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SamanvayADHikaraNam-1-1-4



suthra-4 thatthu samanvayAth



Thath thu- but that( the scriptures alone are the pramANa for
establishing Brahman)  is samanvayAth because it is the main purport (
of the sruthi.)



The aim of the vedas is the paramapurushArTha, the final goal of life
which is the attainment of release, moksha. Since the subject of the
upanishads is Brahman, the knowledge of which leads one to Moksha,
Brahman is connected with the parampurushArTHa through the
vedas.Therefore Brahman is known only through the vedas being its main
purport.



Brahman is understood by the texts like 'yathO vA imAnibhoothAni
jAyanthe' from whom all the beings emerge  and 'sadhEva sowmya
idhamagraAseeth,' sath alone was in the beginning and 'thadhaikshathaB
bahusyAm prajAyEya, 'it willed to become many, and the like, to be the
origin of everything and defined as 'sathyam jnAnamanantham
brahma,'Brahman is existence,knowledge and infinity, denoting the 
Supreme Being as the one possessed of infinite auspicious attributes and
devoid of all imperfections. The validity of the texts about Brahman as
above cannot be questioned on the basis of their not being connected
with activity or the cessation of it. There can be  no denial of
validity in the case of statements like 'your son is born',or ' this is
not a serpent ' because there also is some activity like the joy or fear
respectively.



The opponent here is the mimAmsaka, according to whom sruthi texts that
do not deal with some activity, initiating or prohibiting, are not
valid. Hnce the texts about Brahman are not authoritative. The opponent
argues that perception and other pramANas can deal with things already
established but sruthi texts must always be purposeful like 'svargakAmO
yajEtha,' one who desires heaven should perform sacrifice, which is an
injunction or 'na kalanjam bhakshayeth,' one should not eat garlick etc.
Even in daily life we  only hear sentences such as 'arTHArthee rAjakulam
vrajEth,one who needs wealth should go to the king ,' etc., which
indicate some activity or like ''mandhAgnirnAmbu pibEth,' one with weak
digestion should not drink water, which prohibits activity.



The opponent,mimAmsaka, asks whether in the case of statements like 'a
son is born to you, or this is not a serpent ' the joy or removal of
fear occurs by the event itself or the knowledge of the fact conveyed
through the sentence. If it is said that the action of joy etc . cannot
happen unless there is the knowledge about it, then by the mere
knowledge of a thing even without its existence can produce an effect.
So scripture too need not refer to things actually exidting and hence
need not be the valid means of knowledge  unless it refers to action
injunctive or prohibitive.Therefore vedanta texts cannot be taken as the
authoritative proof of Brahman.



Next the purvapakshin, the mimAmsaka, considers the view of the advaitin
who says that vedantavakyas are valid even in the sense of denoting an 
injunction. Brahman who is percieved as being connected with the world
through avidhya has to be freed from the illusion and this is the
injunction which is denoted by the sruthi texts which have the knowledge
of Brahman as their purport. They quote the texts such as 'na dhrshtEh
dhrashtAram pasyEh;na mathErmanthAram manveeThAh , you cannot see the
seer of sight, you cannot think the thinker of thought,' meaning that
Brahman is the pure perception and pure knowledge.



MimAmsaka askas the advaitin to specify the qualification of the person
to whom the injunction is addressed. For instance it is said that
agnihothra should be performed as long as one lives where the life of
the person to whom oit refers to is the qualification. But in the case
of Brahman -knowledge it can only be directed to a person who already
has the perception of the real nature of Brahman in order to negate the
world. Again Brahman cannot be a phala, fruit of action like heaven in
which case it would become transcient. Moreover Brahman cannot be the
object of the injunction since it is not a kriya.



Another argument forwrded by some ( called dhyAnaniyogavAdin) who say
that vedanta passages are nevertheless authoritative as they enjoin
dhyAna, meditation as shown by the texts such as nidhiDH' aAthmA vA are
dhrashtavyah srOthavyah manthavyah nidhiDHyA sithavyah,(Brhd.2-4-5) the
self is to be seen, heard, thought of and contemplated,' and
'AthmAithyEva upAseetha,(Brhd.1-4-7) Let one meditate upon himself as
the Self.' The passages such as 'sathyam jnAnam anantham brahma, sadeva
soumya idham agra AseethekamEva adhvitheeyam  define the nature of
Brahman in answer to the question "What is the nature of the Self to be
meditated?" But this is objected by the mAyAvadin (advaita) who says
that Brahman cannot be realised through injunctions on meditation but
only through knowledge gained by texts such as 'thathvamasi,thou art
that.' But the former argues that mere knowledge cannot secure release
as by merely being told that this is not a snake will not dispell  the
fear until one actually sees the rope. If  the avidhya comes to an end
by mere knowledge from vedic texts then the injunctions on sravana
manana and nidhiDhyAsana become meaningless.Therefore bondage can only
be terminated through the injunctions on meditation which results in
direct intuitive knowledge of Brahman.



VedAntha vakyas enjoining meditation lead to the knowledge of Brahman as
one only without a second and of the nature of existence,knowledge and
bliss,sacchidhAnadham, speak of the unity while the karma portion of the
vedas relate to the difference. As difference and nondifference are
mutually exclusive, Brahman is proved only by the vedantha vAkyAs that
contain injunction on meditation as a means of securing the knowledge.



Now mimamsaka refutes all this  by saying 'dhyAnavidhi seshathvE api
vEdhAntha vAkyanAm arThasathyathve prAmANya ayOgAth.' That is , it
should be made clear whether the texts that refer to Brahman do so in
connection with the injunctive texts or independently. If it is the
first, they become a part of the injunctive texts and will not be 
authoritative with respect to Brahman. If they do so  independently they
cannot be authoritative since they are devoid of  any reference to
action.



It cannot be said that the dhyana involving continous rememberence
requires an object of meditation which is given by texts like ' idham
sarvam yadhayam Athma, sathyam jnAnam anantham brahma, all this is that
Self and Brahman is existence knowledge and bliss,' and hence these
texts are connected with injunctive texts, to form one whole and hence
they are referring to existing thing because meditative texts are found
to deal with unreal things also as 'nAma brahma ithyupAseetha,meditate
on the name as Brahman. Hence, concludes mimAmsaka,the scripture is not
the valid authority on Brahman.



Ramanuja meets the arguments of the mimAmsaka by saying,  'thatthu
samanvayAth, but that because it is the main purport,'  is the reply of
suthrakara to the view of mimAmsaka that the texts on Brahman are not
authorityative because they do not deal with injunction or prohibition
relating to activity. The word 'thu' meaning 'but' refutes the view of
the opponent. Ramanuja derives the word samanvaya as samyak anvaya, well
connected.VedAntha texts denote Brahman as the highest purushArTha, the
ultmate goal of man,the infinite bliss free from all imperfections. To
say that they are without purpose because they do not denote any
activity is , says Ramanuja, is absurd like the statement denying any
purpose to a descendent of royal family because he does not belong to
the family of low- born.



All beings from devas down to a blade of grass, empowered  with
beginningless avidhya in the form of karma, are ignorant of the true
reality and get involved in different kinds of activities and
enjoyment.The purpose of the vedantha texts is to impart knowledge to
them about the highest purushArTha, Brahman, with whom in the state of
release they merge and, who imparts infinite bliss to them by His
infinitele auspicious qualiies.



On enquiring as to how this knowledge is brought about, the texts like
'brahmavid ApnOthi param, the knower of Brahman attains the
Supreme,'(Brhd.2-1-1) and 'AthmAnam Eva lokam upAseetha,(Brhd.1-4-15)let
one meditate the world as his Self,' enjoin meditation as the means of
attaining Brahman. The attainment is compared to that of a man who is
told that there is a treasure under the groungd of his house or to the
situation where a prince getting lost and being brought up by a brahmin,
instructed in all the sasthras is told " your father, endowed   with all
the kingly qualities, is waiting for you at the door step." the
impliation here is that the treasure which is our birth right, that is,
moksha, is just waiting to be found and we are like the prince who lost
his identity.



Ramanuja further answers the objection of the mimamsaka that the
sentences which teach about an already existent thing without reference
to any activity is like the stories told to children because they serve
no purpose. Even the stories, says Ramanuja, will be believed only as
long as they appear to be true and the moment they are known to be
unreal they cease to give pleasure to the children. The texts relating
to Brahman serve the purpose of being the highest purushArTha only
because the Brahman is known to be real.



Ramanuja ends the samanvayADHikaraNa saying that the texts like 'yathO
vA imAni bhoothAni jAyanthE' etc. teach the existence of Brahman as
being the cause of the world, free from all imperfections and endowed
with infinite auspicious qualities and of the nature of unparlleled
bliss.



























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



 
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