Adhvaryu is a priest of a particular class, as distinguished from the Hotṛ, the Udgātṛ and the Brāhmaṇa classes. He has to measure the ground, build the altar and so on, and while engaged in these duties, he has to repeat the hymns of the Yajurveda. Vide op. cit., p. 24 A Chandoga is a chanter of the Sāma-veda, an Udgātṛ priest. Vide op. cit., p. 405. The Mahat-uktha (great hymn) or the Bṛhat-uktha forms a series of verses, in three sections, each containing eighty Tṛcas or triple verses, recited at the end of the Agni-cayana. An Uktha is a verse which is recited, as distinguished from the Sāman verse which is sung, and the Yajus or sacred formula which is muttered. It forms a subdivision of the Śastras. Vide op. cit., p. 172. See footnote 1, p. 78. Mahā-vrata is the name of a great religious observance. It is also the name of a Sāman or Stotra, appointed to be sung on the last day but one of the Gavām- ayana. Vide M.W., p. 800.