History of Dharmashastra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India) v7.c99.330

v7.c99.330

Brahman, (vide under Creation); defined in Tai. Up. II. 1, 1424n; described as 'neti neti' (not this, not this) in Br. Up. II. 3. 6, IV. 2. 4-22, IV. 5. 15, III. 7. 26, 1504; distinction made in Upaniṣad texts between *saguṇa* br. that was for prayer and worship and *nirguṇa* brahma 1498; it is impossible to define what br. is, we can only say what it is not 1505; is said to be endowed with all powers in VS. and by Śaṅkarācārya, 1045, passages of Upaniṣads referring to *nirguṇa* br. cited, are Br. Up. III. 9. 26, IV. 4. 19 and 22, IV. 5. 15, Chān. Up. VII. 24. 1, Śv. Up. VI. 19, Kaṭha IV. 10-11; para br. is conceived as beyond space, time and causality 1505n; real truth (pāramārthika satya) about br. is that it is one, that everything in the world (men, animals, matter) is br. 1498-99; śāstras (Vedānta texts) are sources of the correct knowledge of br and that they are agreed that their purport is to establish that br. 1484-85; seeker after br. reaches it by the practice of truthfulness, tapas, saṁyag-jñāna and brahmacarya, acc. to Muṇḍaka, 1423; story of Bādhva conveying idea of br. to Bāṣkali by remaining silent 1505; Tai. Br. describes br. as the tree from which heaven and earth were chiselled out 1489n; when it is said that the world is non-different from *brahman*, it is not meant that they are identical, but the meaning is that the individual selves and the world are not entirely different from *brahman* 1510.