abhivimāna

and therefore used in the Chhāndogya Upanishad as an epi-

thet of Vaiśvānara or the worldly form of the Supreme

Soul, since he conceives the whole of mankind as referring

to him exclusively (viz. ‘I am Brahman’); Chh. Up.: yastve-

tamevaṃ prādeśamātramabhivimānamātmānaṃ vaiśvānaramupāste sa sarveṣu

lokeṣu sarveṣu bhūteṣu sarveṣvātmasvannamatti (Śaṅkara: pratyagātmata-

yābhivimīyate'hamiti jñāyata ityabhivimānaḥ ‘because it is

conceived as Supreme Soul under the notion of I, it is called

Abhivimāna’; and comp. the passage of the Vedānta Sāra

where Vaiśvānara is defined as the Supreme Soul conceived

as wordly Totatily: etatsamaṣṭyupahitaṃ caitanyaṃ vaiśvānaro virā-

ḍiti cocyate sarvanarābhimānitvāt, this passage and esp.

the latter word being founded on the quoted words of the

Chh. Upan.; as Vaiśvānara is the Supreme Soul in its re-

ference to the world there is a tendency to equivocation in

the Upan., for prādeśa which means there ‘space’ in general,

might convey the notion of limitedness--in its sense ‘span’

--and abhivimāna remind of vimāna ‘absence of measure’;

or abhivimāna might be taken in the sense ‘creator’, scil.

of the universe; these possibilities are alluded to by Śan-

kara in his commentary on the Vedānta Sūtras, but the

first explanation is clearly that adopted in preference by

him and the Vedāntists; comp. Śaṅk. on the Vedānta Sūtra

(I. 2. 24.): vaiśvānaraḥ sādhāraṇaśabdaviśeṣāt where the given

passage is alleged, and on the Ved. Sūtra: āmananti caina-

masmin (I. 2. 32.) where he observes: abhivimānaśrutiḥ pratya-

gātmatābhiprāyā . pratyagātmatayā sarvaiḥ prāṇibhirabhivimīyata

ityabhivimānaḥ (i. e. 1. as above) . abhigato vāyaṃ pratyagātma-

tvādvimānaśca mānaviyogādityabhivimānaḥ (i. e. 2. ‘resorted to,

because he has the nature of the Supreme Soul, and illimited, be-

cause he is devoid of measure’) . abhivimimīte vā sarvaṃ jagatkā-

raṇatvādityabhivimānaḥ (i. e. 3. ‘creator’) . tasmātparameśvaro vai-

śvānara iti siddham; Govindānanda: ābhimukhyenāhaṃ brahmeti vi-

mimīyate jñāyata ityabhivimānaḥ pratyagātmā (i. e. 1.) . abhigata-

ścāsau vimānaḥ sarvasvarūpatve satyānantyāt . mānamatra parimāṇam

(i. e. 2.) . abhivimimīta iti nirmimīte (i. e. 3.) . tasmādvai-

śvānaravākyamupāsye brahmaṇi samanvitamiti siddham. E. 1. (and

3.) mā with vi and abhi, kṛt aff. lyuṭ; (2. abhi and vimāna).