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CHAPTER IX
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ABSOLUTE SELF
Therefore, the writers of the Upanisads have gone
beyond Prakrti and Purusa, and laid down the doctrine that
the qualityless (nirguna) Brahman, which is even higher than
the saccidananda Brahman, i. e., the Brahman possessed of the
qualities of eternal Existence (sat), Consciousness (cit), and
Joy (ananda), ie the root of the world. But, I must now explain
"how the Qualityful (saguna) came out of the Qualityless
iturguya); because, it is a doctrine of Vedanta, as of Samkhya
philosophy, that that which is not, is not; and that that which
is, can never come into existence out of that which is not.
According to this doctrine, the Qualityful (saguna), that is,
the qualityful objects in the world cannot come into existence
out of the Brahman which is qualityless (nirguna). Then,
whence has the Qualityful come? If one says that the
Qualityful does not exist, then, one can see it before one's
eyes; and, if one says that the Qualityful is Real (existing),
in the same way as the Qualityless, then, in as much
as the forms of qualities like, sound, touch, form, taste etc.,
which are perceptible to the organs, are one to-day and different
tomorrow, that is, are ever-changing, or mother words, are
perishable, mutable, and inconstant, one has to say, that the
all-pervading Paramesvara is, so far at least as this qualityful
-part of Him is concerned, (imagining of course, the
Paramesvara to be divisible), perishable. And how can one
.give the name of Paramesvara to something, which is divisible
and perishable, and which always acts in a dependent way,
and subject to the rules which regulate the creation ? In short,
whether you imagine that all qualityful objects, which are
perceptible to the organs, have sprung out of the five primordial
elements, or whether you imagine with the Samkhyas or the
material scientists, that all objects have been created from one
and the same imperceptible but qualityful fundamental
Matter, whichever position you take up, so long as this funda-
mental Prakrti (Matter) has not been divested of perishable
qualities, one certainly cannot describe these five primordial
elements or this fundamental substance in the shape of Prakrti
as the imperishable, independent, or immortal element of the
world. Therefore, he who wants to accept the theory of
Prakrti, must either give up the position that the Paramesvara
is eternal, independent and immortal, or he must try to find
out what lies beyond the five primordial elements, or beyond the
fundamental qualityful Prakrti known as ' Prakrti '; and there
is no third alternative. In the same way, as it is impossible to
qieach. thirst by a mirage, or to get oil out of sand, so a&o is
it futile to hope that immortality can ever come out of that
which is palpably perishable; and, therefore, Yajnavalkya has
definitely told Maitreyi that, however much of wealth one may
acquire, yet, " amrtatiazya tu nasasti vittem" [1], i. e.,
"Do not entertain the hope of obtaining immortality by such
wealth".
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