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122 Madhva's Interpretation of the Brahma-sütras (CH. duced, etc.” in the sūtra Sankara understood production (systi), existence (sthiti) and destruction (laya or bhanga), and he there reconciled the six stages of existent things (bhāva-viku) referred to by Yaska in the Nirukta, such as being produced, to continue to exist, to grow, to change, to decay and to be destroyed, as being included within the three stages referred to by him; for growth and change are included within production (janma), and decay is included within destruction. Madhva, however, includes eight different categories in the term "production, etc."; these with him are production (stsți), existence (sthiti), destruction (samhāra), control (niyama), knowledge (jñāna), ignorance (ajñāna), bondage (bandha) and release (mokşa)". The existence of all these qualities implies the fullness of qualities signified by the name Brahman. That single being in whom all the above-mentioned eightfold qualities exist is called Brahman.
Generally two kinds of definitions are distinguished from each other, viz., essential (svarūpa-lakṣaṇa) and accidental (taļasthalaksana). Prakāśātman, the writer of the Pañca-pādikā-vivarana, speaks of this definition of Brahman as being of the latter type, since it is only in association with māyā that Brahman can be said to be the cause of the production, etc., of the world-appearance. In itself
Brahman as referred to by the word yataḥ. Brha, a constituent of the word brahman, has several technical meanings (rūdhi), such as jāti (class-notion), jiva, Kamalasana or Brahmă. But the word is not used here in its technical sense, but in the etymological sense, which signifies the entity in which there is a fullness of qualities; for it is only in this sense that the Upanişad texts alluded to in connection with this sūtra and the previous one become significant. Again, on the basis of other texts, which speak of Him (from which everything is produced) as lying in the ocean, Brahman here means Vişnu (as in the Samākhya-śruti, dyāvāprthivi param mama yonir apsu antaḥ samudre), because it is only in Him that there is the fullness of all qualities. This characteristic would not apply to any of the other technical (rūdhi) senses, such as jāti or jiva; and so it is that, though the rūdhi sense is stronger than the etymological sense (yaugika), yet the latter has preference here: brahma-sabdasya jīve rüţhatve'pi badhaka-sadbhāvāt tad brahma iti śruty-uktam brahma vişnur eva (Tattva-prakāśika). It may also be added that, according to the Tattva-prakāśikā, Tātparya-candrikā and other Madhva works, it is held that, though ordinarily brahma has the technical sense of jiva, yet with scholars the word always has the technical meaning of Vişnu. Thus a distinction is drawn between the ordinary technical sense (rūdhi) and the technical sense with scholars (vidvad-rūdhi), and preference is given to the latter: viduşām brahma-sabdena visnu-vyakti-pratiteh (Tātparya-candrikā, p. 120).
1 Anubhāşya of Madhva or Brahma-sūtra, I. 1. 2. Madhva quotes for his authority a passage from the Skanda-puräna:
utpatti-sthiti-samhāra-niyatir jñānam ārstiḥ bandha-mokşam ca purusad jasmāt sa harir ekarāt.
