Aphorisms on Brahman 4.2

4.2

ānumānikamapyekaiṣāmiti cenna śarīrarūpakavinyastagṛhīterdarśayati ca| kaṭhavallīṣu |indriyebhyaḥ parā hyarthā arthebhyaśca paraṃ manaḥ| manasaśca parā buddhirbuddherātmā mahānparaḥ|| mahataḥ paramavyaktamavyaktātpuruṣaḥ paraḥ| puruṣānna paraṃ kiñcitsā kāṣṭhā sā parā gatiḥ|| |ityatra kiṃ sāṅkhyoktaṃ pradhānamavyakta śabdābhidheyam, uta neti saṃśayaḥ| pradhānamiti pūrvaḥ pakṣaḥ, |mahataḥ paramityāditattantraprakriyāpratyabhijñānāt, |puruṣānna paraṃ kiñciditi pañcaviṃśakapuruṣāttiriktatattvaniṣedhācca| rāddhāntastu-- nāvyaktaśabdena pradhānamiha gṛhyate| pūrvatra |ātmānaṃ rathinaṃ biddhi śarīraṃ rathameva cetyādinā upāsanānirvattaye vaśvendriyatvāpādānāya, ye ātmaśarīrabuddhimanaindriyaviṣayāḥ, rathirathasārathipragrahahayagocaratvena rūpitā; teṣu vaśīkāryatve parāḥ|indriyebhyaḥ parā ityādinocyante; tatra cendriyādayaḥ svaśabdenaiva gṛhyante, rathatvena rūpitaṃ śarīramihāvyaktaśabdena gṛhyata iti neha tattantraprakriyāpratyabhijñāgandhaḥ| |avyaktātpurūṣaḥ para iti ca na pañcaviṃśakaḥ; api tu prāpyaḥ paramātmaiva| antaryāmitayopāsanasyāpyupāyabhūta iti sa iha vaśīkāryakāṣṭhātvena |puruṣānna paraṃ kiñcidityuktaḥ||

If it is objected that that which is inferential is also [taught] according to some, [we say:] no, because of its comprehension in the metaphor of the body; and [scripture] shows this. In the Kaṭhavallī, in the passage: "For the objects are higher than the sense-organs, and the mind is higher than the objects; and the intellect is higher than the mind, the great self is higher than the intellect; the unmanifest is higher than the great, the Person is higher than the unmanifest; nothing is higher than the Person; that is the goal, that is the supreme destination"—the doubt arises: is the pradhāna stated by the Sāṅkhyas designated here by the word "unmanifest", or not? The prima facie view is that it is the pradhāna, because of the recognition of the system of that doctrine in the words "higher than the great", etc., and because of the denial of any principle beyond the twenty-fifth principle, the person, in the words "nothing is higher than the Person". The established conclusion, however, is: the pradhāna is not apprehended here by the word "unmanifest". Earlier, in the passage beginning with "Know the self as the chariot-rider and the body as the chariot alone", for the sake of accomplishing meditation and bringing the senses under control, the self, the body, the intellect, the mind, the sense-organs, and the objects were represented as the chariot-rider, the chariot, the charioteer, the reins, the horses, and the roads. Among these, those that are "higher" in terms of needing to be brought under control are mentioned in the passage beginning with "higher than the sense-organs". And there, the senses and so forth are apprehended by their own names, while the body, which was represented as the chariot, is apprehended here by the word "unmanifest"; thus, there is not even a scent here of the recognition of the system of that doctrine. And in the statement "the Person is higher than the unmanifest", [the Person] is not the twenty-fifth [principle]; rather, he is the supreme Self alone who is to be attained. Being the means of meditation by virtue of being the inner ruler, he is spoken of here as the limit of what is to be brought under control in the words "nothing is higher than the Person".