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2. The Vedas are his breath, the five elements his glance, all that is movable and unmovable his smile, the great dissolution his sleep; |
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3. To the Veda, eternal and associated with the six manifold imperishable auxiliaries, and to Bhava,
24 we render obeisance; |
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4. To Martanda, to Tilakaswamin, and to Mahaganapati, who are worthy of adoration by all and are the dispensers of all fulfillment, we render obeisance; |
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5. To Vyasa, the secondary arranger, the composer of the Brahmasutras,the embodiment of Lord Hari's power of knowledge, we render obeisance; |
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6. Rendering obeisance to that pure knowledge, Sankara, the giver of abundant mercy, we analyze the clear yet deep commentary expounded by him; |
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7. Just as falling into the current of the Ganges refreshes waters stagnant near the roadside, proximity to the work of the master refreshes the lowly words composed by ourselves and others.25 |
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Thus portrayed, the project of commentary implies a close connection among four things: the world in its need and ignorance; the divine power (of Siva); this power as manifest in knowledge and particularly in the Vedic scriptures; a tradition of authorized teachers of the Veda (gurus) down to Sankara who is the principal teacher for the later commentators. The problem of this world is articulated as ignorance, in expectation that the remedy for it is that saving knowledge which is located in the Vedas and made available by proper teachers. The "emanations" of divine power, the unfolding of the world, and the elaboration of the "word" in Vedic speechin its specific embodiment in certain texts and certain words, and the theories and positions of certain teachersare parallel, interrelated structures. In practice, knowledge of the Vedic text affords the Advaitic reader access to the spiritual and cosmological components of reality: to know the Veda is to know the world; proper education constitutes the possibility of salvation. |
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