________________
I ADHYAYA, 4 PÂDA, 13.
373
12. The breath, and so on, on the ground of the complementary passage.
We see from a complementary passage, viz. "They who know the breath of breath, the eye of the eye, the ear of the ear, the food of food, the mind of mind,' that the fivepeople are the breath, and eye, and so on, all of which have their abode in Brahman.
But, an objection is raised, while the mantra 'in whom the five five-people,' &c., is common to the Kanvas and the Madhyandinas, the complementary passage they who know the breath of breath,' &c., in the text of the former makes no mention of food, and hence we have no reason to say that the 'five-people' in their text are the breath, eye, and so on.
To this objection the next Satra replies.
13. By light, food not being (mentioned in the text) of some.
In the text of some, viz. the Kanvas, where food is not mentioned, the five-people are recognised to be the five senses, owing to the phrase 'of lights' which is met with in another complementary passage. In the mantra, 'him the gods worship as the light of lights, which precedes the mantra about the five-people,' Brahman is spoken of as the light of lights, and this suggests the idea of certain lights the activity of which depends on Brahman. The mantra leaves it undetermined what these lights are ; but from what follows about the five-people,' &c., we learn that what is meant are the senses which light up as it were their respective objects. In the breath of breath' the second 'breath' (in the genitive case) denotes the senseorgan of touch, as that organ is connected with air, and as the vital breath (which would otherwise suggest itself as the most obvious explanation of prâna) does not harmonise with the metaphorical term 'light.' 'Of the eye' refers to the organ of sight; 'of the ear' to the organ of hearing. Of food 'comprises the senses of smell and taste together : it denotes the sense of smell on the ground that that sense is connected with earth, which may be food,'
Digitized by
Digized by Google