d by /S/a@nkara's
interpretations--imagine for a moment that the solemn words, 'From
thence is no return, from thence is no return,' with which the Sutras
conclude, are meant to describe, not the lasting condition of him who
has reached final release, the highest aim of man, but merely a stage on
the way of that soul which is engaged in the slow progress of gradual
release, a stage which is indeed greatly superior to any earthly form of
existence, but yet itself belongs to the essentially fictitious
sa/m/sara, and as such remains infinitely below the bliss of true mukti.
And this a priori impression--which, although no doubt significant,
could hardly be appealed to as decisive--is confirmed by a detailed
consideration of the two sets of Sutras which /S/a@nkara connects with
the knowledge of the higher Brahman. How these Sutras are interpreted by
/S/a@nkara and Ramanuja has been stated above in the conspectus of
contents; the points which render the interpretation given by Ramanuja
more probable are as follows. With regard to IV, 2, 12-14, we have to
note, in the first place, the circumstance--relevant although not
decisive in itself--that Sutra 12 does not contain any indication of a
new topic being introduced. In the second place, it can hardly be
doubted that the text of Sutra 13, 'spash/t/o hy ekesham,' is more
appropriately understood, with Ramanuja, as furnishing a reason for the
opinion advanced in the preceding Sutra, than--with /S/a@nkara--as
embodying the refutation of a previous statement (in which latter case
we should expect not 'hi' but 'tu'). And, in the third place, the 'eke,'
i.e. 'some,' referred to in Sutra 13 would, on /S/a@nkara's
interpretation, denote the very same persons to whom the preceding Sutra
had referred, viz. the followers of the Ka/n/va-/s/akha (the two Vedic
passages referred to in 12 and 13 being B/ri/. Up. IV, 4, 5, and III, 2,
11, according to the Ka/n/va recension); while it is the standing
practice of the Sutras to introduce, by means of the designation 'eke,'
members of Vedic /s/akhas, teachers, &c. other than those alluded to in
the preceding Sutras. With this practice Ramanuja's interpretation, on
the other hand, fully agrees; for, according to him, the 'eke' are the
Madhyandinas, whose reading in B/ri/. Up. IV, 4, 5, viz. 'tasmat,'
clearly indicates that the 'tasya' in the corresponding passage of the
Ka/n/vas denotes the /s/arira, i.e. the jiva. I think it is not saying
too muc