________________
14
BHAKTI-YOGA
Supreme One, we get as an argument the following: It is reasonable that the liberated get the Lordship of the universe, because the scriptures say, 'He attains to extreme sameness with the Supreme One and all his desires are realised.! Now extreme sameness and realisation of all desires cannot be attained without the unique power of the Supreme Lord, namely that of governing the universe. Thefefore, to attain the realisation of all desires and the extreme sameness with the Supreme, we must all admit that the liberated get the power of ruling the whole universe. To this we reply, that the liberated get all the powers except that of ruling the universe. Ruling the universe is guiding the form and the life and the desires of all the sentient and the non-sentient beings. The liberated ones from whom all that veils His true nature has been removed, only enjoy the unobstructed perception of the Brahman, but do not possess the power of ruling the universe. This is proved from the scriptural text, 'From whom all these things are born, by whom all that are born live, unto whom they, departing, return,-ask about It, That is Brahman.' If this quality of ruling the universe be a quality common even to the liberated, then this text would not apply as a definition of Brahman, defining Him through His rulership of the universe. The uncommon attributes alone define a thing; therefore in texts like, -'My beloved boy, alone, in the beginning, there existed the One without a second. That saw and felt, I will give birth to the many.
