pāṭhabheda api ca smaryate śabdādeva pramitaḥ ..1.3.24..

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SUTRA I. 3. 24.

पाठभेद अपि च स्मर्यते शब्दादेव प्रमितः॥१.३.२४॥

pāṭhabheda api ca smaryate śabdādeva pramitaḥ ..1.3.24..

.. Shabdat, because of the word. … Eva, even, only, … Pramitah, the measured, the limited; measured by the thumb.

24 The limited person of the size of a thumb, described in the Katha Upanishad is Brahman, because of the word or the epithet applied to It in that very text. — 88.

COMMENTARY

The person of the size of a thumb is the Lord Vishnu alone. Why? Because there is an express term or word, in that very passage, which can apply to Vishnu alone. That passage describes this person as Lord of the past and the future. Now this epithet: «The Lord of the past and the future» — cannot be applied to Jiva at all, whose past and the future is bound by his Karmas, and who is not free to possess so much glory.

But how the All-pervading Lord can be said to be limited by the measure of a thumb? This point is answered by the next Sutra.

SUTRA I. 3. 25.

हृद्यपेक्षया तु मनुष्याधिकारत्वात्॥१.३.२५॥

hṛdyapekṣayā tu manuṣyādhikāratvāt ..1.3.25..

… Hridi, in the heart, with reference to the heart. … Apekshaya, by reference to. ..Tu, but. .. Manushya, men, human beings. Adhikaratvat, because of the qualified.

25. But the size of u thumb is with reference to the human heart, because men are qualified to meditate on Brahman in their heart, and imagine him as limited to that size. — 89.

COMMENTARY

The force of the word «Tu» is to declare limitation, because the Lord is meditated upon in the heart, which in every human being is of the size of his fist or thumb, therefore, He is spoken of as having the measure of a thumb. This has already been described before, under Sutra I, 2. 7, where we have said that this attributing of a size to Brahman, is based on a mere metaphor, taken from the size of the heart; and for the sake of devout meditation; and because His ineffable glory manifests in the heart of His devotees in that form.

But the hearts differ according to the animals, some have larger hearts, some have smaller; some are more than a thumb, some are less than a thumb. How can it then be said that the person of the size of a thumb is so spoken of with reference to the heart? This objection is met in the Sutra by using the word «human». It is the human heart that is the measure here taken, (and not the heart of snakes, horses and donkeys. For though the scriptures are employed in general terms, yet they apply only to human beings, for human beings alone are Adhikaris and not lower animals. Human beings alone have the faculty of devout meditation; therefore, the standard of the thumb is taken from the human heart, and so there is no conflict.

Though the hearts of elephants and horses, etc., may be said to be of the size of a thumb, yet there is no conflict here also, for these creatures are incapable of devout meditation. Though the Jiva also is described to have the measure of a thumb, it is so done, because it dwells in the heart, and so metaphorically is said to be of the size of the heart. As a matter of fact, it is atomic in size, fur the scripture says that its size is very small.

That living soul (Jiva) is to be known as part of the hundredth part of the point of a hair, divided a hundred times, and yet it is to be infinite. (Shvet. Up., V, 9).

Therefore, the person of the size of a thumb is the Lord Vishnu alone.

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