20

20. And not that which Smr̥ti assumes, on account of the declaration of qualities not belonging to that; nor the embodied one.

‘That which Smr̥ti assumes’ is the Pradhāna; the ’embodied one’ is the individual soul. Neither of these can be the Ruler within, since the text states attributes which cannot possibly belong to either. For there is not even the shadow of a possibility that essential capability of seeing and ruling all things, and being the Self of all, and immortality should belong either to the non-sentient Pradhāna or to the individual soul.–The last two Sūtras have declared that the mentioned qualities belong to the highest Self, while they do not belong to the individual soul. The next Sūtra supplies a new, independent argument.