Sūtra 3.2.19Śaṅkara · 3.2.19

Śaṅkaraon Brahma Sūtra 3.2.19

Advaita Vedānta

Sūtra

अम्बुवदग्रहणात्तु न तथात्वम्

ambuvadagrahaṇāttu na tathātvam

Sūtra translation

But there is no parallelism (of the two things compared), since (in the case of Brahman) there is not apprehended (any separate substance) compar- able to the water.

Since no substance comparable to the water is apprehended in the case of Brahman, a parallelism between Brahman and the reflected images of the sun cannot be established. In the case of the sun and other material luminous bodies, there exists a separate material substance occupying a different place, viz. water ; hence the light of the sun, &c., may be reflected. The Self, on the other hand, is not a material thing, and, as it is present everywhere and all is identical with it, there are no limiting adjuncts different from it and occupying a different place.—Therefore the instances are not parallel. The next Sutra disposes of this objection.