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III ADHYAYA, 3 PÂDA, 56.
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in other Sakhâs. Hence the vidyâs are to be held apart, according to the Sakhâs to which they belong.
To this the Sutra replies 'but those connected with members, &c.-The word 'but' discards the prima facie view. The meditations are not restricted to their own Sakhâs according to the Veda to which they belong, but are valid for all Sakhås.—Why?-Because the direct statements of the texts about the udgitha and so on enounce no specification. For to such general injunctions as · Let a man meditate on the udgîtha'--which say nothing about specifications-violence would be done, if on the ground of proximity we restricted them to something special belonging to its own Sakha, and that would be objectionable because direct statement has greater weight than proximity. There is, on the other hand, no reason why the vidya should not be of general reference. We therefore conclude that, although the Såkhâs differ as to accents and the like, the vidyâs mentioned refer to the udgîtha and so on belonging to all Sâkhâs, because the text speaks only of the udgîtha and so on in general.
56. Or else there is no contradiction (implied in our opinion); as in the case of mantras and the like.
Or else we may put the matter as follows. There is no reason whatever to suspect a contradiction if we declare certain vidyâs enjoined in one Sâkhá to be valid for the udgîtha and so on belonging to other Sâkhâs also; for there is no more room for contradiction than in the case of mantras. We observe that mantras, acts, and qualities of acts which are enjoined in one Sâkhâ are taken over by other Sâkhâs also. So e.g. the members of certain Yagurveda Sakhâs do not exhibit in their text the mantra, . Thou art the kutaru ?,' which accompanies the taking of the stone (with which the rice-grains are ground); all the same we meet in their text with the following injunction of application, 'Thou art the cock, with this mantra he takes the stone; or else with the mantra, Thou art the kutaru.'
· Maitrayanîya Samhitâ I, 1, 6.
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