s of the soul. On this interpretation we must assume
that the individual soul is here called Brahman metaphorically. The
highest Brahman cannot be meant, because it is not connected with the
body as its lord. The lord of the city, i.e. the soul, is represented as
dwelling in one spot of the city (viz. the heart), just as a real king
resides in one spot of his residence. Moreover, the mind (manas)
constitutes the limiting adjunct of the individual soul, and the mind
chiefly abides in the heart; hence the individual soul only can be
spoken of as dwelling in the heart. Further, the individual soul only
can be spoken of as small, since it is (elsewhere; /S/vet. Up. V, 8)
compared in size to the point of a goad. That it is compared (in the
passage under discussion) to the ether must be understood to intimate
its non difference from Brahman.--Nor does the scriptural passage say
that the 'small' one is to be sought for and to be understood, since in
the clause, 'That which is within that,' &c., it is represented as a
mere distinguishing attribute of something else[181].

To all this we make the following reply:--The small ether can mean the
highest Lord only, not either the elemental ether or the individual
soul.--Why?--On account of the subsequent reasons, i.e. on account of
the reasons implied in the complementary passage. For there, the text
declares at first, with reference to the small ether, which is enjoined
as the object of sight, 'If they should say to him,' &c.; thereupon
follows an objection, 'What is there that deserves to be sought for or
that is to be understood?' and thereon a final decisive statement, 'Then
he should say: As large as this ether is, so large is that ether within
the heart. Both heaven and earth are contained within it.' Here the
teacher, availing himself of the comparison of the ether within the
heart with the known (universal) ether, precludes the conception that
the ether within the heart is small--which conception is based on the
statement as to the smallness of the lotus, i.e. the heart--and thereby
precludes the possibility of our understanding by the term 'the small
ether,' the elemental ether. For, although the ordinary use of language
gives to the word 'ether' the sense of elemental ether, here the
elemental ether cannot be thought of, because it cannot possibly be
compared with itself.--But, has it not been stated above, that the
ether, although one only, may be compared with itself, in