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474 The Philosophy of the Bhagavad-gitā [ch. III. 15, it is said that the sacrificial duties are derived from Brahman (Vedas). Brahman is derived from the eternal; therefore the omnipresent Brahman is always established in the sacrifices. The idea here is that, since the Vedas have sprung from the eternal Brahman, its eternal and omnipresent character is transmitted to the sacrifices also. The word "omnipresent” (sarva-gata) is probably used in reference to the sacrifices on account of the diverse and manifold ways in which the sacrifices are supposed to benefit those who perform them. In the Gītā, iv. 32, also the word “Brahman" in Brahmaņo mukhe is used to denote the Vedas. But in IV. 24 and 25, where it is said that all sacrifices are to be made with the Brahman as the object and that the sacrificial materials, sacrificial fire, etc. are to be looked upon as being Brahman, the word “Brahman" is in all probability used in the sense of God?. In v. 6, 10, 19 also the word "Brahman" is used in the sense of God or Iśvara; and in most of the other cases the word is used in the sense of God. But according to the Gitā the personal God as Iśvara is the supreme principle, and Brahman, in the sense of a qualityless, undifferentiated ultimate principle as taught in the Upanişads, is a principle which, though great in itself and representing the ultimate essence of God, is nevertheless upheld by the personal God or īśvara. Thus, though in viii. 3 and x. 12 Brahman is referred to as the differenceless ultimate principle, yet in xiv. 27 it is said that God is the support of even this ultimate principle, Brahman. In many places we also hear of the attainment of Brahmahood (brahma-bhūta, v. 24, VI. 27, XVIII. 54, or brahma-bhūya, Xiv. 26), and also of the attainment of the ultimate bliss of Brahman (Brahma-nirvāṇa, 11. 72, V. 24, 25, 26). The word brahma-bhūta does not in the Gitā mean the differenceless merging into oneness, as in the Vedānta of Sankara. It is wrong to think that the term "Brahman” is always used in the same sense in which Sankara used it. The word “Brahman" is used in the sense of an ultimate differenceless principle in the Upanişads, and the Upanişads were apprized by all systems of Hindu thought as the repository of all sacred knowledge. Most systems regarded the attainment of a changeless eternal state as the final goal of realization. As an illustration, I may refer to the account of
i Gitā, 11. 15.
2 Sridhara, in interpreting this verse (IV. 24), explains it by saying, tad evam parameśvarārādhana-lakṣaṇam kar na jñāna-hetutvena bandhakatvābhāvād akar
maiva.
