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11 ADHYAYA, 3 PÂDA, 4.
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And in a matter known from Scripture a contradictory inference, such as that Ether cannot originate because it is without parts, is not of sufficient force. That the nonoriginatedness of the Self also does not rest on its being without parts will be shown further on.-Here the Pârvapakshin raises an objection.
3. It has a secondary sense, on account of impossibility and of the text.
It is reasonable to assume that in passages such as 'From that Self there sprang Ether,' the origination of Ether is not to be taken in its literal sense ; for according to the Khandogya-text 'it sent forth fire.' Brahman engaged in creation first produces fire, and fire thus having the first place, the text cannot possibly mean to say that Ether also was produced. Moreover, there is another text, viz.' Vayu and antariksha (i.e. Ether), this is the Immortal,' according to which Ether is immortal, i.e. non-produced.
-But how can one and the same word, viz. it 'sprang' (i. e. originated), be taken in a metaphorical sense with reference to Ether, and in its literal sense with reference to fire, and so on ?- To this the next Sûtra replies.
4. There may be (a double sense) of the one (word), as in the case of the word 'Brahman.'
Since in the clause from that Self there sprang Brahman,' the word 'sprang' cannot be taken in its literal sense, it may be used there in a secondary sense ; while the same word as connected with the subsequent clauses 'from Vayu Agni,' &c., may have its primary sense. This would be analogous to the use of the word Brahman in Mu. Up. I, 1. There in the clause "From him is born that Brahman, name, form, and matter' (9), the word Brahman is used in a secondary sense, i.e. denotes the Pradhana ; while in the same chapter, in the clause 'Brahman swells by means of brooding' (8), the same word denotes Brahman in its primary sense. It is true indeed that in this latter case the word 'Brahman' occurs twice ; while in the Taitt. text the word 'sambhůta' occurs once only, and has to be carried
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