________________
I ADHYAYA, 2 PÂDA, 25.
145
he has entered into a different state (viz. into the state of being the Self of the threefold world); represents him, in fact, for the purpose of meditation, as the internal Self of everything. As such the absolute Self may be represented, because it is the cause of everything ; for as the cause virtually contains all the states belonging to its effects, the heavenly world, and so on, may be spoken of as the members of the highest Self.—Moreover, the result which Scripture declares to abide in all worlds—viz. in the passage, ' He eats food in all worlds, in all beings, in all Selfs'—is possible only if we take the term Vaisvânara to denote the highest Self. The same remark applies to the declaration that all the sins are burned of him who has that knowledge, Thus all his sins are burned,' &c. (Kh. Up. V, 24, 3).—Moreover, we meet at the beginning of the chapter with the words 'Self' and 'Brahman;' viz. in the passage, What is our Self, what is Brahman?' Now these are marks of Brahman, and indicate the highest Lord only. Hence he only can be meant by the term Vaisvånara.
25. (And) because that which is stated by Smriti (i. e. the shape of the highest Lord as described by Smriti) is an inference (i. e. an indicatory mark from which we infer the meaning of Sruti).
The highest Lord only is Vaisvânara, for that reason also that Smriti ascribes to the highest Lord only a shape consisting of the threefold world, the fire constituting his mouth, the heavenly world his head, &c. So, for instance, in the following passage, 'He whose mouth is fire, whose head the heavenly world, whose navel the ether, whose feet the earth, whose eye the sun, whose ears the regions, reverence to him the Self of the world.' The shape described here in Smriti allows us to infer a Sruti passage on which the Smriti
ests, and thus constitutes an inference, i. e, a sign indicatory of the word 'Vaisvânara ' denoting the highest Lord. For, although the quoted Smriti passage contains a glorification',
' And as such might be said not to require a basis for its statements.
(34)
Digitized by
Digized by Google
