Mn. CoLEBROOKE Oil the Philosophy of the Hitidus. 15 



So, in a dialogue between Yajnyawalcya and his wife Gargi,* being, 

 asked by her, ' the heaA'en above, and the earth beneath, and the tran- 

 spicuous region between, and all which has been, is, and will be, wliereon 

 are they woven and sewn ?' answers, the ether (ckds'a) ; and being further 

 asked, what it is on which ether is woven or sewn ? replies, ' the unvaried 

 being, whom Brdhmanas affirm to be neither coarse nor subtile, neither 

 sliort nor long ' It is the supreme being who is here meant. 



' The mystic syllable 6m, composed of three elements of articulation, is a 

 subject of devout meditation ; and the efficacy of that meditation depends 

 on the limited or extended sense in which it is contemplated. The question 

 concerning this mode of worship is discussed in a dialogue between' 



PlPPALADA and SATYACAMA.t 



If the devotion be restricted to the sense indicated by one element, tlie 

 effect passes not beyond this world ; if to that indicated by two of the 

 elements, it extends to the lunar orb, whence however the soul returns to 

 a new birth ; if it be more comprehensive, embracing the import of the 

 three elements of the word, the ascent is to the solar orb, whence, stripped 

 of sin, and liberated as a snake which has cast its slough, the soul proceeds 

 to the abode of Brahme, and to the contemplation of (purusha) him who 

 resides in a corporeal frame : that is, soul reposing in body {puri-s^aya). 



That mystic name, then, is applied either to the supreme Brahme, 

 uniform, with no quality or distinction of parts ; or to Brahme, not supreme, 

 but an effect {carya) diversified, qualified ; who is the same with the Viraj 

 and Hiran'ya-gurhha of mythology, born in the mundane egg. 



It appears from the latter part of the text, that it is the supreme Brahme 

 to whom meditation is to be directed, and on whom the thoughts are to 

 be fixed, for that great result of liberation from sin and worldly tram- 

 mels. 



In a passage descriptive of the lesser ventricle of the heart, it is said : 

 • within this body (Brahme-pura') Brahme's abode, is a (dahara) little lotus, a 

 dwelling within which is a (dahara) small vacuity occupied by ether (dcd^a). 

 What that is which is within (the heart's ventricle) is to be inquired, and 

 should be known.'t A question is here raised, whether that ' ether ' 



* Vrth. Annvy, 5. Dr. Siilr. 1. 3. § 3. (S. 10, 12.) 



f Prns'na, an upanuliiid of the At'harmna. Br. Sidr. 1. 3. § 4. (S. 13.) 



X Ch'haiidCgya, 8. Dahara-vidya. Dr. Sutr. 1. 3. § 5. {S. U, 21.) 



