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

[SŪ. 2. 3. 17.
ADH 7.] VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA 409
the scriptural texts: ‘A wise man is neither born nor dies’ (Kaṭha
2.18 ¹), ‘Eternal among the eternal’ (Kaṭha. 5 13 ²), ‘An unborn
one, verily, lies by, enjoying’ (Śvet. 4 5 ³) and so on, the eternity of
the individual soul is known.
Vedānta-kaustubha
If it be argued In conformity with the texts: ‘One desirous of
heaven should perform sacrifices’ (Tait Saṁ. 2 5 5 ⁴), etc , which lay
down the means to attaining lordship in the next world, let the designa-
tion: ‘Devadatta is born and dead’ refer to the birth and death of
the body. But like the ether and the rest, birth and death must
pertain to the individual soul as well at the time of creation and
dissolution (respectively). Thus there is no conflict whatsoever with
any text.—
We reply: “Not, the soul, on account of non-mention in
Scripture”. The singular number ‘soul’ implies the class,⁵ in
accordance with the scriptural text teaching the plurality of souls,
viz. ‘Eternal among the eternal, conscious among the conscious’
(Kaṭha. 5.13, Śvet. 6.13), and in accordance with the aphorism, to be
mentioned hereafter, viz. “And on account of non-continuity, there
is no confusion” (Br. Sū. 2 3 48). The soul is not born, nor dies.
Why? ‘On account of non-mention in Scripture’, i.e. because there
are no scriptural texts designating the birth and death (of the soul)
at the time of creation and dissolution; and, because on the contrary,
“the eternity” of the soul is known “therefrom”, i e. from the
scriptural texts like: ‘“Imperishable, verily, O ! is this soul, possessing
the virtue of being indestructible”’ (Bṛh. 4.5.14), ‘A wise man is
neither born, nor dies’ (Kaṭha. 2.8), ‘Eternal among the eternal, the
conscious among the conscious, the one among the many, who bestows
objects of desires’ (Kaṭha. 5.13; Śvet. 6.13), ‘The two unborn ones,
the knower and the non-knower, the lord and the non-lord’ (Śvet
1.9), ‘One unborn one, verily, lies by, enjoying Another unborn one
leaves her who has been enjoyed’ (Śvet. 4.5) and so on; as well as
from the following Smṛti passages, viz. ‘“Nor at any time, verily, was

¹ Ś, R, Śk, B. ² R, Śk, B.
³ Not quoted by others. ⁴ P. 208, line 27, vol. 2.
⁵ And not that there is only one soul.