FOURTH ADHYÂYA.
PÂDA I.
Adhikarana I (1, 2).–The meditation on the Âtman enjoined by Scripture is not an act to be accomplished once only, but is to be repeated again and again.
Adhik. II (3).–The devotee engaged in meditation on Brahman is to view it as constituting his own Self.
Adhik. III (4).–To the rule laid down in the preceding adhikarana the so-called pratîkopâsanas, i.e. those meditations in which Brahman is viewed under a symbol or outward manifestation (as, for instance, mano brahmety upâsîta) constitute an exception, i.e. the devotee is not to consider the pratîka as constituting his own Self.
Adhik. IV (5).–In the pratîkopâsanas the pratîka is to be meditatively viewed as being one with Brahman, not Brahman as being one with the pratîka.–Râmânuga takes Sûtra 5 as simply giving a reason for the decision arrived at under Sûtra 4, and therefore as not constituting a new adhikarana.
Adhik. V (6).–In meditations connected with constitutives of sacrificial works (as, for instance, ya evâsau tapati tam udgîtham upâsîta) the idea of the divinity, &c. is to be transferred to the sacrificial item, not vice versâ. In the example quoted, for instance, the udgîtha is to be viewed as Âditya, not Âditya as the udgîtha.
Adhik. VI (7-10).–The devotee is to carry on his meditations in a sitting posture.–Sankara maintains that this rule does not apply to those meditations whose result is samyagdarsana; but the Sûtra gives no hint to that effect.
Adhik. VII (11).–The meditations maybe carried on at any time, and in any place, favourable to concentration of mind.
Adhik. VIII (12).–The meditations are to be continued until death.–Sankara again maintains that those meditations which lead to samyagdarsana are excepted.
Adhik. IX (13).–When through those meditations the knowledge of Brahman has been reached, the vidvân is no longer affected by the consequences of either past or future evil deeds.
Adhik. X (14).–Good deeds likewise lose their efficiency.–The literal translation of the Sûtra is, ‘There is likewise non-attachment (to the vidvân) of the other (i. e. of the deeds other than the evil ones, i. e. of good deeds), but on the fall (of the body, i.e. when death takes place).’ The last words of the Sûtra, ‘but on the fall,’ are separated by Sankara from the preceding part of the Sûtra and interpreted to mean, ‘when death takes place (there results mukti of the vidvân, who through his knowledge has freed himself from the bonds of works).’–According to Râmânuga the whole Sûtra simply means, ‘There is likewise non-attachment of good deeds (not at once when knowledge is reached), but on the death of the vidvân 1.’
Adhik. XI (15).–The non-operation of works stated in the two preceding adhikaranas holds good only in the case of anârabdhakârya works, i.e. those works which have not yet begun to produce their effects, while it does not extend to the ârabdhakârya works on which the present existence of the devotee depends.
Adhik. XII (16, 17).–From the rule enunciated in Adhik. X are excepted such sacrificial performances as are enjoined permanently (nitya): so, for instance, the agnihotra, for they promote the origination of knowledge.
Adhik. XIII (18).–The origination of knowledge is promoted also by such sacrificial works as are not accompanied with the knowledge of the upâsanas referring to the different members of those works.
Adhik. XIV (19).–The ârabdhakârya works have to be worked out fully by the fruition of their effects; whereupon the vidvân becomes united with Brahman.–The ‘bhoga’ of the Sûtra is, according to Sankara, restricted to the present existence of the devotee, since the complete knowledge obtained by him destroys the nescience which otherwise would lead to future embodiments. According to Râmânuga a number of embodied existences may have to be gone through before the effects of the ârabdhakârya works are exhausted.
PÂDA II.
This and the two remaining pâdas of the fourth adhyâya describe the fate of the vidvân after death. According to Sankara we have to distinguish the vidvân who possesses the highest knowledge, viz. that he is one with the highest Brahman, and the vidvân who knows only the lower Brahman, and have to refer certain Sûtras to the former and others to the latter. According to Râmânuga the vidvân is one only.
Adhik. I, II, III (1-6).–On the death of the vidvân (i.e. of him who possesses the lower knowledge, according to Sankara) his senses are merged in the manas, the manas in the chief vital air (prâna), the vital air in the individual soul (gîva), the soul in the subtle elements.–According to Râmânuga the combination (sampatti) of the senses with the manas, &c. is a mere conjunction (samyoga), not a merging (laya).
Adhik. IV (7).–The vidvân (i.e. according to Sankara, he who possesses the lower knowledge) and the avidvân, i.e. he who does not possess any knowledge of Brahman, pass through the same stages (i.e. those described hitherto) up to the entrance of the soul, together with the subtle elements, and so on into the nâdîs.–The vidvân also remains connected with the subtle elements because he has not yet completely destroyed avidyâ, so that the immortality which Scripture ascribes to him (amritatvam hi vidvân abhyasnute) is only a relative one.–Râmânuga quotes the following text regarding the immortality of the vidvân:
‘Yadâ sarve pramukyante kâmâ ye # sya hridi sthitâh
atha martyo # mrito bhavaty atra brahma samasnute,’
and explains that the immortality which is here ascribed to the vidvân as soon as he abandons all desires can only mean the destruction–mentioned in the preceding pâda–of all the effects of good and evil works, while the ‘reaching of Brahman’ can only refer to the intuition of Brahman vouchsafed to the meditating devotee.
Adhik. V (8-11) raises; according to Sankara, the question whether the subtle elements of which Scripture says that they are combined with the highest deity (tegah parasyâm devatâyâm) are completely merged in the latter or not. The answer is that a complete absorption of the elements takes place only when final emancipation is reached; that, on the other hand, as long as the samsâra state lasts, the elements, although somehow combined with Brahman, remain distinct so as to be able to form new bodies for the soul.
According to Râmânuga the Sûtras 8-11 do not constitute a new adhikarana, but continue the discussion of the point mooted in 7. The immortality there spoken of does not imply the separation of the soul from the body, ‘because Scripture declares samsâra, i. e. embodiedness up to the reaching of Brahman’ (tasya tâvad eva kiram yâvan na vimokshye atha sampatsye) (8).–That the soul after having departed from the gross body-is not disconnected from the subtle elements, is also proved hereby, that the subtle body accompanies it, as is observed from authority 1 (9).–Hence the immortality referred to in the scriptural passage quoted is not effected by means of the total destruction of the body (10).
Adhik. VI (12-14) is of special importance.–According to Sankara the Sûtras now turn from the discussion of the departure of him who possesses the lower knowledge only to the consideration of what becomes of him who has reached the higher knowledge. So far it has been taught that in the case of relative immortality (ensuing on the apara vidyâ) the subtle elements, together with the senses and so on, depart from the body of the dying devotee; this implies at the same time that they do not depart from the body of the dying sage who knows himself to be one with Brahman.–Against this latter implied doctrine Sûtra 12 is supposed to formulate an objection. ‘If it be said that the departure of the prânas from the body of the dying sage is denied (viz. in Bri. Up. IV, 4, 5, na tasya prâna utkrâmanti, of him the prânas do not pass out); we reply that in that passage the genitive “tasya” has the sense of the ablative “tasmât,” so that the sense of the passage is, “from him, i.e. from the gîva of the dying sage, the prânas do not depart, but remain with it.”–This objection Sankara supposes to be disposed of in Sûtra 13. ‘By some there is given a clear denial of the departure of the prânas in the case of the dying sage,’ viz. in the passage Bri. Up. III, 2, 11, where Yâgñavalkya instructs Ârtabhâga that, when this man dies, the prânas do not depart from it (asmât; the context showing that asmât means ‘from it,’ viz. from the body, and not ‘from him,’ viz. the gîva).–The same view is, moreover, confirmed by Smriti passages.
According to Râmânuga the three Sûtras forming Sankara’s sixth adhikarana do not constitute a new adhikarana at all, and, moreover, have to be combined into two Sûtras. The topic continuing to be discussed is the utkrânti of the vidvân. If, Sûtra 12 says, the utkrânti of the prânas is not admitted, on the ground of the denial supposed to be contained in Bri. Up. IV, 4, 5; the reply is that the sense of the tasya there is ‘sârîrât’ (so that the passage means, ‘from him, i.e. the gîva, the prânas do not depart’); for this is clearly shown by the reading of some, viz. the Mâdhyandinas, who, in their text of the passage, do not read ‘tasya’ but ‘tasmât.’–With reference to the instruction given by Yâgñavalkya to Ârtabhâga, it is to be remarked that nothing there shows the ‘ayam purusha’ to be the sage who knows Brahman.–And, finally, there are Smriti passages declaring that the sage also when dying departs from the body.
Adhik. VII and VIII (15, 16) teach, according to Sankara, that, on the death of him who possesses the higher knowledge, his prânas, elements, &c. are merged in Brahman, so as to be no longer distinct from it in any way.
According to Râmânuga the two Sûtras continue the teaching about the prânas, bhûtas, &c. of the vidvân in general, and declare that they are finally merged in Brahman, not merely in the way of conjunction (samyoga), but completely 1.
Adhik. IX (17).–Sankara here returns to the owner of the aparâ vidyâ, while Râmânuga continues the description of the utkrânti of his vidvân.–The gîva of the dying man passes into the heart, and thence departs out of the body by means of the nâdis; the vidvân by means of the nâdi called sushumnâ, the avidvân by means of some other nâdî.
Adhik. X (18, 19).–The departing soul passes up to the sun by means of a ray of light which exists at night as well as during day.
Adhik. XI (20, 21).–Also that vidvân who dies during the dakshinâyana reaches Brahman.