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the rules of this coordination are together known by the name "coordination." |
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Coordination is first proposed in UMS III.3.1-5, which explain that one can and must construct an intricate balance between two facts: Brahman is an extratextual reality; yet, Brahman is, for now at least, only textually accessible. The key sutras are 1 and 5: |
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III.3.1 A more complete text for meditation can be composed drawing on the Advaita texts of all the Vedic schoolsfor the object of these texts is not distinguished by injunction, etc. |
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III.3.5 There should be a coordination of appropriate qualifications drawn from various texts, regarding their common referent, since the referent does not differ from text to text . . . |
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The practical motives underlying the quest for a set of rules to govern the coordination of texts can be illustrated as follows. If Brahman is in one text referred to as "existent," in a second as "bestowing the good," and in a third as "in the cave of the heart," can a person meditating on one of three such texts introduce into meditation the other two qualifications? can the meditator be selective, and introduce just one of those other two? In his comment on UMS III.3.11, Vacaspati explains that one must allow for this selective borrowing since, if Brahman exists, it is neither possible nor necessary to redefine its nature completely in each and every text; certain important qualificationsBrahman exists, is powerful, is unlimitedmust pertain everywhere, whether or not they are explicitly mentioned. |
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Yet, as is stated somewhat belatedly at UMS III.3.58 (according to its Advaita interpretation,) the various texts really do count, and one cannot conflate them into a single theoretical account: one cannot simply compile all the qualities of Brahman, wherever mentioned, into a single whole. One must read correctly, discriminately, and learn to make prudential judgments. Some qualifications, such as "existence," can be applied everywhere; others, such as "in the cave of the heart," apply only where mentioned. One has to acquire facility in judging when to borrow and when not to.
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