The distribution of Vidya and Karma is to be made in the above passage of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (IV., 4. 2), like the distribution of a hundred coins. — 440.

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SUTRA III. 4. 11.

विभागः शतवत्॥३.४.११॥

vibhāgaḥ śatavat ..3.4.11..

.. Vibhagah, there is a division (of the fruits of Vidya and Karma). … Shatavat, just as in the case of a hundred (coins).

11. The distribution of Vidya and Karma is to be made in the above passage of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (IV., 4. 2), like the distribution of a hundred coins. — 440.

COMMENTARY

The fruits of Vidya and of Karma are different and the above passage of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, must be taken in a distributive sense. Vidya produces one fruit, while Karma produces another fruit. This is like the distribution of a hundred coins. A man by selling a cow and a goat obtains hundred coins. It does not mean that both sold for equal amounts of 50 coins each, but we must distribute the hundred coins according to the natural value of these animals; namely, that the cow fetched 90 coins, and the goat 10 coins. Therefore, when the Scripture says that both Vidya and Karma take hold of the man; it means that both produce their results according to their innate qualities: but the fruits of both are not equal.

The author next answers the objection raised in Sutra III., 4. 6.

SUTRA III. 4. 12.

अध्ययनमात्रवतः॥३.४.१२॥

adhyayanamātravataḥ ..3.4.12..

.. Adhyayana-matra-vatah, of him who has merely studied the Vedas.

12. The word Brahmishtha, «devoted to Brahman», as used in the passage quoted by the Purvapakshin, does not mean one who has realised Brahman, but one who has merely read the Brahman (the Veda). — 441.

COMMENTARY

When the Taittiriya Shruti says that a Brahmishtha is to be chosen as a priest to fill the office of Brahma, it does not moan that the one who knows Brahman must be chosen for that office, but it means that one who has read the Vedas and studied them well, must be selected for the office of Brahma. In other words, it says that Brahma’s office must be held by a learned Brahmana and not merely by one who is dexterous in doing the ritual or chanting the hymns. That text, therefore, is not in favour of the proposition that Vidya is subordinate to Karma. In fact, the word «Brahmishtha» in the above passage, is to be translated as «one who is well- versed in Brahman», where the word Brahman means the «Vedas», and not the highest Self. Because a person who has realised Brahman, the Supreme Self, is described repeatedly in the scriptures as being above all Karmas (Naishkarmya). Therefore, one who has mastered the Vedas; namely, knows the words of the Vedas exactly as they are and who constantly recites them without any selfish object, not wishing to gain money or wealth by such learning, is called a Brahmishtha. The force of the affix «Ishtha» in Brahmishtha, has this significance here.

Others explain the above passage as merely glorifying Karma. Karmas are so important they say that for its duo performance one must be a knower of Brahma. According to this explanation, it is merely a glorificatory passage, and must not be taken in its literal sense.

It has been said above that a person who has merely read the Vedas is entitled to perform Karmas, and not one who has got the knowledge of the Supreme. A man who has no knowledge of the Vedas cannot possibly perform Karmas; and studying the Vedas does not mean to commit them to memory by rote, but to understand its purport also. The Upanishads are part of the Vedas; a man who has read the Vedas, must be supposed to have read the Upanishads also. And by reading we mean the intelligent understanding of the text. The man who has read the Upanishads in this way, must necessarily have realised the Atman, for the study of the Upanishads produces the knowledge of the Self. Thus Vidya becomes subordinate to Karma.

This objection may be answered thus. Merely mastering the meaning of the words, merely becoming a Shabda-jnanin, does not make a person a knower of Brahman. A man may know the meaning of all the Upanishad texts, but he would not become thereby a Brahmavit, a knower of Brahman. He alone is called a Brahmavit who has experienced the Brahman, felt the Eternal. The mere utterance of the words, «the honey is sweet», «the honey is sweet», will not give a man a taste of the sweetness of honey, but a man must actually taste it in order to know how sweet is honey. If the mere recitation of the words «the honey is sweet» were enough, then no man would taste honey, and every one would get the exhilaration of spirits by merely such utterance. But we do not see any such results. Therefore, the mere intellectual knowledge produced by the words of the Upanishads, is not Brahma-knowledge, and such a person is not a Brahmavit. Therefore, when Narada goes to Sanatkumara and asks him to be taught Brahma-Vidya, he is asked to recite all that he already knows, in these words. «Tell me first what thou knowest already, then come to Me and I shall tell thee what is beyond that. Then Narada answers, «I know, Sir, the Rigveda, the Yajur-Veda, the Samaveda, and the Atharvaveda, the fourth, the Itihasapurana, which is a fifth book among the Vedas; the science of ancestors, the science of numbers, the science of Devatas, the science of treasure-finding, the undivided original Veda and its twenty-four branches, the superhuman Deva-sciences, the science of Brahman, the science of ghosts, the science of politics, the science of stars, the science of serpents and Deva-officials (Gandharvas); all this I know, O venerable Sir».

Therefore, Upasana» is different from verbal knowledge. Mukti, the highest end of man, is obtained by Vidya, which means knowledge, direct and intuitive, resulting from devotion. And this we find in the Taittiriya Aranyaka (Mahanarayana Upanishad, X., 6., Mundaka Upanishad, III, 2. 6).

Having well ascertained the true object, through the knowledge obtained from the study of the Veda, and having purified their nature by renunciation of fruits of action and due performance of duties, the pious dwell in the worlds of Brahma. And when the period of Brahma’s life approaches to its close, they abandon those Lokas (like Mahar, etc., and crossing the Tattva-sphere, at the end of Brahma’s life) throw away the bondage of Prakriti and attain all the Highest Mukti.

The verbal knowledge, on the contrary, is, like Vairagya or indifference, a handmaid of Vidya or enlightened devotion. As we find in the Bhagavata Purana:

The sages having firm faith in the Lord and being endowed with wisdom and dispassion, see the Self in the Self, through the devotion arising from studies of the sacred scriptures.

Says an objector: devotion or Bhakti has the form of activity produced by body, speech or mind. With regard to mental activity, namely, meditation, it is possible to have experiences, or intuitive perception. In other words, Dhyana may be said to be an immediate cognition or Anubhava. But how can the activity of the body and speech, such as Puja or the silent repetition of the sacred Mantras be called an Anubhava, or experiencing of truth. To this objection, we reply, that Bhakti or devotion has the form of consciousness of a collection of the essence of the light-giving energy of the Lord (Hladini Shakti or gladdening power). In other words, Bhakti means consciousness of intense joy. As it has been said in the Gopala Tapani:

Bhakti consists in the union through love, with the Lord, who is one mass of existence, intelligence and bliss.

If it were not so, it could not be the cause of bringing the Lord under the control of His devotees. This being so, the activities of the bodily functions of the devotee, who is united in identity with the Lord, is a cause of intense joy, just like the hair and figure of the Lord causes joy. Every bodily activity of the devotee, His Puja and Archana, etc., becomes a source of intense joy, and hence these also become Anubhava or immediate experience or perception of the Lord. Thus it follows that it is not only in meditation alone, that spiritual Anubhava takes place, but Bhakti being Anubhava, pure and simple, arises from Puja and silent repetition of Mantras also, for they also give rise to intense joy.

Note: As the body of the Lord, whose essence consists of pure bliss and intelligence, is all joy, throughout; His nails, His feet, His hair, etc., are made up all of joy, so every activity of the Bhakta, his dancing, his singing, his Puja, his Japa, is all an Anubhava or immediate perception of the Lord; because the Shruti declares it so. There is no scope for reasoning here, we cannot Bay how physical activity can become Anubhava. But the fact is, that it is so, in the case of the Bhakta, and the maxim to be applied is that contained in II., 1. 27 of the Vedanta Sutras. In matters of Shruti or direct statements of the scriptures, there is no room for reason. Because these are matters which are transcendental and inconceivable.

The author next refutes the Sutra III., 4. 7.

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