antharADHikaraNam- 1-2-3
suthra-13- anthara upapattheh- 1-2-13
The person inside the eye is Brahman because it is appropriate.
The chandogya upanishad contains a text 'Ya Esho akshiNi purushah
dhrsyathe esha AtmEthi ho vacha ethadhamrtham Ethadhabhayam
ethadhbrahma.' The person seen inside the eye is the self, immortal,
fearless and Brahman. A doubt is raised as to whether the person
referred to is the reflection in the eye or the individual self or
the deity presiding over the eye or the Supreme self.
The poorvapakshin says it could be the person or the self reflected
in the eye because of the well known reference to the person and
also because it is seen. It may be the individual soul as by looking
into the eye it could be ascertained whether the soul is in the body
or not. Or, it could be the presiding deity of the eye as per the
text of Brhadharanyaka ( 5-5-2) which says 'rasmibhih ESHo asmin
prathishTithah,' meaning that the person seen in the Sun rests on the
person seen in the eye, who could be a special divine being.
This view is refuted by the suthra 'anthara upapattheh.' The person
seen inside the eye is only the Supreme self. for the text says that
He is immortal and fearless which could apply only to Brahman. The
text further goes on to say 'ethamsamyaghvAma ithyAchakshathE; Etham
hi sarvANi vAmAnyabhisamyanthi;Esha u Eva vAmaneeh;esha hi sarvANi
vAmAni nayathi;Esha u EvabhAmaneeh;Eshahi sarvEshu lOkeshu bhAthi.
The knowers of Brahman call Him as the centre of blessings as all
blessings come together in Him.He is the vehicle of blessings for He
carries all blessings. He is the vehicle of lights for He shines in
all regions. These qualities can be of Brahman only.
suthra-14-sTHAnAdhi vyapadhEsAscha-1-2-14
Because the abode etc . can be attributed only to Brahman.
He who abides in the eye is the supreme self as shown on the
passage 'ya cchakshushi thishTan chakshusha antharah------yah
chakshuh antharOyamayathi Esha tha AthmA antharyAmyamrthah'(Brhd.III-
vii-18) who is inside the eye and controls it ,He is the immortal
inner self. The word seen could very well be used with respect to
Brahman as the yogis are able to perceive Brahman in their meditation.
suthra-15- sukha visishtAbhiDHAnAdhEva cha-1-2-15
If only because of the reference to Brahman as bliss.
The subject matter of the section is only Brahman as indicated by
the text 'kam brahma kham brahma,' (Chan.IV -x-5) kam is sukha and
kham is AkAsa. The same Brahman is denoted as being inside the eye
for the purpose of meditation and also to show the characterstic of
consisting and leading all blessing as explained in the previous
suthra. The word Eva in the suthra shows the needlessness of any
other reason.
But an objection is raised here on account of the intervention of the
passage on the agnividhya between the text 'kam brahma'(chan.IV-x-5)
and the text about the person inside the eye (Chan.IV -xv-1). The
context is that of Upakosala who tended the fires in the absence of
his guru and the fires instructed him the agnividhya. The
instruction was about the medtitation on the fires and the fruit of
the meditation is mentioned as the attainment of a ripe old age and
prosperity of the descendents. So due to the break in the continuity
of the subject matter the person mentioned as being inside the eye
cannot be connected with the Brahman mentioned in the beginning
by 'kam brahma' etc.
This objection is not tenable because in both texts the word Brahman
is used. The instruction by the fires is only subordinate to that of
brahmavidhya because they say that the teacher will show him the way,
meaning the path to liberation as Upakosala was desirous of only
that, which his guru has not imparted to him before he went
away.Further the words of the fires ' EshA soumya thE asmadvidhya cha
Athma vidhya cha,' shows that the agnividhya is only susidiary to
Athmavidhya.
The fruits of the agnividhya specified are only by way of praise (
arTha vAdha).As the Athmavidhya should be properly obtained from his
guru only, the fires said 'achAryasthu thE gathim vaktha, the guru
will instruct you about the path.'
suthra-16-atha EVa cha sa brahma-1-2-16
Therefore it is Brahman.
To the objection as to how it can be ascertained that the words kam
brahma, kham brahma denote the Supreme self only as it could very
well be like pratheeka upasana such as name is Brahman and mind is
Brahman the suthra replies that the words kam and Kham inthe text do
not refer to the worldly pleasures and the AkAsa as symbols but what
it means is that the bliss is Brahman and the AkAsa is Brahman
because of the later text where it is mentioned that what is bliss is
AkAsa and what is AkAsa is bliss 'yadhEVa kam thadhEva kham,' by
which only Brhaman is meant.
Ramanuja elucidates on this. When the fires instructed
UpakOsala 'prANo brahma,kam brahma kham brahma,' he said that he
could understand prANa is Brahman but not about the ka and kha being
Brahman. PrANA being the body of Brahman 'prANasarirah' and as
Brahman has been denoted as the controller of prANA it was easy to
understand 'prANO brahma.' But the intention of the passage being not
prathikOpAsana but Athmavidhya UpakOsala fails to understand the
significance of ka and kha with reference to Brahman and has a doubt
whether the two has been mentioned as brahman because of their being
the sarira of brahman like the prANa or to convey the bliss that is
the essence of Brahman. Then the fires said to him 'yadhvA va kam
thadhEva kham, yadhEva kham thadhEva kam,' The meaning is that the
bliss , which is the nature of Brahman is unlimited and therefore it
is Brahman who is denoted by the text 'kam brahma kham brahma' and
the same Brahman is referred to later in the passage as the person
inside the eye.
suthra-17-sruthOpanishaadhkagathyabhiDHAnAccha-1-2-17
Also because of the mention of the way of those who know the
scriptures.
In Chan. IV-xv-5 it is said that the knowers of the person in the eye
go through the devayANa, the path of light, by which the knowers of
Brahman are said to proceed.'thE archisham Eva abhisambhavanthi,'
they go through the path of light . And later the path is described
as 'Esha dhEva paTHObrahmapaTHah' this is the divine path of Brahman.
So the person in the eye is Brahman only.
suthra-18-anavasTHithEh asambhavAcchnEtharah.
Not any other because of the impossibility of permanency of abode of
others.
The reflectes self does not stay in the eye always but only till the
person reflected stays in front. The individual self has its seat at
the heart and connected with all the indhriyas and hence its
residence in the eye is not correct. The text 'rasmibhih EshO asmin
prathishTithah,' imply the presence of the Supreme self through the
rays of illumination like the Sun in the eye and hence it is Brahman
only, also because the attributes like nirupAdhika amrthathva,
unconditioned immortality will apply only to brahman.
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