s
previously referred to; according to the latter it is approved
of.--Sutras 42 and 43, according to both commentators, raise objections
against the system; Sutra 42 being directed against the doctrine that
from the highest being, called Vasudeva, there is originated
Sa@nkarsha/n/a, i.e. the jiva, on the ground that thereby those
scriptural passages would be contradicted which teach the soul's
eternity; and Sutra 43 impugning the doctrine that from Sa@nkarsha/n/a
there springs Pradyumna, i.e. the manas.--The Sutra on which the
difference of interpretation turns is 44. Literally translated it runs,
'Or, on account of there being' (or, 'their being') 'knowledge and so
on, there is non-contradiction of that.'--This means, according to
/S/a@nkara, 'Or, if in consequence of the existence of knowledge and so
on (on the part of Sa@nkarsha/n/a, &c. they be taken not as soul, mind,
&c. but as Lords of pre-eminent knowledge, &c.), yet there is
non-contradiction of that (viz. of the objection raised in Sutra 42
against the Bhagavata doctrine).'--According to Ramanuja, on the other
hand, the Sutra has to be explained as follows: 'Or, rather there is
noncontradiction of that (i.e. the Pa/nk/aratra doctrine) on account of
their being knowledge and so on (i.e. on account of their being
Brahman).' Which means: Since Sa@nkarsha/n/a and so on are merely forms
of manifestation of Brahman, the Pa/nk/aratra doctrine, according to
which they spring from Brahman, is not contradicted.--The form of the
Sutra makes it difficult for us to decide which of the two
interpretations is the right one; it, however, appears to me that the
explanations of the 'va' and of the 'tat,' implied in Ramanuja's
comment, are more natural than those resulting from /S/a@nkara's
interpretation. Nor would it be an unnatural proceeding to close the
polemical pada with a defence of that doctrine which--in spite of
objections--has to be viewed as the true one.

PADA III.

The third pada discusses the question whether the different forms of
existence which, in their totality, constitute the world have an origin
or not, i.e. whether they are co-eternal with Brahman, or issue from it
and are refunded into it at stated intervals.

The first seven adhikara/n/as treat of the five elementary
substances.--Adhik. I (1-7) teaches that the ether is not co-eternal
with Brahman, but springs from it as its first effect.--Adhik. II (8)
shows that air springs from ether; Adhik.