rahman.

The two next adhikara/n/as are of the nature of a digression. The
passage about the a@ngush/th/amatra was explained on the ground that the
human heart is of the size of a span; the question may then be asked
whether also such individuals as belong to other classes than mankind,
more particularly the Gods, are capable of the knowledge of Brahman: a
question finally answered in the affirmative.--This discussion leads in
its turn to several other digressions, among which the most important
one refers to the problem in what relation the different species of
beings stand to the words denoting them (Sutra 28). In connexion
herewith /S/a@nkara treats of the nature of words (/s/abda), opposing
the opinion of the Mima/m/saka Upavarsha, according to whom the word is
nothing but the aggregate of its constitutive letters, to the view of
the grammarians who teach that over and above the aggregate of the
letters there exists a super-sensuous entity called 'spho/t/a,' which is
the direct cause of the apprehension of the sense of a word (Adhik. IX;
Sutras 26-33).

Adhik. X (34-38) explains that /S/udras are altogether disqualified for
Brahmavidya.

Sutra 39 constitutes, according to /S/a@nkara, a new adhikara/n/a (XI),
proving that the pra/n/a in which everything trembles, according to
/K/a/th/a Up. II, 6, 2, is Brahman.--According to Ramanuja the Sutra
does not introduce a new topic but merely furnishes an additional reason
for the decision arrived at under Sutras 24, 25, viz. that the
a@ngus/th/amatra is Brahman. On this supposition, Sutras 24-39 form one
adhikara/n/a in which 26-38 constitute a mere digression led up to by
the mention made of the heart in 25.--The a@ngus/th/matra is referred to
twice in the Ka/th/a Upanishad, once in the passage discussed (II, 4,
12), and once in II, 6, 17 ('the Person not larger than a thumb'). To
determine what is meant by the a@ngus/th/matra, Ramanuja says, we are
enabled by the passage II, 6, 2, 3, which is intermediate between the
two passages concerning the a@ngus/th/matra, and which clearly refers to
the highest Brahman, of which alone everything can be said to stand in
awe.

The next Sutra (40) gives rise to a similar difference of opinion.
According to /S/a@nkara it constitutes by itself a new adhikara/n/a
(XII), proving that the 'light' (jyotis) mentioned in Ch. Up. VIII, 12,
3 is the highest Brahman.--According to Ramanuja the Sutra continues the
preceding adhikara/n/a, and