g.
What alternative then does recommend itself?

As the term is an unknown one, the purvapakshin says, we must assume
that the being denoted by it is also an unknown one, different from all
those mentioned above.--Or else it may be said that, on the one hand, we
have no right to assume something of an altogether indefinite character,
and that, on the other hand, the term antaryamin--which is derived from
antaryamana (ruling within)--cannot be called altogether unknown, that
therefore antaryamin may be assumed to denote some god presiding over
the earth, and so on. Similarly, we read (B/ri/. Up. III, 9, 16), 'He
whose dwelling is the earth, whose sight is fire, whose mind is light,'
&c. A god of that kind is capable of ruling the earth, and so on,
dwelling within them, because he is endowed with the organs of action;
rulership is therefore rightly ascribed to him.--Or else the rulership
spoken of may belong to some Yogin whom his extraordinary powers enable
to enter within all things.--The highest Self, on the other hand, cannot
be meant, as it does not possess the organs of action (which are
required for ruling).

To this we make the following reply.--The internal ruler, of whom
Scripture speaks with reference to the gods, must be the highest Self,
cannot be anything else.--Why so?--Because its qualities are designated
in the passage under discussion. The universal rulership implied in the
statement that, dwelling within, it rules the entire aggregate of
created beings, inclusive of the gods, and so on, is an appropriate
attribute of the highest Self, since omnipotence depends on (the
omnipotent ruler) being the cause of all created things.--The qualities
of Selfhood and immortality also, which are mentioned in the passage,
'He is thy Self, the ruler within, the immortal,' belong in their
primary sense to the highest Self.--Further, the passage, 'He whom the
earth does not know,' which declares that the internal ruler is not
known by the earth-deity, shows him to be different from that deity; for
the deity of the earth knows itself to be the earth.--The attributes
'unseen,' 'unheard,' also point to the highest Self, which is devoid of
shape and other sensible qualities.--The objection that the highest Self
is destitute of the organs of action, and hence cannot be a ruler, is
without force, because organs of action may be ascribed to him owing to
the organs of action of those whom he rules.--If it should be objected
th