SrI: SrImathE satakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavaramunayE nama:
sUthram 26
ஜ்ஞாநாஶ்ரயமாகையாவது ஜ்ஞாநத்துக்கிருப்பிடமாயிருக்கை.
gyAnASrayamAgaiyAvadhu gyAnaththukku iruppidamAy irukkai.
Meaning: Being the substratum of knowledge means that the soul is the locus in which knowledge resides.
Explanation
The commentator now explains what is meant by saying that the soul is ज्ञानाश्रय (gyAnASraya).
What is knowledge?
Knowledge (ज्ञान – gyAna) is that attribute which, by its very existence, reveals both itself and other objects and becomes the basis for all cognition and experience.
How is the soul the substratum of knowledge?
The soul is the support of knowledge.
The commentator gives an example.
Just as a lamp and its light are both of the nature of fire, yet the lamp serves as the support for the light, similarly, although the soul is of the nature of consciousness, it serves as the substratum for its attribute, knowledge.
Thus, knowledge does not exist independently apart from the soul. The soul alone is its locus.
Scriptural support
The scriptures establish the soul as the knower (the one who has ज्ञातृत्व –gyAthruthva) and therefore as the substratum of knowledge.
अथ यो वेदेदं जिघ्राणीति स आत्मा [chAndhOgya upanishadh]
(atha yO vEdhEdham jighrANIthi sa AthmA)
“He who knows ‘I smell this’ – he is the self.”
मनसैवैतान् कामान् पश्यन् रमते [chAndhOgya upanishadh]
(manasaivaithAn kAmAn paSyan ramathE)
“Through the mind he experiences and enjoys these objects.”
न पश्यो मृत्युं पश्यति विजानातारम् अरे केन विजानीयात् [bruhadhAraNyaka upanishadh]
(na paSyO mruthyum paSyathi vijAnAthAram arE kEna vijAnIyAth)
“How can the knower be known by another means?”
जानात्येवायं पुरुषः
(jAnAthyEvAyam purusha:)
“This person indeed knows.”
एष हि द्रष्टा श्रोता घ्राता रसयिता मन्ता बोध्ता कर्ता विज्ञानात्मा पुरुषः
(Esha hi dhrashtA SrOthA ghrAthA rasayithA manthA bOdhthA karthA vigyAnAthmA purusha:)
“He is the seer, hearer, smeller, taster, thinker, knower, doer, and conscious person.”
एवमेवास्य परिद्रष्टुः
(EvamEvAsya paridhrashtu:)
“Thus is the nature of the perceiver.”
All these passages establish that the soul is the knower and experiencer.
Therefore, knowledge is an attribute residing in the soul, and the soul is its substratum.
adiyen vAsudhEva rAmAnuja dhAsan
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