1845.] Veddnta-Sara, or Essence of the Veddnta. 129 



refers to the invisible and visible Chaitanya, by omitting the part 

 which refers to the contradictory terms, having the attributes of invi- 

 sibility and visibility, refers to the not contradictory part only, viz. 

 Chaitanya (soul.) 



The meaning of the great sentence, / am Bramha, which was 

 received by internal perception, will now be given. 



When the teacher has thus, by means of the improper transferring and 

 of the true abstraction, purified the two terms, that and thou, and the 

 meaning of the infinite one has been explained by the great sentence, 

 then is produced in the mind of the qualified person the act of the 

 understanding, formed by the form of the infinite Bramha, viz., I am 

 the eternal, pure, omniscient, free, true, self-existent, ever blessed, in- 

 finite Bramha, without duality. This act (of the understanding,) 

 together with the (adequate) likeness of the omniscient being, by making 

 the all-pervading, undivided, unknown, supreme Bramha its object, 

 destroys the ignorance with regard to him. 



Then as cloth is burned by the burning of the thread, which is 

 the cause of it ; so by the destruction of the ignorance, which is the 

 cause of the whole creation, the act of the understanding, formed by 

 the form of the infinite substance, is also destroyed, as included in that 

 creation. As the shine of a lamp is absorbed by the overpowering 

 rays of the sun ; so the soul, which is reflected by that act of the un- 

 derstanding, and absorbed by the self-manifesting, all pervading, undi- 

 vided, supreme Bramha, which it (the understanding) is unable to ma- 

 nifest, (the soul) becomes, since the act of the understanding, which is a 

 part of his qualities, is destroyed, the all-pervading, undivided Bramha, 

 as the face only remains, when the looking-glass, in which it was re- 

 flected, has been removed. If this is true, the contradictory statement 

 of the two passages of the Sruti, viz., " by the mind it must be com- 

 prehended," and " what is not perceived by the mind, is reconciled," 

 because by granting, that the act of the understanding makes Bramha 

 its object, the effect (the manifestation) must be at the same time 

 prohibited. It is also said, to make (Bramha) object of manifestation, 

 is prohibited by the authors of the Shastras. For the destruction of 

 the ignorance respecting Bramha, that act of the understanding is 

 required, and it is not proper that he who manifests himself, is 

 manifested bv another. 



