out, the citations of Nāgeśa Bhaṭṭa, an avowed Patañjali-bhakta is of particular significance in identifying Śeṣa, the author of Paramārthasāra with Patañjali, the author of Mahābhāṣya. His reference to him as Śeṣanāga also throws favourable light for accepting the Lord of the serpents, incarnated as Patañjali, as the author. The high regard which Nāgeśa had for the Paramārthasāra is amply borne out by the fact that he has written a commentary called Paramārthasāravivaraṇa on it, and he has referred to it once in his Laghumañjūṣā with the words 'परमार्थसाराविवरणे प्रपञ्चितमस्माभिः'. Such high esteem for Paramārthasāra, which Nāgeśa has, can best be explained by the identity of Śeṣa with Patañjali. Pāyaguṇḍa Vaidyanātha Bhaṭṭa, the commentator of Nāgeśa, also identifies the author of the Paramārthasāra with Patañjali and refers to him by the honorific epithet bhagavān.
When Patañjali's authorship of the Paramārthasāra is settled, the last word on Patañjali's attitude to the Vedānta has been pronounced. The fundamental tenets of advaita-vedānta are all explicitly stated and propounded in the Paramārthasāra. The falsity of the world is set out at the very beginning in the verse--
|
सत्यमिव जगदसत्यं मूलप्रकृतेरिदं कृतं येन । |
and the same is expounded with the usual illustrations in a subsequent verse --
|
मृगतृष्णायामुदकं शुक्तौ रजतं भुजङ्गमो रज्ज्वाम् । |
The unity of the soul is also referred to by the oft-quoted illustration of the sun and the numerous reflections in the earthly waters, in the verse --
|
यद्वद्दिनकर एको विभाति सलिलाशयेषु सर्वेषु । |
Of particular interest to us, however, is another verse of the Paramārthasāra, where Patañjali has unequivocally stated his mind about the relationship between Yoga and Vedānta.
