And (the conception of a Form with regard to Brahman) is not meaningless, just as (the idea of a form with regard to the Sun which is) pure light. — 334.

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15. And (the conception of a Form with regard to Brahman) is not meaningless, just as (the idea of a form with regard to the Sun which is) pure light. — 334.

COMMENTARY

The word ‘and’ in the Sutra is employed in order to remove the doubt raised above. The affix ‘Vat’ in Prakshavat, has the force of ‘Iva’ or ‘like unto’; and it is added to the word ‘Prakasha’ in the locative case. Namely, ‘…’ as in the case of the Sun, whose single form is pure light, there is conceived a form for the sake of meditation; and as such conception with regard to the Sun is not purposeless, for it helps concentration of the mind; similarly, in the case of Brahman, who, though the pure light of knowledge and bliss, is conceived to have a Form, to facilitate meditation on Him. For meditation is impossible without ascribing a form. The word Dhyana or meditation is always used in connection with some form. As in the sentence, «the wife, parted from her husband, meditates (Dhyayati) on him (i.e., on his’ form pictured in her mind)».

Nor must it be said, that this mental picture, formed for the sake of meditation, is an unreality after all and Brahman has no form actually. Because there is evidence of His having a form.

SUTRA III. 2. 16.

आह च तन्मात्रम्॥३.२.१६॥

āha ca tanmātram ..3.2.16..

.. Aha, (the Shruti) declares, Cha, and, however… Tanmatram, only that much, or consisting of the essence of His Self.

16. The Shruti declares, however, that the Form of the Supreme consists of the very essence of His Self. — 335.

COMMENTARY

The force of the word «Matra» in Tanmatra is to denote exclusiveness. Since the Scriptures declare this Form alone to be the Supreme Self, hence this Form is a Real Entity, (and not an imagined thought-picture created by the mind of the devotee). In the same Atharva Shiras, the Lord is thus described:

(Meditate on) the Lord as having eyes like full-blown white lotus, a body of the (blue) colour of clouds, garments of lightning, with two arms, and adorned with the symbol of silence, and having a garland round his neck, which is made up of all the spheres of the heavenly orbs. (Gopala Purva Tapani, p. 185 of the Anandashrama series).

Note: Vanamala means a garland made of flowers, fruits and leaves all strung together. In the ease of Vishnu, the Vanamala means all the globes strung together:

Or it may mean a garland made of flowers of Ave colours, yellow, white, red, blue and black. In the case of Vishnu, it means a garland made of five elements — earth, etc.:

In the above, the attributes like «lotus-eyed», etc., are shown to be the essential qualities of the Lord and the Lord and the Form are identical clearly, for this Form is called the Lord in the above.

So also in the Padma Purana we read:

In the Lord there is no distinction of Life and Form — (the Form itself is the Life).

In everything else, the form embodies the life, but in the case of the Lord, the Form Itself is the Life manifest. In other words, the Delia (body) is verily the Deha (the embodied) — the Body of the Lord is verily the Lord Himself.

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