| 14. Shining by
the functions of all the senses, (yet) without the senses ; unattached,
yet supporting all ; devoid of qualities.All the senses: the buddhiindriyas
and karmaindriyas, the organs of knowledge and the organs of action. The
inner senses,manas and buddhi; which alike form the upadhis of the Knowable,
are included in the term all the senses Moreover, even hearing and other
senses form upadhis only through the upadhi of the antahkarana, the inner
sense. Thus, we should understand that Brahman manifests Itself through
the upadhis of external and internal. senses, through the functions of all
the senses, viz determination, purposes and thoughts, hearing, speech and
the like. That is to say; the Knowable functions, as it were, through the
functions of all the senses. The sruti says: It moves as it were. (Bri.
Up. It meditates as it were, 437) Why should it not mean that It actually
functions ? Says the Lord: It is not possessed of any of the senses. Wherefore,
the Knowable does not actually function when the senses are functioning.
And as regards the verse, Without bands and seek He is swift, He grasps
; He sees without the eye, He hears without the ear. (Svet. Up. 319). there,
the sruti implies that the Knowable has the power to accommodate itself
to the varying functions of all the senses which are Its upadhis, but not
that It actually possesses swift motion and such other activities. The verse
should be interpreted like the passage The blind one saw the gem. (Taitt.
Aranyaka, i.117. Because It is devoid of the senses therefore It is unattached,
devoid of all attachments. Brahma, the basic Reality in all illusory phenomena.Though
It is so, yet It supports all · Indeed, everything is based on the sat,
the Existent ; for everywhere the idea of sat is present. |
