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III ADHYÂYA, 4 PÂDA, 46.
709
Therefore let a Brâhmana after he has done with learning wish to stand by a childlike state ; and after having done with the childlike state and learning (he is) a Muni' (Bri. Up. III, 5). A doubt arises whether this text enjoins Muni-hood in the same way as it enjoins learning and the childlike state, or merely refers to it as something already established. — The Purvapakshin holds the latter view on the ground that as 'Muni-hood' and 'learning' both connote knowledge, the word 'Muni' merely refers back to the knowledge already enjoined in the phrase
after he has done with learning. For the text presents no word of injunctive force with regard to Muni-hood.This view the Satra controverts. For him who is such,' i. e. for those who possess knowledge, there is an injunction of a different co-operative factor in the same way as injunctions and the rest. By the injunctions in the last clause we have to understand the special duties of the different asramas, i. e. sacrifices and the like, and also such qualifications as quietness of mind and the like; and by the and the rest' is meant the learning of and pondering on the sacred texts. Stated at length, the meaning of the Satra then is as follows in the same way as texts such as 'him Bråhmanas seek to know through the reciting of the Veda, through sacrifices and charity, and so on,' and 'Quiet, subdued,' &c. (Bri. Up. IV, 4, 23) enjoin sacrifices and so on, and quietness of mind and the like, as helpful towards knowledge ; and as texts such as the Self is to be heard, to be pondered upon' (Bri. Up. II, 4, 5) mention hearing and pondering as helpful towards knowledge; thus the text under discussion enjoins learning, a childlike state of mind, and Muni-hood as three further different auxiliaries of knowledge.--Muni-hood' does not denote the same thing as 'learning '--this the Satra intimates by the clause 'alternatively a third,' i.e. as the word muni is observed alternatively to denote persons such as Vyåsa distinguished by their power of profound reflection (manana), the abstract term munihood denotes a third thing different from learning and the childlike state. Hence, although the phrase 'then a Muni' does not contain a word of directly
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