________________
III ADHYAYA, 9 BRÂHMANA, 28.
151
Brahman, who is knowledge and bliss, he is the principle, both to him who gives gifts?, and also to him who stands firm, and knows.'
(and there is an end of all questioning), I say, No; he is born again, and the question is, How?' This is much too artificial. The order of the verses in the Mâdhyandina-sâkhâ is better on the whole, leading up more naturally to the question, 'From what root then does a mortal grow up, after he has been felled by death ?' When the Brâhmans cannot answer, Yagñavalkya answers, or the Sruti declares, that the root from whence a mortal springs again, after death, is Brahman.
1 Sankara explains râtir dâtuh as râter dâtuh, a reading adopted by the Mâdhyandinas. He then arrives at the statement that Brahman is the principle or the last source, also the root of a new life, both for those who practise works and for those who, having relinquished works, stand firm in knowledge. Regnaud (II, p. 138) translates : C'est Brahma (qui est) l'intelligence, le bonheur, la richesse, le but suprême de celui qui offre (des sacrifices), et de celui qui réside (en lui), de celui qui connaît.'
Digitized by Google
*
Digitized by
