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Shri Datta Swami

Jnana Saraswati – Parabrahma Sutras

    

43. God is beyond the soul or any item in the world


पुरुषतादात्म्यात् पुरुषोत्तमो न पुरुषातीतः।४३।
puruṣatādātmyāt puruṣottamo na puruṣātītaḥ|43|

God is said to be Purushottama and not purushaatita, since the unimaginable God requires the medium of soul or purusha for expression.

Explanation:

The point is that if God is beyond the soul or purusha, then God must be called as Purushaatita, meaning that God is ‘beyond purusha’. The word purusha stands for the soul because it means the soul that is ‘lying in the body’ (Puri shaya…) [1]. But here, God is said to be Purushottama, meaning that God is the ‘best Purusha’. Purushottama means that God is already Purusha or the soul. The word Narottama means the ‘best man’, meaning that he is a man. Therefore, the word Purushottama is not correct according to the concept mentioned here. This objection is rejected. God is beyond the soul and is also beyond any item of the world. Due to this reason, God cannot be expressed directly. God requires a medium for expression. The best medium for expression as said in the above sutras is the soul. Hence, God expressed through the word ‘soul’ alone is called as purusha. Since, the soul charged by God is not an ordinary soul that exists in ordinary human beings, it is called as the best soul or Purushottama. Hence, God is the charged soul and also beyond the soul, which is charged by Him.


[1] Purusham purishaaya ityaachakshirana - Nirukta 1.13

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