this;' 'as the flowing rivers disappear in the sea losing their name and
form, thus a wise man goes to the divine person.' And if we look to the
whole, to the prevailing spirit of the Upanishads, we may call the
doctrine embodied in passages of the latter nature the doctrine of the
Upanishads. It is, moreover, supported by the frequently and clearly
stated theory of the individual souls being merged in Brahman in the
state of deep dreamless sleep.

It is much more difficult to indicate the precise teaching of the
Upanishads concerning the original relation of the individual soul to
the highest Self, although there can be no doubt that it has to be
viewed as proceeding from the latter, and somehow forming a part of it.
Negatively we are entitled to say that the doctrine, according to which
the soul is merely brahma bhrântam or brahma mayopadhikam, is in no way
countenanced by the majority of the passages bearing on the question. If
the emission of the elements, described in the Chândogya and referred to
above, is a real process--of which we saw no reason to doubt--the jîva
âtman with which the highest Self enters into the emitted elements is
equally real, a true part or emanation of Brahman itself.

After having in this way shortly reviewed the chief elements of Vedântic
doctrine according to the Upanishads, we may briefly consider
/S/a@nkara's system and mode of interpretation--with whose details we
had frequent opportunities of finding fault--as a whole. It has been
said before that the task of reducing the teaching of the whole of the
Upanishads to a system consistent and free from contradictions is an
intrinsically impossible one. But the task once being given, we are
quite ready to admit that /S/a@nkara's system is most probably the best
which can be devised. While unable to allow that the Upanishads
recognise a lower and higher knowledge of Brahman, in fact the