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272
VEDÂNTA-SÛTRAS.
the fact that perception takes place where there is a body, and does not take place where there is none, does not imply that it is an attribute of the body ; for like lamps and so on the body may be used (by the Self) as a mere auxiliary. Nor is it even true that the body is absolutely required as an auxiliary of perception; for in the state of dream we have manifold perceptions while the body lies motionless.The view of the Self being something separate from the body is therefore free from all objections.
55. But the (meditations) connected with members (of sacrificial acts are not (restricted) to (particular) Sâkhâs, according to the Veda (to which they belong).
The above occasional discussion being terminated, we return to the discussion of the matter in hand. -We meet in the different Sakhâs of each Veda with injunctions of vidyâs connected with certain members of sacrificial acts, such as the udgîtha and the like. Cp. e.g. Let a man meditate on the syllable Om (as) the udgîtha' (Kh. Up. I, 1, 1); 'Let a man meditate on the fivefold Saman as the five worlds' (Kh. Up. II, 2, 1); 'People say : “Hymns, hymns !” the hymn is truly this earth'(Ait. År. II, 1, 2, 1); • The piled up fire-altar truly is this world' (Sat. Brâ. X, 5, 4. I). A doubt here arises whether the vidyâs are enjoined with reference to the udgitha and so on as belonging to a certain Sakhå only or as belonging to all Sâkhâs. The doubt is raised on the supposition that the udgîtha and so on differ in the different Sâkhâs because the accents, &c. differ.
Here the purvapakshin maintains that the vidyâs are enjoined only with reference to the udgîtha and so on which belong to the particular Sakha (to which the vidya belongs). - Why ?-On account of proximity. For as such general injunctions as 'Let a man meditate on the udgîtha'are in need of a specification, and as this need is satisfied by the specifications given in the same Sâkhâ which stand in immediate proximity, there is no reason for passing over that Sakhả and having recourse to specifications enjoined
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