वेदान्त पारिजात सौरभ (भगवद् निम्बार्काचार्य - द्वैताद्वैत वेदान्त ब्रह्मसूत्र भाष्य सटीक)

[Sū. 1. 3. 19.
170 VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA ADH. 5.]
qualties of freedom from sins and the rest are known to belong to
the individual soul as well, hence let it alone be the small ether,—
We reply: The Highest Self, endowed with the above-mentioned
qualities and having His real nature ever manifest, is the ‘small one’;
but not the individual soul, having its real nature manifest,¹ (not
always, but only during release)
Vedānta-kaustubha
Here the word ‘small’ is to be supplied from the main aphorism,²
and the words ‘he, no’ from the preceding one.³ If it be objected:
This is impossible. “From what is subsequent” to the doctrine of
the ‘small’, i.e. from the statement of Prajāpati, the individual soul
should be known as endowed with the attributes of freedom from sins
and the rest. Hence, here too let it alone be the ‘small one’, endowed
with the qualities of freedom from sins and the rest,—
(We reply) “No”. There, viz. in the passage: ‘Having attained
the form of Highest light, it is completed in its own form’ (Chānd.
8.3.4), the individual soul which has its real nature manifest, is
intended to be designated. The word “but” (in the sūtra) clearly
indicates the great difference between that which has its real nature
manifest and the ‘small one’ the real nature of which is ever unveiled
and which is ever beyond the conventional distinctions of bondage
and release. Thus the statement of Prajāpati (Chānd 8.7 1) teaches
the individual soul as possessing the attributes of freedom from sins
and the rest,—the soul which has its real attributes concealed by the
states of waking and the rest, rooted on karmas, meritorious or non-
meritorious, and existent from all eternity; and which has its real
nature manifest through the attainment of the Highest Self, caused
by meditation on Him. But the text about the ‘small one’ (Chānd.
8.1.5) teaches the Highest Self as possessing the attributes of freedom
from sins and the rest,—the Self who has His nature and attributes
ever manifest, and who is denoted by the term ‘small ether’.³
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¹ The contrast is between the nityāvirbhūta-svarūpa Paramātman and the
āvirbhūta-svarūpa jīvātman. See V. K. below.
² Viz. Br. Sū. 1.3.14 ³ Viz. Br. Sū. 1.3.18
³ That is, the Highest Self is always possessed of the attributes of freedom
from sins and the rest, while the individual soul is not always possessed of them,
but only when its real nature comes to be manifested. Hence the ‘small one’,
which is always possessed of these attributes cannot be the individual soul.