1.3.13
Brahma Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.3.13
दहर उत्तरेभ्यः
dahara uttarebhyaḥ
The line
The small one is Brahman (ब्रह्मन्), because of what the later sentences say.
नेपालीमा
सानो ब्रह्म हो, पछिल्ला वाक्यले भनेका कारण।
Where it sits
A new passage. Śaṅkara (शङ्कर) takes the smallness as a form for meditation, the space being Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) and not a small object. Rāmānuja (रामानुज) takes the small form in the heart as a real form of the all-pervading lord, granted for meditation. Madhva takes Viṣṇu (विष्णु) as really present in the heart, the measure not limiting his being.
Split: daharaḥ (दहरः) + uttarebhyaḥ (उत्तरेभ्यः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| daharaḥ (दहरः) | nominative singular, masculine | the small one |
| uttarebhyaḥ (उत्तरेभ्यः) | ablative plural, neuter | because of the later ones, the later statements |
The phrases
The passage is the Chāndogya (छान्दोग्य) city of brahman (ब्रह्मन्), the body, and inside it a small lotus, a dwelling, and inside that a small space. What is within that is what one should seek and should want to understand.
The later sentences are the reason: as vast as this outer space is the space within the heart, and in it are set heaven and earth, fire and wind, sun and moon, whatever one has and whatever one does not have. The small space is not a cavity. daharaḥ (दहरः) is brahman (ब्रह्मन्).
Sanskrit in this line
daharaḥ (दहरः) before a vowel is recited dahara. uttara is 'later'. The ablative plural uttarebhyaḥ (उत्तरेभ्यः) means 'on account of the later statements'.
Say it back
Say the nest of boxes: body, lotus, small space. Then say the later sentence that breaks the smallness: heaven and earth are inside it.