Notes on Brahmasuutra-I-i-1-1

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Notes on Brahmasutra IV

(Notes on BSB: I-i-1-1A)

 

 

sadaashiva samaarambhaa.n sha~Nkaraachaarya madhyamam.h |

asmadaachaarya paryantaa.n vande guruparamparaam.h ||

 

I prostrate to the lineage of teachers starting from Lord Shiva who is ever

auspicious and with Bhagavaan Shankara in the middle and all the way up to

my own teacher.

 

vaatsalya ruupa.n triguNairatiitaM

aananda saandram amalairnidhaanam.h .|

shrii chinmayaananda guro praNiitaM

sadaa bhaje.aha.n tava paada pa~Nkajam.h ||

 

Who is the very embodiment of motherly affection who is beyond the three

guNa-s, who is full with bliss, and who is the very source of purity who is

the best among the teachers, Shree Chinmayaananda, to his lotus feet I

(sadaa) always prostrate.

------------------

samanvaya adhyaaya - I

spashhTa brahma li~Nga vaakya samanvaya paada- i

jij~naasaa adhikaraNa 1

suutra 1: athaato brahma jij~naasaa

 

( A note for the readers: The discussion is done very elaborately and some

parts are somewhat technical and some are rather general. One could have

condensed the notes avoiding subtle technical points, and emphasize only its

essential aspects. In that process we could miss a lot. Even if one finds

some redundancy, I feel it is important to go through the arguments and

counter arguments to be familiar with the logic and the depth to which the

analysis was done by Shankara Bhagavat paada before one studies criticisms

of Shankara Bhaashhyam by other bhaashhyakaara-s. References to shruti's

statements and some sloka-s are incomplete and any help in completing the

references are most welcome. As stated in the beginning, the notes follow

closely the lectures of H.H. Swami Paramaarthaanandaji of Chennai. I am

deeply indebted to him.

 

Notes Designation: While the Bhaashhyam is discussed under chapter IV - to

follow which suutra we are discussing, from now on, we will use the

following designation - For example for sutra 1 we use the designation as

I-i-1-1. The first Roman number designates that it is first of the four

adhyaaya-s, the second lower case Roman number designates that it is first

paada of the adhyaaya, the third number designates that it is the first

adhikaraNa and last number designates the suutra in that adhikaraNa. Since

the suutra will be discussed in more than one post, we will use the letter

designations A ,B, C, etc., to the suutra number for easy identification

during discussions. Following this notation this post is designated as

Notes BSB-I-i-1-1A)

 

This is the first adhyaaya called samanvaya meaning consistency. The

significance of samanvaya will be discussed later. The first paada in this

adhyaaya has a big name and is called 'spashhTa brahma li~Nga vaakya

samanvaya paada'. The significance of this title will also be discussed

later. Each adhikaraNam or topic is also given a name. The name of the

topic will be based on the first suutra in that adhikaraNa. The first

adhikaraNa is called jij~naasaa adhikaraNam, based on the first suutra -

athaato brahma jij~naasaa. The number of suutra-s in a topic can vary from

one to many, and in this very first adhikaraNa, there is only one suutra.

>From now on in the study of each suutra, we will strictly follow a

three-step procedure: First, a general analysis of the suutra will be

provided. Second, the word analysis of the suutra is done

taking each word in the order it is given in the suutra. And finally, a

conclusion of the suutra is provided bringing out any special aspects

involved.

 

1. General Analysis of the first suutra:

 

This suutra happens to be an introduction to vedaanta shaastram, or

Brahmavidya. This is like upodghaata or anubandha or preface to the text,

which is required for every shaastram. This suutra cannot be considered as

out side the text nor inside the text - it is

the connecting link to the outside and the inside like a door of a house.

Hence it is called anubandhaH, a pre-appendix, attached to the shaastra as

an integral part but not part of the shaastra, similar to the first chapter

of Geeta. The shaastra begins from the second

suutra only just as Geeta starts with the second chapter.

 

2 The content of the suutra:

 

According to our tradition for any shaastra, the introductory shloka should

discuss four-fold factors called anubandha chatushhTayam. (These four

factors, anubandha chatushhTayam, should not be confused with the four-fold

qualifications, saadhana chatushhTayam, required for a seeker. These two

chatushhTayam-s will be discussed with reference to this suutra, and the

reader should be aware of the difference between the two). This anubandha

chatushhTayam is stated simply in a sloka form as:

 

adhikaariishcha vishhayaH sambandhashcha prayojanam.h |

shaastraarambha phalaM proktam anubandha chatushhTayam.h ||

 

The shloka just provides the list of the four factors that constitute the

anubandha chatushhTayam. The first suutra or shloka in a text should

present these four factors. The four factors are: 1. adhikaarii - or

qualified student - who is qualified to study the text,

here the Brahmasuutra-s? 2. The second factor is vishhayah - the subject

matter. 3 The third one is 'prayojanam'- what is the benefit of studying

the suutra-s? and 4 the fourth is the sambandhaH, the relationship. This is

similar to preface in a textbook, where the

author discusses to whom the text is written, the contents and the benefit.

 

For the study of Brahmasuutra, who is the adhikaari or qualified student?

Shankara says the one who has saadhana chatushhTayam or the one who has the

four-fold qualifications is the adhikaari or the qualified student. Nowhere

in the ten upanishhads one can find

directly mentioning of saadhana chatushhTayam as qualifications. How did

Sankara come up with these four-fold qualifications? - It is based on

Brahmasuutra only. On that basis he wrote Tattvabodha which defines these

four-fold qualifications. All other prakarana grantha-s contain an

elaborate discussion of these. The four-fold qualifications are 1. viveka,

discrimination to remove the superimposed error or adhyaasa, 2. vairaagyam

or dispassion - considering all other pursuits to be subservient to this

main pursuit, which is the removal of adhyaasa, 3. shaTka sampattiH - the

six-fold inner discipline: (a) shama, mind control, (b) dama, sense

control, © uparama, reduction of extrovertedness (withdrawal), (d)

titikshaa, forbearance (capacity to ignore discomforts in life), (e)

shraddhaa, faith in guru, scriptures and God and (f) samaadhaanam

(concentration) or commitment to the goal. and 4. mumukshutvam or desire

for moksha. The benefit of having these four-fold qualification is to be

qualified to the study of Brahmasuutra - He is the adhikaarii or a

qualified student.

 

The second factor that should be provided in the introduction - it is

vishhayaH, the subject matter. For Brahmasuutra as the name shows Brahman is

the subject matter of the suutra-s. It has to be understood from advaitin's

point that when we use Brahman, we are not using Brahman as a new substance,

which is revealed by Vedanta. Brahman is the new status of the student or

the listener or the aatma. It is not a new thing but my own higher status,

paraa prakR^iti. Thus whenever we talk about Brahman it should be understood

as aatmanaH brahmatvam, the brahman status of my own self is the subject

matter.

 

The third factor is prayojanam - What benefit do I get for studying Vedanata

shaastra through Brahmasuutra? When I know the Brahman status of mine, the

benefit is that I will negate the abrahman or non-Brahman status of mine,

which is due to error. For example, when I come to know that 'this is a

rope', what benefit I have of knowing the 'ropeness'? In the process of

knowing that 'this is a rope', the prior misconception that 'this is a

snake' goes away or displaced by the knowledge of the truth of the object.

Thus 'ropeness' knowledge displaces the prior 'snakeness' misconception.

It is replaced only because it is a misconception and not real knowledge. If

it is real, it will not be replaced. Similarly 'Brahmatvam' knowledge (the

knowledge of Brahmatvam status of mine) displaces the 'jiivatvam' (the

knowledge of jiivatvam status of mine) misconception. This is stated simply

as "brahmatva j~naanena jiivatva nivR^ittiH prayojanam |" Jiivatva is the

same as samsaara. samsaara nivR^itti is otherwise called moksha or

liberation. Moksha is the freedom from the sense of limitation, sense of

smallness or sense of inadequacy.

 

The fourth factor is sambandha or relationship. The immediate question that

arises is relation between what and what? In this context, the relationship

is between the textbook and the subject matter. We call the relationship as

'pratipaadya pratipaadaka sambandhaH' (a poor translation of this is

object-subject relationship) - Brahman and Brahmasuutra have got the

pratipaadya pratipaadaka sambandha - It is a technical factor and can be

understood as follows. There is a rule that a topic can be considered as a

subject matter of a book only if the topic is discussed as the central theme

of the book. If the topic is discussed casually as a side-subject, it cannot

be taken as the central theme of the book. For example in the Bhagavad

Geeta there is a discussion on one's diet. From that we cannot say 'diet'

is the subject mater of the Geeta. Since diet is not the central theme,

Geeta and the diet do not have pratipaadya pratipaadaka sambandha. Then what

is the central theme of Geeta? One can say aatma vidyaa or Brahmavidya is

the central theme. This is explicitly stated at the end of each chapter;

brahmavidyaayaa.n yogashaastre shrii krishhNaarujana sa.nvaade..., etc. With

Geeta, Brahmavidya has pratipaadya-pratipaadaka sambandha. This may be

translated into English as revealer-revealed relationship. This aspect

becomes more clear when one discusses the various arguments in terms of what

is the central theme of Brahmasuutra.

 

As mentioned above the anubandha chatushhTayam, the four fold-factors, are

required for any text as the contents of its introductory sloka. But this

anubandha chatushhTayam is not directly revealed by the first suutra. In the

first suutra that says - 'athaato brahma jij~naasaa', there is no direct

mention of adhikaarii etc., in the suutra. Hence the anubandha chatushhTayam

is not the direct meaning of the suutra but it is only an implied meaning of

the suutra. This is called in Sanskrit 'aarthika arthaH' or indirect or

implied meaning. If so, then what is the direct meaning of the suutra?

 

The direct meaning of the suutra, 'athaato brahma jij~naasaa', is

'thereafter, therefore, Brahman inquiry (should be done)'. Incidentally we

should be aware that Shree Vyaasaachaarya is not discussing a new

philosophy, unlike saankhya, nyaaya, vaisheshhika etc., wherein the authors

are propounding a new system of philosophy. Vyaasa's aim is to extract the

philosophy, which is contained in the Upanishads. Hence whenVyaasaachaarya

writes a suutra, he has got some Upanishhad mantra-s or sloka-s in his mind.

To understand the right meaning of the suutra, we should know what is the

upanishhadic mantra-s he had in his mind. Then only we will know what is

the import of the suutra. This is very much required here since suutra

happens to be a very cryptic statement. So when we study a suutra, we

should be aware of what upanishhadic statement Vyaasaachaarya had in his

mind in formulating the suutra. That relevant upanishhadic statement

pertaining to a given suutra is called 'vishhaya vaakyam'. Hence every

suutra must have a vishhaya vaakyam. Unfortunately Vyaasaachaarya does not

say what is the vishhaya vaakyam of a given suutra. It becomes important,

therefore to take the help of commentators. Without bhaashhyam one cannot

know the vishhaya vaakyam-s of many suutra-s. Fortunately Bhagavaan

Shankara has laid a royal path for us to follow suutra-s closely in

conjunction with the advaitic interpretation. How did Shankara knew the

vishhaya vaakyam or relevant upanishhadic statements? He claims that he

learned from his teacher, and who in turn learned from his teacher, etc., -

thus a guruparampara traced all the way to Vyaasaachaarya. Hence the

invocation of the lineage of teachers at the very beginning of each notes.

A teacher of sampradaaya is emphasized in Vedanta.

 

On that basis, what is the vishhaya vaakya for suutra one? There are three

Upanishhadic sentences on which this suutra is based: 1. First and the

foremost one is from taittiriiya upanishad 3-1. 'tad vijij~naasaasva' based

on which Brahmasuutra says 'athaa to brahma jij~naasaa'. In that

Upanishad, the student 'bhR^igu' is being told by his teacher, VaruNa, that

he should know or conduct Brahman inquiry, if he wants peace, or fulfillment

and security, which are the basic needs of anyone's life. If the problems

in life are to be eliminated or samsaara to be removed, the teacher says,

know Brahman or inquire into the nature of Brahman. In the Upanishhad, the

statement is in imperative mood - vijij~naasasva - 'you should know' -

indicating that there is no other alternative to solve the problem at hand

than knowledge of Brahman. People say in Kaliyuga it is very difficult to

follow any yoga, and it is enough to chant the name of the Lord - naama

sa.nkiirthanam and that will take one beyond the ocean of samsaara. Here

VaruNa in the Upanishad and Vyaasa in Brahmasuutra are very specific. One

should know Brahman or one should inquire into the nature of Brahman. Hence

'chanting of the name of the Lord' may be helpful to quiten the mind so

that Brahman inquiry can be done - It is the preparatory to the knowledge

and hence for Moksha, but it is not the primary means or sufficient means

to gain the knowledge required for Moksha. Upanishhad makes it very clear

that if one wants Moksha - tad vijij~naasasva, 'you should know Brahman'.

Nowhere in the Upanishad it says that this is only relevant in kR^ita or

tretaa or dvaapara yuga-s but in a kaliyuga, knowledge is not required and

chanting is enough or one can get liberated with some kunDalini raising,

etc. Upanishhad does not specify any specific yuga or time or place. From

this it is very clear that irrespective of what yuga it is - for liberation

j~naanam is the only means since problem is centered on adhyaasa or error

which is based on ignorance. From this it is clear the Brahmasuutras and the

Vedanta teaching that it points out are eternally true since they talk

about eternal knowledge and not temporal or relative knowledge.

 

The second vishhaya vaakyam is from Chandogya Upanishad 8-7-1. '...saH

vijij~naasitavyaH ...' Here also .'..tavyaH' is an imperative statement

implying that 'you have to know' - no short cuts. It is similar to that of

taittiriiya statement. Only difference is in T.U. the word 'tat' is in

neuter gender and in Ch. U. it is 'saH' in masculine gender - tat refers to

Brahman and saH refers to paramaatma, both are one and the same, from the

point of the seeker - sat chit aananda swaruupam.

 

The third vishhaya vaakyam is from Brihadaaranyaka Upanishhad 2-4-5. This

occurs in the famous Maitreyii Braahmanam where sage-husband YaJNavalkya

while teaching his wife Maitreyi provides a long discourse with the central

theme that 'aatmanastu kamaaya sarvam priyam bhavati', giving a big list

saying that nobody loves anybody. Everybody loves oneself alone. Hence

'self' alone is the object of love and since everybody loves only that which

is the source of maximum happiness, 'self' alone is the ananda swaruupaH -

happiness or bliss itself. Whatever is the object of love is of the nature

of ananda or happiness. Upanishhad says 'aatma alone is loved by everyone'.

How do we know that? When crucial things come we are ready to drop one by

one for the sake of oneself. A person disowns his own children, the moment

the child disobeys him. Husband disowns wife, wife disowns husband. Both

owning and disowning are only for one's happiness. What one is longing for

is one's happiness and Upanishhad says that happiness is one's own self.

Hence discovering eternal happiness requires self-discovery. Having

presented this elaborately YaaJNavalkya tells his wife Maitreyi 'aatmaa vaa

are drashhTavyaH, shrotavyaH, manthavyaH, nidhidhyaasavyaH’ - aatma alone

has to be seen, heard, thought about, and contemplated upon - therefore

aatman inquiry should be done.

 

Thus in all three Upanishhads - taittiriiya, chhaandogya and

bR^ihadaaraNyaka - Brahman inquiry is emphasized. In keeping with those

Upanishhadic portions Vyaasaachaarya condenses all of them and says -

athaato brahma jij~naasaa.

 

The suutra is grammatically incomplete and to emphasize the inquiry should

be done and to complete it grammatically we add at the end of the suutra a

word - karthavyaa. Hence the full suutra should read as: ‘athaato brahma

jij~naasaaa kartavyaa’, thereafter, therefore, Brahman inquiry should be

done

 

This is the direct meaning of the suutra. This direct meaning we revise a

little bit. If one has to do Brahman inquiry, it cannot be done

independently since Brahman is not available as an object in front of us

for one to study - like the study of microbiology or chemistry etc. Hence

independent inquiry of Brahman cannot be done. We need to use the

'Upanishhad microscope'. In one of the mantras it is said 'sarvaM

brahmopanishhadam' - Brahman is given the title as aupanishhadam to

indicate that Brahman can be inquired using Vedanta. Hence we can replace

the Brahman inquiry with the word 'vedantic inquiry' - Hence Brahma

jij~naasaa is equal to 'vedaanta shaastra vichaaraH' - Hence the suutra

will mean as 'athaato vedanta vichaara kartavyaH' - for what purpose? - for

Brahma j~naanam - for the knowledge of Brahman. Hence the revised meaning

of the suutra is 'thereafter, therefore, vedantic inquiry should be done

for Brahma j~naanam'. This is the revised direct meaning of the first

suutra.

 

Some technical considerations: Now we will make some more revisions. We

should remember that Brahmasuutra is nyaayaprasthaanam - it is meant for

analyzing everything logically. Hence every suutra should present a logical

statement - a nyaaya vaakyam. Hence the suutra must be presented

technically as nyaaya vaakyam or anumaana vaakyam . (please refer to Ch. 2

for the analysis of anumaana that involve the four factors - paksha,

saadhya, hetu and dR^ishhTanta –ex. parvataH agnimaan dhuumavatvaat yathaa

mahaanase). Hence the question is what is then the anumaana vaakyam that

corresponds to the first suutra. We can express that in the standard format

similar to: parvataH

agnimaan, dhuumavatvaat, yathaa mahaanase | vedaanta shaastram

aarambhaniiyam, anubandha chatushhTayavatvaat, yathaa dharmashaastravat

|vedaanta shaastram is the paksha, aarambhaniiyam, should be inquired into

is the saadhyam and hetu is anubandha chatushhTayavatvaat, because it has

got the four-fold factor (mostly here the emphasis on prayojanam or benefit

being the Moksha). The example is dharmashaastravat, just as the

dharmashhastra. For this anumaana vaakyam there should be a vyaapti vaakyam

(similar to yatra yatra dhuumaH tatra tatra agniH- a statement of

coexistence). For the above anumaana vaakyam we can express the vyaapti

vaakyam as - yatra yatra anubandha chatushhTayavatvam tatra tatra

aarambhaniiyatvam - all those shaastraa-s are worth studying since we get

prayojanam or benefit. For Brahmasuutra the benefit is the moksha itself.

This is the revised meaning for the first

suutra.

 

With this the general analysis containing both the direct meaning and the

implied meaning of the first suutra is completed.

 

Next we will take up the word by word meaning and their analysis.

 

End of BSB I-i-1-1A.

----------------------

 

 

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[Guest guest]

advaitin , "Kuntimaddi Sadananda"

<k_sadananda@h...> wrote:

> Notes on Brahmasutra IV

> (Notes on BSB: I-i-1-1A)

 

Namaste,

 

Glossary of Words [submitted by Dennis Waite]:

 

a~nga-s = limbs

 

adhikaarii = properly qualified, competent

 

anubandha = the preliminaries stated at the beginning of a

treatise[adhikaarii; vishhaya; sambandha; prayojana;

i.e. qualifications; subject; connection; utility; resp.]

 

dama = restraint of the organs of sense and of action from all

activities except those conducive to Vedantic studies.

 

li~Nga = sign; gender

 

mumukshutvam = the desire for freedom from bondage

 

niyama = restraint [2nd step of Raja Yoga; includes

cleanliness; contentment; austerity; self-study of

scriptures; devotion to God.]

 

prayojanam = utility, benefits [of studying the treatise]

 

samaadhaanam =concentration [5th of the six-fold vedantic discipline]

on hearing of the scriptures.]

 

shama = tranquillity

 

shhaTka sampattiH = six-fold discipline to qualify for Vedanta

study [shama; dama; uparati; titikshaa;

samaadhaana; shraddhaa.]

 

shraddhaa = the strong faith in the Vedantic texts as taught by

the Guru or spiritual teacher.

 

spashhTa = clear

 

titikshaa = endurance

 

uparati = cessation of the restrained organs from the pursuit

of objects inimical to Vedantic study.

 

upodghaata = introduction, preface, foreword

 

vairaagya = spirit of detachment, dispassion or renunciation

 

viveka = discrimination between the real and the unreal

 

yama = restraint [1st of the eight steps in Raja Yoga: includes -

non-injury; truth; non-stealing; continence; non-acceptance

of gifts.

 

 

 

Regards,

 

s.