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8. But on account of nearness there is that designation.
Hiranyagarbha is the first created being (as declared by the text 'he who creates Brahma'); he thus stands near to Brahman, and therefore may be designated by the same term (viz. Brahman). This explanation is necessitated by the reasons set forth in the preceding S�tras (which show that the real highest Brahman cannot be meant).--But, if the soul advancing on the path of the Gods reaches Hiranyagarbha only, texts such as 'This is the path of the Gods, the path of Brahman; those who proceed on that path do not return to the life of man' (Kh. Up. IV, 15, 6), and 'moving upwards by that a man reaches immortality' (VIII, 6, 6), are wrong in asserting that that soul attains to immortality and does not return; for the holy books teach that Hiranyagarbha, as a created being, passes away at the end of a dvipar�rdha-period; and the text 'Up to the world of Brahman the worlds return again' (Bha. G�. VIII, 16) shows that those who have gone to Hiranyagarbha necessarily return also.
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