तदुपर्यपि बादरायणः संभवात् ॥ २६ ॥
taduparyapi bādarāyaṇaḥ saṃbhavāt || 26 ||
tadupari—Above them; api—also; bādarāyaṇaḥ—Badarayana; saṃbhavāt—because (it is) possible.
26. (Beings) above them (men) also (are entitled to the study of the Vedas) because (it is) possible (for them also to attain Knowledge according to) Badarayana.
In Sutras 26-38 there is a digression from the main topic in the Section. A doubt may arise from the previous Sutra that as it is said that men alone are entitled to the study of the Vedas, the gods are thereby debarred. To remove this doubt this Sutra is given. The gods are also entitled to it, according to Badarayana. How? Because it is possible for them also—since they too are corporeal beings—to have a desire for Brahmaloka or for final illumination and also to possess the necessary requisites (the fourfold qualification) for such illumination. In the Sruti also we find Indra and other gods living the life of Brahmacharya for attaining this knowledge of Brahman. For instance, Chh. 8. 11. 3; also Taitt. 8. 1, where the god Varuna is said to have possessed that Knowledge which he teaches to his son Bhrigu.