8 ABRIDGMENT OF
" be compassed by description; beyond the limits of the
" explanation of the Ved, or of human conception ! " *
Byas, also, from the result of various arguments coin-
ciding with the Ved, found that the accurate and
positive knowledge of the Supreme Being is not within
the boundary of comprehension; i.e. that what, and
how, the Supreme Being is, cannot be definitely ascer-
tained. He has therefore, in the second text, explained
the Supreme Being by his effects and works, without
attempting to define his essence; in like manner as we,
not knowing the real nature of the sun, explain him
to be the cause of the succession of days and epochs.
" He by whom the birth, existence, and annihilation of
" the world is regulated, is the Supreme Being." We
see the multifarious, wonderful universe, as well as the
birth, existence, and annihilation of its different parts ;
hence, we naturally infer the existence of a Being who
regulates the whole, and call him the Supreme : in the
same manner as from the sight of a pot we conclude
the existence of its artificer. The Ved, in like manner,
declares the Supreme Being thus : " He from whom
"the universal world proceeds, who is the Lord of
*' the Universe, and whose work is the universe, is the
" Supreme Being." f
The Ved is not supposed to be an eternal Being,
though sometimes dignified with such an epithet;
because its being created by the Supreme Being is
declared in the same Ved thus: " All the texts and
* Cuthubulli. f Taittureeu.
c
" be compassed by description; beyond the limits of the
" explanation of the Ved, or of human conception ! " *
Byas, also, from the result of various arguments coin-
ciding with the Ved, found that the accurate and
positive knowledge of the Supreme Being is not within
the boundary of comprehension; i.e. that what, and
how, the Supreme Being is, cannot be definitely ascer-
tained. He has therefore, in the second text, explained
the Supreme Being by his effects and works, without
attempting to define his essence; in like manner as we,
not knowing the real nature of the sun, explain him
to be the cause of the succession of days and epochs.
" He by whom the birth, existence, and annihilation of
" the world is regulated, is the Supreme Being." We
see the multifarious, wonderful universe, as well as the
birth, existence, and annihilation of its different parts ;
hence, we naturally infer the existence of a Being who
regulates the whole, and call him the Supreme : in the
same manner as from the sight of a pot we conclude
the existence of its artificer. The Ved, in like manner,
declares the Supreme Being thus : " He from whom
"the universal world proceeds, who is the Lord of
*' the Universe, and whose work is the universe, is the
" Supreme Being." f
The Ved is not supposed to be an eternal Being,
though sometimes dignified with such an epithet;
because its being created by the Supreme Being is
declared in the same Ved thus: " All the texts and
* Cuthubulli. f Taittureeu.
c