Manava Dharmashastra 1.7

1.7

yo'sāviti sarvanāmabhyāṃ sāmānyataḥ prasiddhamiva paraṃ brahmoddiśati | yo'sau vedānteṣvanyāsu cādhyātmavidyāsvitihāsapurāṇeṣu ca prasiddho vakṣyamāṇairdharmaiḥ sa eṣa prādurāsīdityatroktaḥ | svayamudbabhāvudbhūtaḥ śarīragrahaṇaṃ kṛtavān | bhātiranekārthatvādudbhavve vartate | athavā dīptyartha eva | svayamprakāśa āsīnnādityādyālokāpekṣaḥ | indriyāṇāmatīto'tīndriyam | avyayībhāvaḥ | atīndriyagrāhyaḥ suplupetisamāsaḥ | indriyāṇyatikramya gṛhyate, na kadācidindriyasya gocaraḥ | anyadeva tadyogajajñānaṃ yena gṛhyate | athavendriyāṇyatikrāntamatīndriyaṃ mana ucyate | parokṣatvādinidriyāṇāmaviṣayaḥ | tathā ca vaiśeṣikā 'yugapajjñānānutpattirmanaso liṅgami'tyānumānikatvaṃ manasaḥ pratipannāḥ | (nyāyasūtra 1|

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
‘He, who’—these two pronouns refer to something well-known, that is (in the present context) the ‘Supreme Brahman,’ he who is described, in the Vedanta texts as also in other philosophical systems, in the Itihāsas and Purāṇas, as having the qualities going to be described in the present verse.

‘He appeared by himself’—i.e. took a body for himself; the root ‘bhā,’ having several meanings, is here used in the sense of coming into existence; or, it may be taken in its usual sense of shining; the meaning being that he was self-effulgent, and did not need the light from the sun or other sources.

‘Atīndriya’ means that which is beyond the senses, the compound being taken as an Avyayībhāva; the compound ‘atīndriyagrāhyaḥ’ being included under the general rule of compounds formulated in Pāṇini’s Sūtra 2.1.4; the mean ing being that he is apprehended beyond the senses, he never comes within range of the senses; it is an entirely different kind of cognition, the intuitive cognition of the yogin, by which he is apprehended. Or, the compound ‘that which is beyond the senses’ may be taken as standing for the Mind, which, being imperceptible, is not perceived by the senses; it is for this reason that the Vaiśeṣikas have held Mind to be ‘cognisable by means of Inference,’ as stated in the Nyāya-sūtra (1.1.16)—‘The fact that cognitions do not appear simultaneously is indicative of the Mind.’ And it is by means of this Mind alone that the said Being is apprehended. Says the revered Vyāsa also—‘He is not perceptible by the eye, nor by the other senses; he is apprehended by means of the clear Mind, by persons endowed with subtle powers of cognition’;—i.e. not sullied by the defects of passion &c.;—by persons who have acquired the powers of subtle perception, by virtue of their being entirely devoted to the worship of the said Being.