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VEDÂNTA-SOTRAS.
about the passage, ' From the Self there sprang the ether' (Taitt. Up. II, 1, 1), from which it appears that the ether itself is something created ?-All elementary substances, we reply, such as ether, air, and so on, have two different states, a gross material one, and a subtle one. The ether, in its subtle state, is the universal cause ; in its gross state it is an effect of the primal cause ; in its gross state it thus springs from itself, i.e. ether in the subtle state. The text, All these beings spring from ether only' (Kh. Up. I, 9, 1), declares that the whole world originates from ether only, and from this it follows that ether is none other than the general cause of the world, i. e. Brahman. This nondifference of Brahman from the empirically known ether also gives a satisfactory sense to texts such as the following: “If this ether were not bliss' (Taitt. Up. II, 7, 1); 'Ether, indeed, is the evolver of names and forms' (Kk. Up. VIII, 14, 1, and so on).— It thus appears that Brahman is none other than the well-known elemental ether.
This prima facie view is set aside by the Satra. The word 'ether' in the text under discussion denotes the highest Self with its previously established characteristics --which is something quite different from the non-sentient elemental ether. For the qualities which the passage attri. butes to ether, viz. its being the one cause of the entire world, its being greater than all, and the rest of all, clearly indicate the highest Self. The non-intelligent elemental ether cannot be called the cause of all, since intelligent beings clearly cannot be its effects; nor can it be called the 'rest' of intelligent beings, for non-sentient things are evil and antagonistic to the true aim of man; nor can it be called 'greater than all, for it is impossible that a non-sentient element should possess all excellent qualities whatever and thus be absolutely superior to everything else.—Nor is the Parvapakshin right when maintaining that, as the word 'ether' satisfies the demand for a special cause of the world, all other texts are to be interpreted in accordance herewith. The words, 'All these beings indeed spring from the ether only,' merely give expression to something generally known, and statements of this nature presuppose other
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