1.2.16
Brahma Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.2.16
अत एव च स ब्रह्म
ata eva ca sa brahma
The line
And for that very reason, that one is Brahman (ब्रह्मन्).
नेपालीमा
र त्यही कारणले त्यो ब्रह्म हो।
Where it sits
sukha-viśiṣṭa (सुख-विशिष्ट) from 1.2.15 is the reason ataḥ (अतः) points at. saḥ (सः) is the ether of the fires' sentence, which the person in the eye then resumes. Śaṅkara (शङ्कर) takes this ether as Brahman (ब्रह्मन्), not the element, in a meditation. Rāmānuja (रामानुज) takes the identity of pleasure and ether as unlimited bliss, Brahman (ब्रह्मन्)'s own nature, breath standing as his body. Madhva takes both words as naming Viṣṇu (विष्णु), not an element and not the soul's feeling.
Split: ataḥ (अतः) + eva (एव) + ca (च) + saḥ (सः) + brahma (ब्रह्म)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| ataḥ (अतः) | indeclinable | from this, for this reason |
| eva (एव) | indeclinable | very |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and |
| saḥ (सः) | nominative singular, masculine | he, that |
| brahma (ब्रह्म) | nominative singular, neuter | Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) |
The phrases
Upakosala says he understands that breath is brahman (ब्रह्मन्), and does not yet understand pleasure and ether. The fires answer that what is pleasure is ether, and what is ether is pleasure. The bliss is not ordinary pleasure, and the ether is not the element.
ata eva picks up the qualification by pleasure. saḥ (सः) is that ether. It is brahman (ब्रह्मन्). The genders differ, and that is allowed: saḥ (सः) points, brahma predicates.
Sanskrit in this line
saḥ (सः) before a voiced consonant is recited sa. brahma is neuter nominative, with no visarga. A masculine pointer and a neuter predicate do not have to match.
Say it back
Say the fires' equation: what is ka is kha. Then say saḥ (सः) brahma.