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       sribhashyam -adhyaya-1-padha2



In the first section of the first chapter of Sribhashya  it has been
shown that a person who has studied the veda comes to understand that
the fruits of karma are transient, after the study of the purvamimAmsa,
that is, the ritualistic part,and takes up the study of sArirakamimAmsa,
the portion dealing with Brahman, in order to acquire the knowledge that
will secure him release from the bondage of karma.



The vedantic texts  describe the sentient and insentient beings as the
body of Brahman who is their inner self, and who controls them from
within. it was also shown that Brahman is the first cause and can be
known only through scriptures. All vedanta texts are  shown to refer
only toBrahman and not insentient pradhAna or individual souls.Thus it
was confirmed that the reference to AkAsa, prANa, light  and Indra
actually denote only the supreme self. This Supreme Self ,Brahman is
Narayana, possessing infinite auspicious qualities of whom the world of
sentient and insentient beings is the sarira.



Still there are some texts that refer to the beings inside pradhAna or
individual souls. In this section the texts that have obscure reference
to the individual soul are discussed while in the next direct references
are taken up and in the last pAdha of the aDhyAya the texts that refer
to the individual soul are shown to denote Brahman only.



sarvathraprsiddhyaDHikaraNam-1-2-1



suthra-1-sarvathra prasiddhOpadhEsAth-1-2-1



Everywhere (itis Brahman who is denoted) because of the well known
teaching.



The Chandhogya upanishad contains a text 'aTHa khalu krathumayah
purushah bhavathi thaTHEthah prethya bhavathi;sa  krathumkurveetha -
manOmayahprANasarirah bhArupah,(chan.III-14-1,2) man is the creature of
thought in this world and the next. So let him think (meditate) on
himself as made of mind whose body is prANa and whose form is light.
Here the doubt is whether the individual self having the attributes of
mind etc. is to be meditated or the Supreme self.The poorvapaksha view
is that it is the individual self that is denoted because the mind and
prANa are the instruments of the individual self, while the Brahman is
denoted as 'aprANah hyamanAh, (Mund.2-1-2) without prANa, without mind.
Brahman cannot be taken as the object of upasana because in the the
previous sentence 'sarvam khalu idham brahma,all this is Brahman,' is
mentioned and   as the object of meditation in this text has
specifically been mentioned as manOmayah prANasarirah. The concluding
text of the passage 'Ethadbrahma,(chan.III-14-4) this is Brahman '
meaning the inner self is also the individual self mentioned as Brahman
by extolling it.



This view is refuted by the above suthra. The entity referred to as
manOmaya etc is Brahman because there are abundant vedanthic texts that
ascribe the qualities such as consisting of mind, prANa as sarira etc.
Ramanuja quotes here texts such as 'manOmayah prANAsariranethA, consists
of the mind, ruler of the subtle body,'(Mund.2-2-7), 'sa EshO
antharhrdhaya akAsah;thasmin ayam purushah manOmayah;amrthO hiraNmayah,
(Tait.1-6-1) there is AKAsa within the heart and in it is this purusha
consisting of the mind, immortal and golden' and 'prANasya prANah, it is
the prANa of the prANa and so on. The expression aprANO hyamanAh only
means that Brahman does not depend on mind or prANa.



The text 'sarvamkhalu idham brahmatajjalAn ithi shAntha upAseetha ', 
all this is brahman, originating from, merging into, and sudtained by it
;thus one should meditate with calm mind,' can also be interpreted as
being calm one should meditate on Brahman as the inner self, which  is
subsequently described as having mind and prANa in the text quoted at
the outset, namely,'sa krathum kurveetha' etc.



There is a fresh doubt raised here that whether the individual self only
is denoted with the word 'Brahman'. The opponent says that it is so
because the word 'all' denotes everything from the creator BrahmA to the
common blade of grass,  'brahmAdhisthamba paryantham' which will apply
only to the individual soul by the principle of coordination as the self
is one, seen differently due to avidhya. This world of imperfections
cannot mean Brahman. The word brahman is used sometimes with respect to
the individual soul and that is why,the opponent  declares the Brahman
is termed as Parabrahman by way of distinction. The individual soul is
Brahman in the state of release and hence the text must mean only the
individual self and also the text 'tajjalan' can be interpreted to mean
that the individual soul who is Brahman, enters into various embodiment
due to avidhya and realises his true nature  in the state of release.



This is refuted by the above suthra 'sarvathra prasiddhOpadesAth.'

  'tajjalan' refers to Brahman as something well known. 'All this is
Brahman' having Brahman as their inner self. The causality of Brahman
has been established by the text 'yathO vA imAni bhoothAni jAyanthe,'
which shows that all beings emerge from merge into and sustained by
Brahman.  Also the text  further continues to say 'AnandhO brahma ithi
vyajAnAth AnandhAth Eva khalu imAni bhoothAni jAyanthe, (Taitt.III-6) 
bliss is brahman, from bliss all these beings originate,' and the text
'sa kAraNam karaNADHipADHipO na chAsya kaschit janithA na chADHipah, He
is the cause and the Lord of the lords of indriyas and there is no
creator for Him nor  any one above Him. Thus it is clearly stated that
Brahman is the Lord of the individual self who is the master of the
senses and Brahman is the cause of everything. Therefore all beings
originate from , merge into and sustained by Brahman and so He is the
inner self of all.



Ramanuja concludes  by saying that 'athah sarvaprakAram
sarvAthmabhootham param brahma shAnthah bhoothvA upAseetha ithi
sruthirEva parasya brahmaNah sarvAthmakathvam upapAdhya thasya upAsanam
upadhisathi,' therefore, the Supreme Self, Brahman, having everything as
its mode, being the Self of all should be meditated with calm mind, is
the indtruction by the sruthi. Parabrahman as the cause  has the 
sentient and the insentient in their subtle state as its sarira, which 
in their gross state is the  effect. Hence Brahman is the inner self of
all, always. Thus the attribute of Brahman as  being free from
imperfections and possessing auspicious qualities is not impeded in any
way because the defects of the sarira does not affect the self. The
individual self cannotbe identified with the world because the jivas are
different in different bodies and  the individual soul even in the state
of release is not capable of creation etc. So the word Brahman denotes
only the Supreme self.



suthra-2-vivakshitha gunOppatthEscha-1-2-2



And because the qualities to be stated apply to Brahman only.



The qualities that are to be stated viz. 'manOmayah prANasarirah
bhArupah sathya sankalpa AkAsAthmA sarvakarmA sarvakAmah sarvaganDHah
sarvarasah sarvamidham abhyAtthO avAkyanADarah.'



Ramanuja takes up the qualities one by one and explains.

1. manomayah- consists of mind. Brahman can be grasped by pure mind.
'parisuddhamanasA Ekena grAhyah.' the pure mind is acquired through the
disciplines vimoka etc explained in the jinAsADHikaraNa. By this the
attribute of Brahman as diferent from everything else, free from
imperfections and possessing auspicious qualities are denoted. As impure
mind will grasp only impure objects the requisite of pure mind for
grasping Brahman of such qualities is emphasised.

2.prANasarirah- Having prANa as sarira. Being the sarira means to be
supported by, dependent on and to be subservient to the sariri, the
self.

3.bhArupah - resplendent form.

4.sathyasankalpah -infallible will.

5.akAsAthmA - Subtle and pure like the AkAsa. Or the self of even the
AkAsa.Or shining by itself (AKAsathi) it makes everthing else shine.
(AkAsayathi)

6.sarvakarmA - The whole world is His doing. All actions are His.

7.sarvakAmah - All desires are His.

8.sarvaganDHah sarvarasah - To whom all supreme excellent odours and
tastes belong, which are not connected with the ordinary ones, which are
negated in Brahman by the words 'asabdam asparsam' etc.

9.abhyAttah -He makes all these qualities His own

10. avAkee - He does not speak , because, He is

11. anADHaraH - He does not care for anything being avapthasamasthakma,
in full possession of everything.

All these qualities apply to brahman only.





suthra-3-anupapatthesthu na sArirah-1-2-3



Because these qualities do not apply it is not the individual self.



Ramanuja dismisses the view that it is the indiviual self which is
mentioned by saying  'Thamimam guNasAgaramparyAlOchayathAm sarira
sambhanDHena aparimitha duhkha sambanDHayogyasya baddhamukthavasTHasya
jivasya prasthutha guNa lEsa sambanDHO pi na upapadhyathaithi na asmin
prakaraNEsAriraparigrahashankA jAyatha ithyartTHah ,' considering the
ocean of auspicious qualities, that is, Brahman, it is clear that there
cannot be even a trace of reference in this context to the individual
self, who experiences limitless grief due to its connection with the
body and who suffers bondage and gets released.

suthra-4-karmakarthrvyapadhEsAccha-1-2-4



Because of the mention of the attainer and the attained.



In the same chapter of ChandhOgya there is a passage that mentions the
jiva attaining Brahman on death.'Etham  ithah PrethyaabhisambhavithAsmi,
when I depart from hence I shall attain Him,'  So the attainer and the
attained being distinguished they are different . The word ' Him '
refers to the one denoted as 'manOmaya,' Brahman and the attainer is the
individual self.





suthra-5- sabdhavisEshAth-1-2-5



Because of the difference in the words.



Inthe text 'Esha me AthmA antharhrdhaye' (Chan.3-15-4) the one doing the
meditation is put in the genitive case (mE) and the object of meditation
(AthmA) is in nominative case. So it is clear that the two are
different. Ramanuja quotes here a text from sathapatha brAhmaNA
(X-vi-3-2) in which this is made clear. 'vreehirvA yavO vA syAmAkO vA
syAmAka thandulO vA, Evam ayam antharAthmani purushO hiraNmayah yaTHA
jyothraDoomam,' like a grain of rice, grain of barley, grain of canary
or a kernel of canary seed, thus the golden purusha, who is the inner
self,  exists like fire without smoke.' The word denoting the individual
self is in locative case while the golden purusha is in the nominative.
Therefore only Brahman is the object of meditation.





suthra-6-smrthEscha-1-2-6



>From the smrthi also.



The Brahman is mentioned as the inner self and the object of meditation
in the Gita also. 'sarvasya chAham hrdhisnnivishtO, (BG.XV-15) I am
inside all beings,'and IsvarassarvabhoothaAnAm hrddhEse arjuna
thishTathi ; bhrAmayan sarva bhoothAniyanthrArooDAni mAyayA; thameva
saraNamgaccha,the lord oh Arjuna, is established in the heart of all
beings, driving them around through His mAya as though mounted on a
machine.' This shows the individual jiva as the meditator and Brahman as
the object of meditation.

suthra-7-arbhakoukasthvAth thathvyapadhEsAccha-

1-2-7



If it is said that Brahman is not denoted because of minuteness and the
smallness of abode, it is not so. Brahman is so described for meditation
and is like AkAsa.



The description of the inner self as residing inside the heart, the
smallest abode and as being smaller than the grain 'aNeeyAn vreehErvA
yavAdhva,'  it is argued that it is only the individual self and not
Brahman, who is spoken of in other texts as being unlimited while the
jiva is said to be 'ArAgramAthram,'  size of the tip of spiked stick.



This suthra refutes this saying that Brahman is so described for the
sake of meditation and is not minute in reality.The same text says
'jyAyAn prthivyAth jyAyAn anthrikshAth jyAyAn dhivojyAyAnEvhyO
lokEbhyah,it is infinite like AkAsa greater than the earth and sky etc.'
The omnipresence is not affected by being described as minute because
being subtler than the AkASa its all pervasiveness is unaffected by the
abode it is said to occupy.



Ramanuja explains the whole passage thus:

Beginning with 'sarvam khalu idham brahma, all this is Brahman,' it
enjoins meditation on Brahman as the inner self and the cause of the
world.Next it declares  the attainment of Brahman through meditation and
gives the characterstics of Brahman as being manOmaya, prAnasarira etc.
Nextmentions Brahman as abiding in the heart as the inner self. From all
this it is clear that the minuteness and smallness of abode is only for
the purpose of meditation





suthra-8-sambhogaprApthirithi chEth na vaisEshyAth-1-2-8



If it is said that being inside the body Brahman will be subjected to
joy and sorrow like the indiidual self, it is not so because of the
difference in the nature of the two.



The reason for joy and sorrow is not the fact that the soul is inside
the body but it is because of karma which does not apply to Brahman.

Thus ends sarvathraprasiddhyDHikaraNam.



























[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 
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