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VIVEKACŪDĀMAŅI
375
This entire universe apprehended by speech and mind is the Sat (Brahman) only. There is nothing other than this Sat for one who stands beyond the boundary of Prakřti. Are the pot, the jug, the pitcher, etc., known to be separate from clay? This deluded man inebriated by the wine of māyā speaks in terms of 'I' and 'you'.
When we say 'pot exists', 'cloth exists', 'well exists', the words are to be understood in terms of 'sāmānādhikaranyam' which means the identical import of words which separately have each a different meaning:53 Those who are experts in determining the meaning of words say: "In respect of words which have different references, the meaning in the same context is called sāmanādhikaranyam.” Thus in the Svātmanirūpana it is said:: ekatra vrttirarthe sabdānām bhinnavrttihetūnāmi sāmānādhikaranyam . bhavatīyevam vadanti läkşaņikāḥ54 11
By the mind and by the idea generated by different words used in common mode of expression, this entire universe is understood as being of the nature of Sat only.
The locative case in vāñmanasayoh is used in instrumental sense - vāñmanasābhyām. In grammar this usage is called nimittasaptamī i.e., locative used in the sense of the instrumental case.
Or, vārmanasayoh may be understood in another way also: vāk refers to the śruti: aitadātmyamidam sarvam; vācārambhanam vikāro nāmadheyam (Chānd.): "All this is (of the nature of) the ātman; the modifications are only a matter of speech”. manaḥ refers to the mental process of discarding the elements of the world regressively from the gross to the subtle; janiviparitakramato buddhyā pravilāpya pañcabhūtāni i parisistamātmatattvam paśyannäste muniśśāntah | The meaning is, the five primordial elements have evolved out in the order of the ākāśa, vāyu, agni, ap and prthvi. When the order of evolution is reversed by the process of involution, then each goes back to the preceding involute. When the mind goes through this process of involution to the end, it will be found that what remains is the ātman. The muni at peace with himself remains comprehending it with his mind. Then the mind will assume the mode of the akhandākāravștti, co-expansive with the infinite ātman which is the ultimate adhisthāna of this entire universe. This ultimate substratum will be comprehended when the empirical
53 The common reference of all these words is to Sat, Existence, which is their primary import.
54 See Note on Samanādhikaranyam at the end.
