in Scripture is
called 'endless, without a further shore' (B/ri/. Up. II, 4, 12). Now if
the abode is supposed to be something different from Brahman, it must be
supposed to be either the pradhana known from Sm/ri/ti, which, as being
the (general) cause, may be called the (general) abode; or the air known
from /S/ruti, of which it is said (B/ri/. Up. III, 7, 2, 'Air is that
thread, O Gautama. By air as by a thread, O Gautama, this world and the
other world and all beings are strung together'), that it supports all
things; or else the embodied soul which, as being the enjoyer, may be
considered as an abode with reference to the objects of its fruition.

Against this view we argue with the sutrakara as follows:--'Of the world
consisting of heaven, earth, and so on, which in the quoted passage is
spoken of as woven (upon something), the highest Brahman must be the
abode.'--Why?--On account of the word 'own,' i.e. on account of the word
'Self.' For we meet with the word 'Self' in the passage, 'Know him alone
as the Self.' This term 'Self' is thoroughly appropriate only if we
understand the highest Self and not anything else.--(To propound another
interpretation of the phrase 'sva/s/abdat' employed in the Sutra.)
Sometimes also Brahman is spoken of in /S/ruti as the general abode by
its own terms (i.e. by terms properly designating Brahman), as, for
instance (Ch. Up. VI. 8, 4), 'All these creatures, my dear, have their
root in the being, their abode in the being, their rest in the
being[164].'--(Or else we have to explain 'sva/s/abdena' as follows), In
the passages preceding and following the passage under discussion
Brahman is glorified with its own names[165]; cp. Mu. Up. II, 1, 10,
'The Person is all this, sacrifice, penance, Brahman, the highest
Immortal,' and II, 2, 11, 'That immortal Brahman is before, is behind,
Brahman is to the right and left.' Here, on account of mention being
made of an abode and that which abides, and on account of the
co-ordination expressed in the passage, 'Brahman is all' (Mu. Up. II, 2,
11), a suspicion might arise that Brahman is of a manifold variegated
nature, just as in the case of a tree consisting of different parts we
distinguish branches, stem, and root. In order to remove this suspicion
the text declares (in the passage under discussion), 'Know him alone as
the Self.' The sense of which is: The Self is not to be known as
manifold, qualified by the universe of effects; you are rather t