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CHAPTER IX
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABSOLUTE SELF
Our world is nothing but that knowledge which we get of all the objects in the world by
means of our organs of Perception; that is why Matter or
Creation is sometimes referred to as 'jnama ' (Knowledge), and
from this point of view, the Spirit becomes 'the Knower 'i. e.
jnata [1]. But the real TO BE KNOWN
(jneya) is beyond both Matter and Spirit, that is, beyond both
Knowledge and Knower, and, that is what is known as the
Absolute Spirit ( paramtattva) in the Gita [2]. Not
only the Gita, but also all the works on Vedanta philosophy
are repeatedly exhorting us to realize that parama or para
(that is, Absolute) Spirit which pervades the -entire Cosmos
and eternally maintains it; and they say that It is One, that
It is Imperceptible, that It is Eternal, and that It is Im-
mutable. The adjectives 'ahsara' (Immutable) and 'avyakta'
(Imperceptible) are used in Samkhya philosophy with reference
to Prakrti (Matter), because, it is one of the Samkhya doctrines
that there is no other fundamental cause of the Cosmos which
is more subtle than Prakrti [3]. But— and my
readers must bear this in mind— as, from 'the point of view of
Vedanta, the Parabrahman alone is a-ksara, that is, something
which Is never destroyed, and also a-yakta, that is, im-
perceptible to the organs, the same terms ‘aksara’ and ‘avyakta’
are Used in the Gita for referring to the form of the Para-
brahman which is beyond Matter [4]_
It is true that when this point of view has been accepted
it would be incorrect to refer to Matter as aksara (imperishable
or immutable) though it may be avyakta (imperceptible) ; but as-
the Glta accepts the doctrines of the Samkhya system,
regarding the order of creation of the Cosmos to such extent as
they can be accepted without prejudicing the omnipotence of
this Third Element ( Absolute Spirit ) which is beyond both
Matter and Spirit, the Perishable and the Imperishable or the
Perceptible and the Imperceptible Cosmos has been described,
in the Gita without departing from the fixed terminology of the
Samkhyas; and therefore, when there is occasion to describe
the Parabrahman, it becomes necessary for the Gita to refer to.
it as the Imperceptible (avyakta) beyond the (Samkhya) tar
perceptible, or the Immutable (aksara) beyond the (Samkhya),
immutable. See, for instance, the stanza given at the
commencement of this chapter. In Short, in reading the Gita,
one must always bear in mind that the words ' avyakta ' and.
' aksara ' are both used in the Gita, sometimes with reference
to the Prakrti (Matter) of Samkhya philosophy, and at other-
times with reference to the Parabrahman of Vedanta
philosophy, that is, in two different ways. That further
Imperceptible, which is beyond the imperceptible of the
Samkhyas, is the Root of the Cosmos according to Vedanta..
I shall later on explain how, as a result of this difference
between Samkhya and Vedanta philosophy regarding the
Root Element of the world, the form of Moksa according to-
the philosophy of the Highest Self is also different from that
according to Samkhya philosophy.
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