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subject to precise determination; as the subject matter of an adhikarana, this relocation gives it a purpose and function which reach beyond those of meditation. However resolved, this interrogation formalizes and makes the conclusion of meditation available in a new way. |
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b. Sankara's Two Interpretations of Taittiriya 2.1-6a |
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My reading of Badarayana's position depends, I have acknowledged, on Sankara's exposition of the same; nevertheless, it is still possible to note ways in which Sankara's interpretation diverges from Badarayana's. There are a number of instances here,
17 but I now consider only one, the apparent reversal of Badarayana's conclusion. |
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After explaining UMS I.1.12-19 so as to conclude that Brahman is the one "consisting of bliss," Sankara introduces a second interpretation of the whole text, reading the sutras anew. In effect, he makes the siddhantathat "consisting of bliss" indicates Brahmaninto an uttarapaksa in need of further refinement. I note four of his revised readings here.18 |
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First, regarding sutra 13: -maya does mean "consisting of," and is so used regarding each of the first four sheaths and so has a quantitative meaning. If so, one can hardly suggest that it suddenly come to mean "abundant in" when the fifth sheath is reached. For the sake of consistency, we must assume that ananda-maya means "consisting of bliss" in a quantitative sense, and so refers to a sheath which is not Brahman, some finite reality such as the individual self.19 |
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Second, although the sheath consisting of bliss is last among the five, and no sheath is mentioned beyond it, the text does not actually state that this sheath is the supreme reality, Brahman; rather, it states that Brahman is its support: "bliss the self, Brahman the tail, that on which it rests." (Taittiriya 2.1.5) The mere fact of being last in the series does not determine conclusively that the sheath consisting of bliss is Brahman. |
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Third, and similarly, the text clearly says that Brahman is the "tail;" in Sankara's reading, this must mean, "like a tail," i.e., "a support." But Brahman cannot be both the sheath consisting of bliss which has the support, and the support itself.20 |
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