ely concerning the gastric fire, there would be
no possibility of specifications such as contained in the passage 'His
head is Sutejas,' &c. That also on the assumption of Vai/s/vanara being
either the divinity of fire or the elemental fire no room is to be found
for the said specifications, we shall show under the following
Sutra.--Moreover, if the mere gastric fire were meant, there would be
room only for a declaration that it abides within man, not that it is
man. But, as a matter of fact, the Vajasaneyins speak of him--in their
sacred text--as man, 'This Agni Vai/s/vanara is man; he who knows this
Agni Vai/s/vanara as man-like, as abiding within man,' &c. (/S/at. Bra.
X, 6, 1, 11). The highest Lord, on the other hand, who is the Self of
everything, may be spoken of as well as man, as abiding within
man.--Those who, in the latter part of the Sutra, read 'man-like'
(puru-shavidham) instead of 'man' (purusham), wish to express the
following meaning: If Vai/s/vanara were assumed to be the gastric fire
only, he might be spoken of as abiding within man indeed, but not as
man-like. But the Vajasaneyins do speak of him as man-like, 'He who
knows him as man-like, as abiding within man.'--The meaning of the term
man-like is to be concluded from the context, whence it will be seen
that, with reference to nature, it means that the highest Lord has the
heaven for his head, &c., and is based on the earth; and with reference
to man, that he forms the head, &c., and is based on the chin (of the
devout worshipper[159]).

27. For the same reasons (the Vai/s/vanara) cannot be the divinity (of
fire), or the element (of fire).

The averment that the fanciful attribution of members contained in the
passage 'His head is Sutejas,' &c. may apply to the elemental fire also
which from the mantras is seen to be connected with the heavenly world,
&c., or else to the divinity whose body is fire, on account of its
power, is refuted by the following remark: For the reasons already
stated Vai/s/vanara is neither the divinity nor the element. For to the
elemental fire which is mere heat and light the heavenly world and so on
cannot properly be ascribed as head and so on, because an effect cannot
be the Self of another effect.--Again, the heavenly world cannot be
ascribed as head, &c. to the divinity of fire, in spite of the power of
the latter; for, on the one hand, it is not a cause (but a mere effect),
and on the other hand its power depends on t