nt. Just as a dam stems the spreading water so that the
boundaries of the fields are not confounded, so that Self acts like a
limitary dam in order that these outer and inner worlds, and all the
different castes and a/s/ramas may not be confounded. In accordance with
this our text declares that greatness, which is shown in the act of
holding asunder, to belong to the small (ether) which forms the subject
of discussion; and that such greatness is found in the highest Lord
only, is seen from other scriptural passages, such as 'By the command of
that Imperishable, O Gargi, sun and moon; are held apart' (B/ri/. Up.
III, 8, 9). Similarly, we read in another passage also, about whose
referring to the highest Lord there is no doubt, 'He is the Lord of all,
the king of all things, the protector of all things. He is a bank and a
limitary support, so that these worlds may not be confounded' (B/ri/.
Up. IV, 4, 22)--Hence, on account of the 'supporting,' also the small
(ether) is nothing else but the highest Lord.

17. And on account of the settled meaning.

The small ether within cannot denote anything but the highest Lord for
this reason also, that the word 'ether' has (among other meanings) the
settled meaning of 'highest Lord.' Compare, for instance, the sense in
which the word 'ether' is used in Ch. Up. VIII, 14, 'He who is called
ether is the revealer of all forms and names;' and Ch. Up. I, 9, 1, 'All
these beings take their rise from the ether,' &c. On the other hand, we
do not meet with any passage in which the word 'ether' is used in the
sense of 'individual soul.'--We have already shown that the word cannot,
in our passage, denote the elemental ether; for, although the word
certainly has that settled meaning, it cannot have it here, because the
elemental ether cannot possibly be compared to itself, &c. &c.

18. If it be said that the other one (i.e. the individual soul) (is
meant) on account of a reference to it (made in a complementary
passage), (we say) no, on account of the impossibility.

If the small (ether) is to be explained as the highest Lord on account
of a complementary passage, then, the purvapakshin resumes, we point out
that another complementary passage contains a reference to the other
one, i.e. to the individual soul: 'Now that serene being (literally:
serenity, complete satisfaction), which after having risen out from this
earthly body and having reached the highest light, appears in its true
form, th