न च कार्ये प्रतिपत्त्यभिसंधिः ॥ १४ ॥
na ca kārye pratipattyabhisaṃdhiḥ || 14 ||
na—Not; ca—and; kārye—in the Saguna Brahman; pratipatti-abhisaṃdhiḥ—the desire to attain Brahman.
14. And the desire to attain Brahman (which an Upasaka has at the time of death can) not (be with respect to) the Saguna Brahman.
“I come to the assembly-house of Prajapati” (Chh. 8. 14. 1). This desire to attain ‘the house’ cannot be with respect to the Saguna Brahman, but is appropriate only with respect to the Supreme Brahman. For the text quoted says earlier, “And that within which these (names and forms) are contained is Brahman,” where the Supreme Brahman is referred to.
Sutras 12-14 give the opponent’s view against what has been said in Sutras 7-11. The arguments of Sutras 12-14 are refuted thus: The Brahman attained by those who go by the path of the gods cannot be the Supreme Brahman. They attain only the Saguna Brahman. The Supreme Brahman is all-pervading, the Inner Self of all. Such a Brahman cannot be attained, for It is the Self of everyone. Journey or attainment is possible only where there is difference, where the attainer is different from the thing attained. What is called realization of the Supreme Brahman is nothing but the removal of ignorance about It. In such a realization there is no going or attaining. When the ignorance is removed Brahman manifests Itself. But the attainment of Brahman spoken of in the texts connected with the path of the gods is not merely the removal of ignorance but actual. Such an attainment is not possible with Tespect to the Supreme Brahman. Again the passage, “I enter the assembly-house of Prajapati,” etc., can be separated from what precedes and be connected with the Saguna Brahman.
The fact that Chh. 8 . 14. 1 says,
“I am the glory of the Brahmanas, of the kings” cannot make it refer to the Nirguna Brahman, for the Saguna Brahman can also be said to be the Self of all, as we find in texts like, “He to whom all works, all desires belong” etc. (Chh. 3. 14. 2).
The reference to the journey to Brahman, which belongs to the sphere of relative knowledge, in a chapter which deals with Supreme Knowledge is only by way of glorification of the latter. Therefore the view expressed in Sutras 7-11 by Badari is the correct one.