Aphorisms on Brahman 12.20

12.20

3-4-20
vāśabdo'vadhāraṇe; sarveṣāmāśramāṇāṃ vidhirevāyam| dhāraṇavat yathā |adhastātsamidhaṃ dhārayannanudravet |upari hi devebhyo dhārayati|ityanuvādarūpe'pyuparidhāraṇasyāprāptatvena vidhirāśrīyate; evamihāśramāṇāmapi| ataḥ ūrdhvaretassvapi vidyādarśanādvidyātaḥ puruṣārtha iti|| iti puruṣārthādhikaraṇam||

3-4-20
The word ‘or’ (vā) is for restriction; this is indeed an injunction of all the stages of life. As in the case of holding: just as in ‘Holding the firewood stick below, one should run behind; for he holds it above for the gods’, even though it is in the form of a restatement, an injunction is accepted because the holding above was not previously established; so too here regarding the stages of life. Therefore, because knowledge is observed even among the chaste, the human goal arises from knowledge. Thus ends the topical section on the human goal.