Quotation
Last reviewed:
“The subject and the object, which have for their spheres the notions of 'I' and 'thou', are opposed to each other as darkness and light, and cannot be identified.”
Ādi Śaṅkara · Advaita Vedānta · Medieval · c. 8th century; this English 1890
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is a setup for the error the commentary will analyse. The subject, the 'I', and the object, the 'thou' or the not-I, are as opposed as darkness and light, so any identification of them is a confusion. A competing reading hears a simple dualism, as if Śaṅkara's final view were that self and world never meet. The sentence is the problem, not the conclusion. Ordinary experience constantly mixes them: I take the body, which is an object, to be the subject. That mixing is superimposition, and the introduction exists to describe it. Thibaut's 1890 English is the usual scholarly rendering of this opening. The three-line verse that Brahman alone is real, already in this library, is a later capsule and stays Questionable. This sentence is from the commentary itself.
Did Ādi Śaṅkara really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. The opening move of Śaṅkara's introduction to the Brahma Sutra commentary, the section on adhyāsa, superimposition. Thibaut's English in the Sacred Books of the East is the translation. The later three-part summary verse is a different and doubtful text.
Where it comes from
Brahma Sutra commentary, introductory section on superimposition, George Thibaut's translation (1890)
Approximate date: c. 8th century; this English 1890.
How to use it
A form that asks who you are and offers a list of roles has already joined the subject to objects. His sentence says those are opposed, and that joining them is the error he is about to study. The form can still be filled in. The sentence is a reason not to treat the list as the self the commentary is discussing.
A mindset reading
Opposition here is a premise in an analysis of a mistake, not a mood of withdrawal from the world. The habit is to notice when 'I' is being used for something that can be looked at, weighed, or lost. That slide is what the introduction calls superimposition.
Understand the philosophy
The commentary opens with a section on adhyāsa before the first sutra is explained. The key contrast is subject and object, 'I' and 'thou'. Thibaut's translation is the English. The doubtful summary verse is a separate card and is not this argument. A fifth short English motto was not cut out of the long commentaries.
- self
- knowledge
FAQ
What does it mean?
The mainstream reading is a setup for the error the commentary will analyse. The subject, the 'I', and the object, the 'thou' or the not-I, are as opposed as darkness and light, so any identification of them is a confusion. A competing reading hears a simple dualism, as if Śaṅkara's final view were that self and world never meet. The sentence is the problem, not the conclusion. Ordinary experience constantly mixes them: I take the body, which is an object, to be the subject. That mixing is superimposition, and the introduction exists to describe it. Thibaut's 1890 English is the usual scholarly rendering of this opening. The three-line verse that Brahman alone is real, already in this library, is a later capsule and stays Questionable. This sentence is from the commentary itself.
Did Ādi Śaṅkara really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. The opening move of Śaṅkara's introduction to the Brahma Sutra commentary, the section on adhyāsa, superimposition. Thibaut's English in the Sacred Books of the East is the translation. The later three-part summary verse is a different and doubtful text.
Which work is it in?
Brahma Sutra commentary, introductory section on superimposition, George Thibaut's translation (1890) Approximate date: c. 8th century; this English 1890.