III-3 Śrī Bhāshya | Rāmānuja | 31

Topic 31 - Upāsanās connected with sacrificial acts, e.g. the Udgītha Upāsanā, are valid for all Śākhās

 Sutra 3,3.55

अङ्गावबद्धास्तु न शाखासु हि प्रतिवेदम् ॥ ५५ ॥

aṅgāvabaddhāstu na śākhāsu hi prativedam || 55 ||

aṅgāvabaddhāḥ—(Upāsanās) connected with parts (of sacrificial acts); tu—but; na—not; śākhāsu—to (particular) Śākhās; hi—because; prativedam—in each Veda.

55. But (the Upāsanās) connected with parts (of sacrificial acts are) not (restricted) to (particular) Śākhās only of each Veda (but to all its Śākhās), because (the same Upāsanā is described in all).

There are certain meditations connected with certain constituent elements of sacrifices-as e.g. 'Let a man meditate on the syllable Om (as) the Udgītha '(Kh. Up. I, 1, 1); 'Let a man meditate on the fivefold Saman as the five worlds' (Kh. Up. II, 2, 1), etc. The question here arises whether those meditations are restricted to the members of those Śākhās in whose texts they are mentioned; or to be connected with the Udgītha, and so on, in all Śākhās. There is here a legitimate ground for doubt, in so far as, although the general agreement of all Vedānta-texts is established, the Udgītha, and so on, are different in each Veda since the accents differ in the different Vedas--The Pūrvapakshin declares that those meditations are limited each to its particular śākhā; for, he says, the injunction 'Let him meditate on the Udgītha' does indeed, verbally, refer to the Udgītha in general; but as what stands nearest to this injunction is the special Udgītha of the śākhā, in whose text this injunction occurs, and which shares the peculiarities of accent characteristic of that śākhā, we decide that the meditation is enjoined on members of that śākhā only.--The Sūtra sets this opinion aside. The injunction of meditations of this type is valid for all śākhās, since the text expressly connects them with the Udgītha in general. They therefore hold good wherever there is an Udgītha. The individual Udgīthas of the several śākhās are indeed distinguished by different accentuation; but the general statement, 'Let him meditate on the Udgītha.' suggests to the mind not any particular Udgītha, but the Udgītha in general, and hence there is no reason to restrict the meditation to a particular śākhā. From the principle moreover that all śākhās teach the same doctrine, it follows that the sacrifice enjoined in the different śākhās is one only; and hence there is no reason to hold that the Udgītha suggested by the injunction of the meditation is a particular one. For the Udgītha is only an element in the sacrifice, and the sacrifice is one and the same. The meditations are not therefore limited to particular śākhās.

Sutra 3,3.56

मन्त्रादिवद्वाऽविरोधः ॥ ५६ ॥

mantrādivadvā’virodhaḥ || 56 ||

mantrādivat—Like Mantras etc.; —or else; avirodhaḥ—is no contradiction.

56. Or else like Mantras etc. there is no contradiction (here).

The 'or' here has the sense of 'and.' The 'and the rest' comprises generic characteristics, qualities, number, similarity, order of succession, substances, and actions. As there is nothing contrary to reason in mantras and the rest, although mentioned in the text of one śākhā only, finding, on the basis of such means of proof as direct statement, and so on, their application in all śākhās, since the sacrifice to which they belong is one and the same in all śākhās; so there is likewise no contradiction in the meditations under discussion being undertaken by members of all śākhās.

--Here terminates the Adhikaraṇa of 'what is connected with constituent elements of the sacrifice.'