[Advaita-l] जिज्ञासाधिकरणे वर्णकचतुष्टयम् [An essay on the First Sutra] - Part 1

[V Subrahmanian]

*श्रीगुरुभ्यो नमः
प्रथमसूत्रभाष्यरत्नप्रभाव्याख्यामाश्रित्य तत्र
निरूपितवर्णकचतुष्टयप्रदर्शनमनेन प्रबन्धेन कृत्तं यन्मया तदत्र
केवलसंस्कृतमात्रतया उपलभ्यते -

An article bringing out the Fourfold explanation of the First Brahma sutra
based on the RatnaprabhA gloss on the Acharya's Bhashya is available here in
'sanskrit only' format:

http://tinyurl.com/3aoweu2

In the sequel the English rendering of the same is presented along with the
Sanskrit over a few installments.
*

श्रीग्रुभ्यो नमः


जिज्ञासाधिकरणे वर्णकचतुष्टयम्


शंकरं शंकराचार्यं केशवं वादरायणम् ।

सूत्रभाष्यकृतौ वन्दे भगवन्तौ पुनः पुनः ॥


A  Four-fold elucidation of the First Brahmasutram


[Salutations again and again to Lord Shankara Who manifested as Sri
Shankaracharya and authored the Commentary and Lord Keshava who incarnated
as BadarayaNa and composed the Brahmasutras]

नत्वा गुरुवरान् भक्त्या स्मृत्वाशेषांश्च तद्गुणान्।

नित्यं तत्कृपां याचेऽन्तःकरणशुद्धये ॥

[Having devoutly prostrated to the Exalted Gurus and having recollected all
Their edifying qualities I pray to Them for Their Compassion to cleanse my
mind]




वेदान्तसूत्रतद्भाष्यतद्व्याख्याश्च मुमुक्षून् सम्यग्विचारसरण्यां नीत्वा
तत्फलभूतां अपरोक्षावगतिं च प्रापयन्तीत्यत्र नास्ति संशयलेशोऽपि ।
आद्याधिकरणगतैकसूत्रं ’अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा’ इति यत्तावत्तद्भाष्यद्वारा
अनुबन्धचतुष्टयप्रकाशकत्वेन तत्सम्बन्धिविचारबाहुल्येन द्योतते ।
’भाष्यरत्नप्रभा’नामकतद्भाष्यटीकायां  यद्विचारः प्रवृत्तः
भाष्यगतवर्णकचतुष्टयाभिव्यञ्जकः तस्याविष्करणरूपप्रबन्धोऽयमिदानीमारभ्यते ।


The Vedantasutras, the Commentary and the glosses thereof, undoubtedly lead
the aspirants in the path of enquiry and anoint them with the fruit of
liberation.  The sole sutra ‘athAto brahma jijnAsA’ [Thereafter, then,
enquiry of Brahman (is to be undertaken)] in the first adhikaraNa, through
its bhashya, brings to the fore the four-fold requirement (the fit-aspirant,
the subject matter, the connection and the result) to engage in the study of
a discipline by making a deep elucidation of the sutra.   In this essay a
study is taken up, based on the gloss ‘bhAShya RatnaprabhA’ where a
delineation of the Four-fold explanation, called ‘varNakam’,  to bring out
the method of the BhAshyam for the first sutra.


वर्णकशब्दस्य कोऽर्थः? इति प्रश्ने जाते इदं वक्तुं शक्यते – अस्मिन् प्रकरणे
एकस्यैव सूत्रस्य व्याख्यानानेकत्वसम्भवे एकैकं व्याख्यानं वर्णकशब्देन
निर्दिश्यते यथा ’प्रथमवर्णकं, द्वितीयवर्णकम्’ इति । अस्मिन्विषये
रत्नप्रभाकारा आहुः वर्णकचतुष्टयस्य विस्तरावसाने – एवं प्रथमसूत्रस्य
चत्वारोऽर्था व्याख्यानचतुष्टयेन दर्शिताः। सूत्रस्य चानेकार्थत्वं भूषणम् ।इति ।
एवञ्च विविधदृष्ट्या सूत्रार्थालोचनं श्रुतितदनुकूलतर्कबलेन
शास्त्रार्थविशदीकरणे बहूपयोगि इत्यत्र नास्ति सन्देहः । उक्तरीत्या अत्र
वर्णकचतुष्टयं वर्तते यस्य संक्षेपतः प्रदर्शनमत्र क्रियते, विस्तरस्य तु
भाष्यरत्नप्रभायामेव मूलतो द्र्ष्टुं पार्यत इति ।


What is meant by a ‘varNakam’? While the word has the meanings of ‘a
section/a chapter/a dvision’, etc. in this context it means this: When a
single sutra is looked at from different angles and explained, the various
explanations come to be called a ‘varNakam’ individually.  The Ratnaprabha
says ‘It is indeed an adornment for a sutra to have multiple dimensions.’  Thus
there is no doubt in the fact that an analysis of a sutra from various
angles adds a lot to the understanding of the subject matter.  In the sequel
a brief exposition of the four varNakams involved in the bhaShyam are taken
up.  For someone intending a detailed study it is recommended that the
original gloss ‘RatnaprabhA’ itself is perused.


To be continued