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148 Madhva's Interpretation of the Brahma-sūtras (ch. buddhi and the senses are only instruments and accessories. Yet in the fifteenth topic (sūtra 40) Sankara tries to establish this agency of the self, not as real, but as illusory in presence of the conditions of the sense-organs, intellect, etc. (upādhi-dharmādhyāsenaiva ātmanaḥ kartytvam na svābhāvikam). Upon the sixteenth topic (sūtras 41-42) Sankara tries to establish the fact that God helps persons to perform their actions in accordance with their previous karma. The seventeenth topic (sūtras 43-53) is interpreted by Sankara as stating the view that the difference between the selves themselves and between them and Brahman can be understood only by a reference to the analogy of reflection, spatial limitations or the like; for in reality they are one, and it is only through the presence of the limiting conditions that they appear to be different.
In the fourth chapter of the first book the first topic of both Sankara and Madhva describes the origin of the prānas from Brahman!. The second topic of Madhva, containing the 3rd sūtra of Sankara's reading, describes the origin of manas from Brahman. The 4th sūtra, forming the third topic of Madhva, holds the view that speech (vāk) also is produced from Brahman, though we sometimes hear it spoken of as eternal, when it is applied to the Vedas. The 5th and the 6th sūtras, forming the fourth topic, discuss the purports of various texts regarding the number of the prānas, and hold the view that they are twelve in number. The fifth topic of Madhva, consisting of the 7th sūtra, states the view that the prāņas are atomic by nature and not all-pervasive, and that hence there cannot be any objection to the idea of their being produced from Brahman. The sūtras 8 and 9, forming the sixth topic, show the production of prānas from Brahman. The sūtras 10 and 11, forming the seventh topic, show that even the principal (mukhya) prāna is dependent on Brahman for its production and existence. In the eighth topic, consisting of the 12th sutra, it is held that the modifications (vrtti) of the principal prāna are like servants, so their functions are also in reality derived from Brahman. The ninth topic, consisting of the 13th sūtra, repeats textual proofs of the atomic character of prāņa. The tenth topic, consisting of sūtras 14
1 This topic consists according to Sankara of only four sütras, and according to Madhva of the first three sutras. Of these the third sūtra (pratijñānuparodhāc ca) happens to be absent in Sankara's reading of the Brahma-sūtras.
