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III ADHYAYA, 4 PÂDA, 21.
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taken vows upon himself or not, may he be a snâtaka or not, may he be one whose fire has gone out or one who has no fire,' &c. That the text does not refer to such only as are not qualified for works, further follows from the fact that the state of the mendicant is meant to subserve the development of the knowledge of Brahman 1, as scripture declares, 'The wandering mendicant, with colourless dress, shaven, wifeless, pure, guileless, living on alms, qualifies himself for the intuition of Brahman.'-From all this it follows that the stages of life for which chastity is obligatory are established by scripture, and that knowledge-because enjoined on persons who have entered on those stages-is independent of works.
21. If it be said that (texts such as the one about the udgitha are) mere glorification, on account of their reference (to parts of sacrifices); we deny that, on account of the newness (of what they teach, if viewed as injunctions).
'That udgitha is the best of all essences, the highest, holding the highest place, the eighth' (Kh. Up. I, 1, 3); 'This earth is the Rik, the fire is Sâman' (Kh. Up. I, 6, 1); This world in truth is that piled-up fire-altar' (Sat. Brâ. X, 1, 2, 2); That hymn is truly that earth' (Ait. Ar. II, 1, 2, 1); with reference to these and other similar passages a doubt arises whether they are meant to glorify the udgîtha and so on, or to enjoin devout meditations.
The purvapakshin maintains that their aim is glorification, because the text exhibits them with reference to subordinate members of sacrificial actions, such as the udgîtha and so on. They are, he says, analogous to passages such as 'This earth is the ladle;' 'the sun is the tortoise;' 'the heavenly world is the Ahavaniya,' whose
1 Which has to be acquired in the regular prescribed way of Brahmanical studentship.
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