in a figurative sense, like
the inclination of the river-bank. Moreover, the thinking on the part of
fire and water is to be understood as dependent on their being ruled
over by the Sat. On the other hand, the thought of the Sat is, on
account of the word 'Self,' not to be understood in a figurative
sense.[95]

Here the Sa@nkhya comes forward with a new objection. The word 'Self,'
he says, may be applied to the pradhana, although unintelligent, because
it is sometimes figuratively used in the sense of 'that which effects
all purposes of another;' as, for instance, a king applies the word
'Self' to some servant who carries out all the king's intentions,
'Bhadrasena is my (other) Self.' For the pradhana, which effects the
enjoyment and the emancipation of the soul, serves the latter in the
same way as a minister serves his king in the affairs of peace and war.
Or else, it may be said, the one word 'Self' may refer to
non-intelligent things as well as to intelligent beings, as we see that
such expressions as 'the Self of the elements,' 'the Self of the
senses,' are made use of, and as the one word 'light' (jyotis) denotes a
certain sacrifice (the jyotish/t/oma) as well as a flame. How then does
it follow from the word 'Self' that the thinking (ascribed to the cause
of the world) is not to be taken in a figurative sense?

To this last argumentation the Sutrakara replies:

7. (The pradhana cannot be designated by the term 'Self') because
release is taught of him who takes his stand on that (the Sat).

The non-intelligent pradhana cannot be the object of the term 'Self'
because in the passage Ch. Up. VI, 2 ff., where the subtle Sat which is
under discussion is at first referred to in the sentence, 'That is the
Self,' and where the subsequent clause, 'That art thou, O /S/vetaketu,'
declares the intelligent /S/vetaketu to have his abode in the Self, a
passage subsequent to the two quoted (viz. 'a man who has a teacher
obtains true knowledge; for him there is only delay as long as he is not
delivered, then he will be perfect') declares final release. For if the
non-intelligent pradhana were denoted by the term 'Sat' and did
comprehend--by means of the phrase 'That art thou'--persons desirous of
final release who as such are intelligent, the meaning could only be
'Thou art non-intelligent;' so that Scripture would virtually make
contradictory statements to the disadvantage of man, and would thus
cease to be a means of right k