अवस्थितिवैशेष्यादिति चेत्, न, अभ्युपगमाद्धृदि हि ॥ २४ ॥
avasthitivaiśeṣyāditi cet, na, abhyupagamāddhṛdi hi || 24 ||
avirodhaḥ—No contradiction; candanavat—like sandal-paste.
24. If it be said that on account of the particular position (of the sandal-paste in the body the analogy is not just), (we say) not so, on account of the admission (by the scriptures of a special seat for the soul, viz.) in the heart alone.
A possible objection is raised by the opponent against his own view. In the case of the sandal-paste we see that it occupies a particular part of the body and yet gladdens the whole body. But in the case of the soul we do not know that it occupies a particular place, and in the absence of that we cannot infer that like the sandal-paste it must occupy a particular portion of the body and therefore be atomic. For even an all-pervading soul or a soul pervading the whole body like the skin can give rise to the same result. So in the absence of any proof it is difficult to settle the size of the soul. This objection the opponent refutes by saying that such Sruti texts as, “The self-effulgent one within the heart” (Brih. 4. 3. 7) declare that the soul has a particular abode in the body, biz. the heart, and hence it is atomic.