tman_and_moksa

SR No.: 020053
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: G N Joshi
Publisher: Gujarat University
Publication Year: 1965
Total Pages: 901
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 12 MB

Page 553

Acharya Shri Kailashsagarsuri Gyanmandir
The Systems of Rāmānuja......
unsullied by an atom even of impurity.' Thus, the Brahman is ever free and unaffected by all the shadows of imperfections as it is full of exalted qualities. All changes, imperfections, and sufferings thus belong to the modes (प्रकार or विकार) of the Brahman.
The Jiva is of atomic size and it dwells in the heart. It is not all-pervasive, otherwise it would experience simultaneously the various pains and pleasures of all persons. It is one and single for each single person, and is extremely minute, like a monad or atom, in size and it dwells in the heart of each person. An objection can be raised that if it is atomic and occupies an extremely minute portion of the body, how can it remain in touch with all the parts of the body and can simultaneously experience so many sensations ? The difficulty is real, but Rāmānuja overcomes it by taking the help of a simile of a sandal paste and says —"As a drop of sandal-ointment, although applied to one spot of the body only, produces a refreshing sensation extending over the whole body, thus, the Self also, although dwelling in one part of the body only, is conscious of sensations taking place in any part of the body,"3 Though the soul thus spreads all over the body not actually, but by means of its quality (Tu). Knowledge
1 Rāmānuja-Com. on Vedānta Sūtras. Tr. Thibaut, 3.2.20, p. 614.
2 Ibid. 2.3. 25, p. 548.
3 Rāmāpuja : Sribhāsya Catuhsūtri and Com. on Vedānta Sūtras. Tr. Thibaut, 2.3.24.
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