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Annals BORI, LXXVIII (1997)
4. Stanze 15 in the Mürtāmürta Brāhmapa (p. 22) reads as :
यनिषेधमखेनेदं नेति नेतीति भण्यते ।
अविद्यामधिं कृत्वा द्वे रूपे ब्रह्मणस्त्विमे ।। This has been rendered as : " These are the two forms of the Brahman which are denied in these words, viz. neti, neti, which purport to negate (all duality), which keep in view ignorance in its full extent."
The rendering of avidyām avadhim kstvä given above is unintelligible. It is difficult to understand why the authors have allowed it to be that way when in their annotation they state correctly what is meant by avidyām avadhin krivä. They say: "It purports to say that one can mention the two forms only so long as ignorance persists and, on removal of ignorance, one cannot talk of any form of the Brahman". In the light of this explanation a better way to render the stanza seems to be "what is said by way of negation with the words 'not this, not this' (neti neti) refers to these two forms of Brahman (viz. mūrta and amūrta) which exist only as long as the ignorance (of the true nature of Brahman) persists."
It is hoped that instances of the above type are few in this as well as in the other volumes published earlier in this series.
M. A. Mebendale
Madhu Vidyā/718
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