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Please read the suthra 1-1-5 as 'eekshthEr nAsabdham' instead of 'nAsabdhAth.' 
It should be broken into 'eekshatheh na asabdham.' Sorry for the error.
  Saroja Ramanujam

sarojram18 <sarojram18@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
          
EEkshathyaDHikaraNam

EekshathernAsabdhAth-1-1-5

It is not, not being found in the scriptures asabdham because of the 
word 'eekshathe' etc, eekshatheh.

After establishing that Brahman shown as the cause of the world by 
sruthi texts like 'yatho vA imAni bhoothAni jAyanthe,' the enquiry of 
Brahman,who is omniscient, possessing of infinite auspicious 
qualities has been affirmed by the first four suthras. Now the view 
of the sAnkhya school of philosophy who ascribe, the causality of the 
world through inference, to the inanimate pradhana,the premordial 
nature, is taken up for refutation.

In the Chandogya text, 'sadhEva soumya idham agra Aseeth ekamEva 
adhvitheeyam, thadhaikshatha bahusyam prajAyEya ,thatthejo 
asrjatha, 'sath' , 'Being,' alone was in the beginning ,one only 
without a second; it willed to become many and created fire,' the 
word 'Being' is defined as Brahman by the vedantic schools. But here 
the opponent, sAnkhyan raises a doubt as to whether the word 'sath' 
refers to the pradhAna , inferred as the cause of the world.

The view of the sankhya is as follows:
All this world except the sentient self is made up of prakrthi which 
is constituted of three guNas satthva,rajas and thamas.When the three 
gunas are in equilibrium,sAmayAvastha there is no creation but the 
premordial prakrthi exists in its unmanifest state.This is denoted by 
the word 'sath' in the Chandogya passage. Then, (in the proximity of 
purusha, the individual self) the gunas start combining and the 
evolution when, from mahat or buddhi till the gross elements takes 
place. This is indicated by the sentence 'it willed to become many.' 

Sankhyan justifies his stand by saying 'karaNabhootha dravyasya 
avstTHAnthara ApatthirEva kAryatha.' The effect is non-different 
from the cause, being another state of existence of the cause. The 
fact that the world came from prkrthi is proved by the subsequent 
text,'vachArambhaNam vikarah namaDHEyam mrthikEthyEva sathyam, that 
is, the mud alone is true and the various forms like pot etc are only 
modifications like the gold ornaments or articles made of iron in 
which only the gold and iron are the real essence. Further the 
opponent argues that the promissory statement of 'ekavjnAnEna sarva 
vijnAnam' will be meaningful only if the material cause of the world 
is prakrthi made up of three gunas, the modifications of which, is 
everything in this world. Therefore the text referring to the 
origination of the world from 'sath,' points out only to pradhAna, 
the premordial nature, that is the unmanifest prakrthi, to be the 
cause of the world.

This view, says Ramanuja, is refuted by this 
suthra 'eekshathErnAsabdhAth.' PradhAna which is AnumAnikam, 
established through inference, and not a valid testimony, is not 
mentioned by the sruthi as the cause of the world because of the use 
of the verb 'eeksh, to will ' in the passage in connection with the 
activity of 'sath,' the 'Being.' The action of willing can be 
ascribed only to a sentient entity, which the pradhAna is not. 
Therefore the term 'sath' can denote only the omniscient omnipotent 
Supreme Person, the Brahman. Thus in all places where creation is 
mentioned we find texts like ' sa eekshatha lOkAnnu srjAa ithi,sa 
imAn lo kAn asrjatha,'(Aitr.Aran.II-4-1-2) and 'sa eekshAm chakre sa 
prANam asrjatha,(pras.6-3) He created them and He willed to create 
the worlds and He willed and created the vital air.'

It is true ,says Ramanuja , that the effect must be of the nature of 
the cause. That is why the omniscient , omnipotent Supreme Being of 
infallible will ,the inner Self of all is cited as the cause with the 
sentient and insentient beings in their subtle state forming His 
sarira. This is illustrated by the texts such as 'parAsya sakthih 
viviDHAiva srooyathe svAbhAvikee jnanabalkriya cha,(svet.6-8) His 
supreme power is manifold and His action, power and knowledge is His 
inherent nature.' and 'yasya avyaktham sariram yasya aksharam sariram 
yasya mrthyussariram Esha sarvabhoothAntharathma,(subal.VII) of whom 
the unmanifest is the body, of whom the imperishable is the body, of 
whom death is the body,He is the innerself of all.' 

The argument that the promissory statement and the example given 
point out only to pradhAna as the cause of the world through 
inference is refuted by Ramanuja saying that there is no reason 
given for the inference to make it valid. The example given is only 
to confirm the possibility of 'EkavijANena sarva vijnAnam,' the 
knowledge of everything by knowing about one thing, which is the 
effect of the cause like everything else.

The next suthra is in answer to the argument of the opponent that 
the word 'eekshatha, willed' can be taken, not in the primary sense, 
but in the secondary sense, gouNA, as in the case of the expressions 
like 'thathEja aikshatha, thA Apah aikshantha, the fire willed and 
the water willed, ' in which the activity of the sentient being is 
ascribed to the nonsentient figuratively. Thus the action of willing 
can refer to pradhAna also.



         


                  May god bless you,
        
                 Dr.  Saroja Ramanujam, M.A., Ph.D, Siromani in sanskrit.
  










                
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