SrI: SrImathE satakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImadh varavaramunayE nama:
sUthram 28
நான் அறிவு என்று சொல்லவேணும், நான் அறியா நின்றேனென்னக்கூடாது.
nAn aRivu enRu sollavENum, nAn aRiyA ninREn ennak kUdAdhu.
Meaning: If the soul were merely knowledge, one should say “I am knowledge”; one should not say “I know this.”
Explanation
In the previous sUthram, the buddhist view was introduced that the soul is not ज्ञानाश्रय (gyAnASraya), the substratum of knowledge, but merely ज्ञानमात्र (gyAnamAthra) – knowledge alone.
This view is now refuted through direct perception, namely the experience:
अहमिदं जानामि (aham idham jAnAmi)
“I know this.”
If the soul were only knowledge and nothing more, then one should speak of oneself only as:
“நான் அறிவு“
(nAn aRivu – “I am knowledge.”)
One should not be able to say:
“நான் இதை அறிகிறேன்“
(nAn idhai aRigirEn – “I know this.”)
For, when a person says “I know this,” he is not identifying himself with knowledge. Rather, he is presenting himself as the knower who possesses knowledge and uses it to grasp an object.
The statement:
“இவ்வர்த்தத்தை நான் அறிகிறேன்“
(ivvarththaththai nAn aRigirEn)
clearly reveals that knowledge has a support and that there exists a self which is the knower.
Thus, the soul’s ज्ञातृत्व (gyAthruthva) – its nature as a knower – is directly established by perception (प्रत्यक्ष – prathyaksha).
Therefore, the soul cannot be merely knowledge. It must be the possessor and substratum of knowledge.
As parASara bhattar states while refuting the buddhist view:
इदमहं वेद्मीति आत्मविद्ययोर्विभेदः स्फुरति; यदि तदैक्यं बाह्यमप्येकमस्तु।
(idhamaham vedhmIthi AthmavidhyayOr vibhEdha: spurathi; yadhi thadhaikyam bAhyamapyEkamasthu.)
“In the cognition ‘I know this’, the distinction between the self and knowledge becomes manifest.”
Hence the doctrine that the soul is merely ज्ञानमात्र (gyAnamAthra) is untenable.
adiyen vAsudhEva rAmAnuja dhAsan
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