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AthraDHikaraNam 1-2-2



suthra-9-atthA characharagrahaNAth-1-2-9



The eater is Brahman because both movable and immovable are taken as His
food.



In katOpanishad  there is this text 'yasya brahma cha kshathram chObhE
bhavatha Odhanah; mrthyuryasyOpasEchanam ka ithTHA vedha sah, who thus
knows where He is, to whom the brAhmaNas and kshathriyas are but food
and the death is the condiment?'



The doubt here is thatwhether the 'eater' signified by 'He' is the
Brahman or the individual self. The view that it is the jiva  is
supported by the fact that the action of eating and enjoyment is suited
only to the individual self.



The suthra refutes this by saying that the food being the whole universe
of movable and immovable, signified by brAhmaNa and kshathriya,because
they are the foremost beings of creation, it means the absorption of the
universe and not the action of enjoying the food. Mrthyu, death is said
to be  the condiment because like the condiment which becomes the
inducement for eating the food while itself being eaten, the death
consumes everything while itself being consumed by Brahman.  The same
passage contains the text  'sOaDHvanah pAramApnOthi thadvishNOh paramam
padham, he reaches the end of journey and that is the the supreme abode
of Vishnu,' which, says Ramanuja, shows the annihilation by Parabrahman
,that is, Lord Vishnu, who is the cause of creation sustenance and
annihilation. Therefore the eater is Brahman and not the individual
self.





suthra-10-prakaraNAccha-1-2-10



Because of the subject of  the context.



The subject of the section in which the passage occurs is
Brahman.'mahAntham vibhum AthmAnam mathvA DHeerO na
sochathi,'(kaTa-1-2-22)  the wise one who knows the self as great and
all pervading does not grieve, and 'nAyam AthmA pravachanEna labhyah na
mEDHayA na bahunA sruthEna; yamaivEshavrnuthE thEna labhyah,' (KaTa.
1-2-23) this self cannot be gained by veda nor by intellect nor by
scriptural learning; only by him whom He chooses  can He be attained.
Thus it is shown that Brahman can be attained only through His own
grace.



There is a fresh objection that it is not the Brahman who is denoted
here but only the individual self because  of the later text in the same
upanishad 'rtham pibanthou sukrthasya lokE guhAm pravishtou paramE
parArDhye; cchAyAthapou brahmavidho vadhanthi,'(KaTa. 1-3-1) which means
the two who enter the cave,(cavity of the heart) in the highest world,
drinking the reward of their works,are called by those who know Brahman,
as the  light and the shadow. The two referred here must be the
individual soul and prANa or the intellect, because of the mention of
the fruits of karma, which cannot be enjoyed by Brahman. As
buddhi or prANa are the instruments of enjoyment to the individual self,
it is that which is mentioned in the passage. So to say that the subject
of the context is Brahman is not appropriate.The next suthra takes up
this point.





suthra11-guhAmpravishtouAthmAnouhi thaddharsanAth-1-2-11



The two entering the cave are jivAthma and paramAthma, individual self
and Brahman because it is so seen.



In this context only the individual self and Brahman are said to enter
the cave (of heart).'tham durdharsam gooDam anupravishTamguhAhitham
gaharEshTam purANam aDHyAthmayOgADHigamEna dhEvam mathvA DHeerO
harshasokou jahAthi.'(KATA.1-2-12) The wise,   meditating on the self
realise the ancient one who, entering into everything dwells in the 
cave of the heart and who is difficult to be seen, become free from joy
and sorrow.By this the brahman is mentioned as entering the cave and by
another text, 'yA prANEna sambhavathi adhithih dhevathAmayi; guhAm
pravisya thishTanthee yA boothEbhih vyajAyatha' (kAT.1-4-7) he who knows
adhithi who is one with the deities, who is born with the prANa,who,
entering into the heart abides therein,  also describes the individual
soul as entering the cave. Adhithi here means the individual soul
because it eats the fruits of karma (karmaphalAN atthi ithiadithih) and
the deities are the indriyas through which the jiva enjoys the
karmaphala. Hence the two entities mentioned in the passage 'rtham
pibanthou' are only jiva and Brahman.Though Brahman cannot be said to
enjoy the fruits of karma it is included in the term rtham pibanthou,
drinking the results of karma as in the expression 'cchathriNah
gacchanthi' 'umbrella bearers are going there' where some may be with
umbrella and some without but the epithet cchathriNah, umbrella bearers
is applied to the whole group.



suthra-12- viseshaNAccha-1-2-12



Also because of the distinctive qualities.



In the context mentioned the individual self and the Supreme Self are
denoted in the role of meditator and meditated, attainer and the
attained. the text 'brahmajajnam dhEvameedyam vidhithvA nichAyya imAm
shAnthim athyantham Ethi,(Kata.1-1-17) knowing the one who is born from
Brahman to be the one to be worshipped  the meditator obtains upreme
peace.' Here the word brahmaja is the individual self originating from
Brahman.The same is referred to as dhevam eedyam, deity to be worshipped
because of its being ensouled by Brahman. Again 'yah sEthureejAnAm
aksharam brahma yath param abhayam thitheershathAm pAram,'(kata.1-3-2)
that which is the bridge for the sacrificers, is the supreme
impersishable fearless brahma who is the shore for those who want to
cross over(the world),  indicates Brahman to be the object of
meditation. Another instance where the individual self and the Supreme
self are denoted as the attainer and the attained is in the text
'athmAnam raTHinam viddhi sariram raTHamEvacha'(Kata.1-3-3-) which
mentions the self as the one in a  chariot and the sarira as the
chariot, thus depicting jiva the meditator as the raTHee  it goes on
further to say 'vijnAna sAraTHiryasthu manah pragrahvAnnarah so adhvanah
pAramApnOthi thadvishnOh paramam padham.'(Kata. 1-3-9)This means, the
one who has intellect as his charioteer and holds the reins of the mind
reaches the end of his journey which is the abode of Vishnu. From this
the individual jiva is known to be the attainer and the brahman as the
attained. even in the context mentioned at the outset, the expression
cchAyAthapou,shade and light means the individual self  who is devoid of
knowledge and the supreme self who is omniscient.



Another doubt is raised on account of the section of the upanishad
mentioned which  begins with the doubt 'yEyam prEthevichikithsA manushye
astheethyEkE nAyamastheethyEke.' when a man departs from this world some
say he continues to exist and others say no. So the poorvapakshin argues
that the whole section must refer only to the individual soul.



Ramanuja gives arguments to prove that it is not so. The story goes like
this. NachikEthas , a young boy seeing his father giving away useless
objects like old cows to the brahmins after a sacrifice becomes worried
as to the effect of this action and repeatedly asks his father to whom
he( NachkEthas ) is going to be given.The irritated father said "to the
Lord of death." Not wishing to prove his father false Nachikethas goes
to the door of Yama who was out and waited three days for him.Yama on
returning, becomes worried on account of keeping a brahmin at his door
for three days waiting without food wants to give him three boons.



Ramanuja after relating this episode says that the  first boon asked
being his father's forgiveness  shows that the boy was aware of the
existence of the soul apart from the body.  The next one was  the
instruction in the agnividhya, knowledge of the sacrificial fire which
proves that he was aware of the experience of the soul after it leaves
the body and the last boon is the question 'Yeyam prethe' etc. and hence
it is about the state of the individual soul after it sheds the
embodiment, that is,  about moksha and not merely refers to leaving the
body after death.Therefore the question relates to the true nature of
release and of the Supreme self.



The doubt being arisen out of different schools of thought regarding the
reality and Nachikethas wanted the truth from Yama direct.

Then after testing him well, Yama gave him the highest knowledge which
Ramanuja outlines as follows:



Thrayyantha nishnAthAsthu-nikhila jagadhEka kAraNasya aseshahyeya
prathyaneeka ananthajnAnAnadhaikasvarupasya svAbhAvika anavaDHika
athisayaasankhyEya kalyana gunakarasya sakala itharavilakshaNasya
sarvAthmabhoothasya parasya brahmaNah sarirathayA prakArabhoothasya
anukoola aparicchinna jnana svarupasya paramAthmanubhavaikarasasya
jivasya anAdhikarmathirOhithasvarupasya avidhyA ucchEdhapoorvaka
svAbhavikaparamAthmAnubhavamEva moksham AchakshathE.



The meaning of the abova passage is as follows:

Those well versed in vedanta ( thrayyantha nishnAthAh-thryee denotes
veda and thrayyantha is vedantha) know that Moksha is the natural 
experience of Brahman preceded by the removal of anAdhi avidhya due to
karma by the jiva,  the nature of infinite knowledge of whom is
concealed by the beginningless avidhya, has for his essence the bliss
rising out of the experience of the Supreme  Brahman, whose sarira jiva
is, and who is the cause of the universe, devoid of imperfections,
possessed of infinite auspicious qualities, different from everything
else and the inner self of all.This is the end of atrhaDHikaraNam





























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