The System of the Vedanta according to Badarayana's Brahma-Sutras and Cankara's Commentary c6.s3.t5: 5. Brahman as Bliss

The System of the Vedânta according to Bâdarâyana's Brahma-Sûtras and Çankara's Commentary c6.s3.t5

Language: English

5. Brahman as Bliss

Brahman is the inmost essence of man.—This thought is exhibited in the second part of the Taittirîya Upanishad by the theory (which plays a large part in the later Vedântasâra, but not yet in Bâdarâyaṇa and Çaṅkara) of the different coverings (koça), by which our Self is surrounded, and through which we must break, in order to reach the inmost essence of our nature, and thereby the Brahman.

c6.s3.t5.3

After Taitt. 2, 1 has briefly explained, how from the Âtman the ether proceeded, from this the wind, from this the fire, from this the waters, from these the earth, from this plants, from these food, from this seed, from this man, and further it is said: this man consists of food (annarasamaya), in this self of food indwells, another, filling it, the Self of breath (prâṇamaya), in this again the self of understanding (manomaya), in this the self of intellect (vijñânamaya), in this lastly, as inmost, the self of bliss (ânandamaya). For each of these five sheath-like selves, indwelling one in the other, are distinguished and specified (perhaps while the form of a bird is present to the thought) the head, the right and left sides (wings), the body, and "the support (literally: the tail), the base." In the case of the self of food, these parts are formed by the parts of the body, in the case of the self of breath, by the vital spirits with the ether (in the heart) and the earth, for the self of understanding by the four Vedas and the Upanishads (âdeça), for the self of intellect by faith, truth, right, piety (yoga) and lordship; for the self of bliss it is said finally: "Love [literally: what is dear] is his head, joy "his right side, rejoicing his left side, bliss his body, Brahman "his support, his base" (Taitt. 2, 5).

c6.s3.t5.4

In this passage, according to Bâdarâyaṇa's Sûtras and the accompanying interpretation, by the "self of bliss" we are to understand Brahman; as is proved p. 116 from the connection of the passage, and from the frequent description of Brahman as bliss in the Taitt. Up. and elsewhere (Bṛih. 3, 9, 28), and finally, because it is spoken of as the innermost of all. The word "of bliss" do not here mean "made of bliss," but indicate only the fulness of the bliss of Brahman (1, 1, 13 p. 117), which is the source of all bliss (1, 1, 14 p. 118). Neither the individual soul (1, 1, 16—17 p. 119—120) nor the primordial matter of the Sâṅkhyas (1, 1, 18 p. 121) can be understood here, from the connection of the whole; moreover the union of the individual soul with the being "of bliss" is required (1, 1, 19, p. 121—122) in the words of Taitt. Up. 2, 7: "For "when one finds his resting-place and peace in this invisible, "bodiless, ineffable, unfathomable [literally: baseless], then he "has entered into peace; but if on the contrary, he assumes "a hollow in this [as in the four others]—[Commentary: if he "makes a difference between himself and this], then has he "unrest; it is the unrest of him, who thinks himself wise."

c6.s3.t5.5

But in direct contradiction to this interpretation, (which is to be applied when the subject is resumed 3, 3, 11—13) another explanation of the Upanishad passage is introduced at the end of our extract by the words: "Here, however, the following is to be noted," (p. 122, 9) explaining that the interpretation of -maya as "consisting of" and then as "having the fulness,” is as inconsequent as if one had only half-digested his food,⁷² and then, entering into the discussion, declares that it is not by the “self of bliss” that Brahman is to be understood, but only by that which is indicated as “its support, its basis;” the self of bliss is not yet the kernel, but only the inmost shell, of which, therefore, we should have counted not four but five (p. 123, 10: annamaya-âdaya’ ânandamaya-paryan-tâh pañca koçâh kalpyante). In conclusion, the representative of this opinion gives an explanation—extremely forced—of the sûtras in his sense.

c6.s3.t5.6

⁷² p. 122, 13: arddha-jaratîya-nyâyena; similarly p. 176, 11: na tatra arddha-jaratîyam (with this reading) labhyam. Differently and very naïvely Govinda explains the latter passage: arddham, mukhamâtram, jaratyâ vriddhâyâh kâmayate, na aṅgâni, iti, so ’yam arddhajaratîya-nyâyah.

c6.s3.t5.7

As both interpretations agree in recognising Bliss (ânanda) as the being of Brahman, this difference is of no particular consequence for our purpose. But it is interesting for the literary character of our work, as well as for the history of the Vedânta, that here in Çaṅkara’s commentary two opinions stand side by side, of which, as it seems to us, the former alone corresponds to the text of the Upanishads and Bâdarâyaṇa’s Sûtras, while on the side of the latter are ranged the Commentary to the Taittirîya-Upanishad, which goes under Çaṅkara’s name, as well as the Vedântasâra, which likewise interprets the self of bliss as only a shell (Vedântasâra, § 56, ed. Boehtl.) and thus counts five shells on which, in combination with the three Guṇas of the Sâṅkhya Philosophy, the whole of its psychology is built up.

c6.s3.t5.8

Either the latter interpretation is due to a later interpolator, not to Çaṅkara, in which case the Commentary to the Taittirîya-Upanishad also must not be attributed to him (cf. in it p. 25, 14 sushumnâ, and above note 8);—or it is Çaṅkara’s: in the latter case, we may suppose that he copied the first interpretation given to the separate Sûtras from an earlier commentator (a possibility, which would be of great importance for the character of his whole work, cf. notes 17. 45), or we can also suppose, that Çaṅkara disagrees with Bâdarâyaṇa here, that he therefore interprets the Sûtras first in Bâdarâyaṇa's sense, and then rejects this interpretation, in order to give another in its place in the sense of which he finally interprets the Sûtras as the standard authority of the school, consciously changing their original meaning.

Cites (3)

Taittirīyopaniṣad — Sanskrit
Vedāntasāra — Sadānanda Yogīndra, Sanskrit
Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad — Sanskrit