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

[SŪ. 1. 1. 1.
10 VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA ADH. 1.]
that meaning directly. This is 'hearing'.¹ 'Thinking' is a kind of
reflection, by means of arguments which are in conformity with
Scripture, with a view to making the meaning of what has been
'heard' and taught, the object of one's own realization.² 'Meditating'
means a ceaseless contemplation on the object of 'thinking', which
(contemplation) is the unique cause of a direct vision (of the Lord).
Accordingly, this (viz. the above Bṛhadāraṇyaka-text) is an apūrva-
vidhi ³ concerning 'meditation', since (salvation is) absolutely
unobtainable (without meditation).⁴
The explanation of the (above-quoted Chāndogya) text 'The
Plenty', etc., may be seen under the explanation of the aphorism
'The Plenty', etc. (Br. Sū. 1.3.7).
The resulting meaning is that salvation can be obtained by an
individual, eternally fettered, and desiring for salvation, who was,
by chance, looked upon (with favour) by Madhusūdana at the time
of his birth,⁵ who has practised the group of means (to salvation), who
has worshipped the feet of his preceptor, and who has a direct vision
of Brahman, obtained through the hearing of, thinking upon and
meditating on Him, knowable through the Vedānta.
¹ That is, a man first ascertains that the Vedānta-texts demonstrate the
Lord, and then approaches a teacher and learns the meaning of those texts
from him.
² That is, for realizing directly for himself what he has so far accepted on
the authority of his preceptor.
³ An 'apūrva-vidhi' is a vidhi which enjoins something that is absolutely
necessary and indispensable for the production of the desired result, e. g. when
it is enjoined: 'The rice-grains are to be sprinkled over with water', it is meant
that without this sprinkling, the desired result, viz. the saṁskāra of these rice-
grains or making them fit for being used in a sacrifice cannot be attained by any
other means. Hence, here the vidhi with regard to the sprinkling is an 'apūrva-
vidhi'. In the very same manner, the above Bṛhadāraṇyaka text: 'The self
should be seen, be heard, be thought, be meditated on', lays down an 'apūrva-
vidhi' regarding meditation, since without meditation, the desired result, viz.
salvation, cannot be attained by any other means.
For the different kinds of vidhis—viz. apūrva, niyama and pari-saṁkhyā,
see V R M., pp. 41-43.
⁴ This finishes the explanation of the Bṛhadāraṇyaka text 'O friend, the
self should be seen', etc.
⁵ Vide V.R.M., p. 133; also p. 142, where it is said that only one man in
a thousand is looked at with favour by Madhusūdana at the time of his birth,
and that not by chance, but because of the merits accumulated through thousands
of previous births.