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

[SŪ 1. 3. 33
ADH. 8.] VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA 193
Brahman. Thus, Brahman alone being the object to be worshipped
even in the honey-meditation and the like, the text: 'That the gods
worship as the light of lights, as life, as immortality' (Bṛh. 4 4.16) is
perfectly consistent. It cannot be said also that as the fruit of the
honey-meditation is the attainment of Vasu-hood and the rest, and
as Vasu and the rest have already attained that, they cannot be
seekers, or wish for these again,—because in ordinary experience, a
desire for wealth in a future life is found on the part of those who are
rich in the present life Hence, it is established that the gods are
entitled to the honey-meditation and the like 1
Here ends the section entitled 'The honey and the rest' (8).
1 The Madhu-vidyā, or the representation of the sun as the honey extracted
from all the Vedas, as taught first to Prajāpati by Brahmā, then to Manu by
Prajāpati, and then to his descendants by Manu, and to Uddālaka Āruṇi by his
father (Vide Chānd 3.11.4) is given in Chand 3 1-3 11. It begins. 'Verily, the
sun is the honey of the gods Its cross-beam is the heaven The ether is the
honey-comb The rays are the sons (1 e the sons of bees)' (Chānd. 3 1.1), and
goes on to represent the eastern rays of the sun, its red form, as extracted from
the Ry-veda; the southern rays of the sun, its white form, from the Yajur-veda;
the western rays of the sun, its dark form, from the Sāma-veda, the northern
rays of the sun, its exceedingly dark form, from the Athar va-veda; and the up-
wards rays of the sun, its centre, from the Upaniṣads (Chānd. 3.1~3.5). After
that the different forms of the sun are designated as the objects of enjoyment
for Vasus, Rudras, Ādityas, Maruts and Sādhyas who respectively enter into and
arise from those forms (Chānd. 3.6-3 10). Finally, in the concluding section
the sun is represented as standing in the middle, without rising or setting, and
as neither rising nor setting for one knows this Brahma-upaniṣad (= secret of
Brahman) (Chānd. 3 11).
(1) Here the opponent's view is that Vasus and the rest are enjoined here
as the objects of worship (Chānd. 3.6-3.10) and hence they themselves cannot
be the worshippers.
The answer to this objection is that the Madhu-vidyā has two sections
The first section (viz Chānd. 3 6-3.10) designates Brahman in His effected
state, 1 e. as appearing in the forms of Vasus and the rest The second section
(viz Chānd 3.11) designates Brahman in His causal state, 1 e. as abiding in
the sun as its Inner Self. And the concluding designation of the Madhu-vidyā
as a 'Brahma-upaniṣad', proves that the meditations on the Vasus and the rest
too are really meditations on Brahman as abiding within them. Hence Brahman
is really the object to be meditated throughout in the Madhu-vidyā, and as such
Vasus and the rest can be worshippers here, i.e. can practise the Madhu-vidyā.
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