Madhvaon Brahma Sūtra 1.4.8

Though the word ‘ Chamasa ’ has a well-known appli- cation to the other thing (the bowl), from the scriptural passage, “ This is its head, for the bowl is like the head with its mouth below and the bottom (bulging out) above,” (Bri. IV. 2-3) the word has come to denote the head. Likewise, ‘Avyakta’ ‘the subtle’ and all other terms though they by common acceptation apply to things other than Brahman, are really declaring the Supreme Lord according to the principle laid down in the text, “ They, say that it is Vishnu alone whom all names comprehen- sively denote.” For this Sruti is as authoritative as the other. “ In every spring, let him sacrifice by * Jyotishtoma/ ” In such texts, the words which are the names of sacrificial acts (and their accessories) cannot be properly understood to denote Brahman (as laid down in the 4th Sutra); for otherwise there would arise the difficulty of having no sacred duties or no means of knowing these. To explain this difficulty, the Sutrakara says: