Taittiriya Upanishad Bhashya Vartika
by R. Balasubramanian | 151,292 words | ISBN-10: 8185208115 | ISBN-13: 9788185208114
The English translation of Sureshvara’s Taittiriya Vartika, which is a commentary on Shankara’s Bhashya on the Taittiriya Upanishad. Taittiriya Vartika contains a further explanation of the words of Shankara-Acharya, the famous commentator who wrote many texts belonging to Advaita-Vedanta. Sureshvaracharya was his direct disciple and lived in the 9...
Verse 2.629
Sanskrit text and transliteration:
नार्थस्पृग्भावना चेत्स्याद्ब्रह्मधीजन्मने न सा ।
स्वभ्यस्ता राजती नो धीः शुक्तिकाज्ञानजन्मने ॥ ६२९ ॥
nārthaspṛgbhāvanā cetsyādbrahmadhījanmane na sā |
svabhyastā rājatī no dhīḥ śuktikājñānajanmane || 629 ||
English translation of verse 2.629:
If meditation does not comprehend the real nature of Brahman, then it cannot give rise to Brahman-knowledge. The cognition of silver, which is constantly repeated, cannot give rise to the knowledge of nacre.
Notes:
It may be argued that, though meditation does not give rise to Brahman-knowledge, it may nevertheless be helpful to its attainment. This argument cannot be accepted. Since what accrues as a result of meditation is different from Brahman-knowledge, the practice of meditation for any length of time cannot be helpful in any way to the attainment of Brahman-knowledge. Just as the repeated contemplation on the idea of the illusory silver does not and cannot give rise to the idea of shell, so also the repeated contemplation on what is other than Brahman-knowledge cannot give rise to Brahman-knowledge.