The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Sankaracarya

The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Sankaracarya - Sacred Books of the East, Volume 1

It is a matter not requiring any proof that the object and the subject32 whose respective spheres are the notion of the 'Thou' (the Non-Ego33) and the 'Ego,' and which are opposed to each other as much as darkness and light are, cannot be identified. All the less can their respective attributes be identified. Hence it follows that it is wrong to superimpose34 upon the subjectwhose Self is intelligence, and which has for its sphere the notion of the Egothe object whose sphere is the notion of the Non-Ego, and the attributes of the object, and vice vers to superimpose the subject and the attributes of the subject on the object. In spite of this it is on the part of man a natural35 procedurewhich {4} which has its cause in wrong knowledgenot to distinguish the two entities (object and subject) and their respective attributes, although they are absolutely distinct, but to superimpose upon each the characteristic nature and the attributes of the other, and thus, coupling the Real and the Unreal36, to make use of expressions such as 'That am I,' 'That is mine.37'But what have we to understand by the term 'superimposition?'The apparent presentation, in the form of remembrance, to consciousness of something previously observed, in some other thing.38 Some indeed define the term 'superimposition' as the superimposition of the attributes of one thing on another thing.39 Others, again, define superimposition as the error {5} founded on the non-apprehension of the difference of that which is superimposed from that on which it is superimposed.40 Others41, again, define it as the fictitious assumption of attributes contrary to the nature of that thing on which something else is superimposed. But all these definitions agree in so far as they represent superimposition as the apparent presentation of the attributes of one thing in another thing. And therewith agrees also the popular view which is exemplified by expressions such as the following: 'Mother-of-pearl appears like silver,' 'The moon although one only appears as if she were double.' But how is it possible that on the interior Self which itself is not an object there should be superimposed objects and their attributes? For every one superimposes an object only on such other objects as are placed before him (i.e. in contact with his sense-organs), and you have said before that the interior Self which is entirely disconnected from the idea of the Thou (the Non-Ego) is never an object. It is not, we reply, non-object in the absolute sense. For it is the object of the notion of the Ego42, and the interior Self is well known to exist on account of its immediate (intuitive) presentation.43 Nor is it an exceptionless rule that objects {6} can be superimposed only on such other objects as are before us, i.e. in contact with our sense-organs; for non-discerning men superimpose on the ether, which is not the object of sensuous perception, dark-blue colour. Hence it follows that the assumption of the Non-Self being superimposed on the interior Self is not unreasonable. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 16295
Author: Sankaracarya [Commentator]
Release Date: Jul 15, 2005
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Translator: Thibaut, G. (George), 1848-1914