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Śrī-Caitanya-caritāmṛta
TEXT 106
প্রভু কহে, বেদান্ত-সূত্র ঈশ্বর-বচন । ব্যাসরূপে কৈল যাহা শ্রীনারায়ণ ॥ ১০৬ ॥
prabhu kahe, vedānta-sūtra īśvara-vacana vyāsa-rūpe kaila yāhā śrī-nārāyaṇa
SYNONYMS
prabhu kahe —the Lord began to speak;  vedānta-sūtra —the philosophy of  Vedānta-sūtra ;  īśvara-vacana —spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead;  vyāsa-rūpe —in the form of  Vyāsadeva ;  kaila —He has made;  yāhā —whatever;  śrī-nārāyaṇa —the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
TRANSLATION
The Lord said: “ Vedānta  philosophy consists of words spoken by the Supreme Personality of Godhead  Nārāyaṇa  in the form of  Vyāsadeva .
PURPORT
Vedānta-sūtra , which consists of codes revealing the method of understanding Vedic knowledge, is the concise form of all Vedic knowledge. It begins with the words  athāto brahma-jijñāsā  (“now is the time to inquire about the Absolute Truth”). The human form of life is especially meant for this purpose, and therefore the  Vedānta-sūtra  very concisely explains the human mission. This is confirmed by the words of the  Vāyu  and  Skanda Purāṇas , which define a  sūtra  as follows:
alpākṣaram asandigdhaṁ sāravat viśvatomukham astobhamanavadyaṁ co sūtraṁ sūtra-vido viduḥ
“ A sūtra  is a code that expresses the essence of all knowledge in a minimum of words. It must be universally applicable and faultless in its linguistic presentation.” Anyone familiar with such  sūtras  must be aware of the  Vedānta-sūtra , which is well known among scholars by the following different names: (1)  Brahma-sūtra , (2)  Śārīraka , (3)  Vyāsa-sūtra , (4)  Bādarāyaṇa-sūtra , (5)  Uttara-mīmāṁsā  and (6)  Vedānta-darśana .
There are four chapters ( adhyāyas ) in the  Vedānta-sūtra , and there are four divisions ( pādas ) in each chapter. Therefore the  Vedānta-sūtra  may be referred to as  ṣoḍaśa-pāda , or sixteen divisions of codes. The theme of each and every division is fully described in terms of five different subject matters ( adhikaraṇas ), which are technically called  pratijñā ,  hetu ,  udāharaṇa ,  upanaya  and  nigamana . Every theme must necessarily be explained with reference to  pratijñā , or a solemn declaration of the purpose of the treatise. The solemn declaration given in the beginning of the  Vedānta-sūtra  is  athāto brahma-jijñāsā , which indicates that this book was written with the solemn declaration to inquire about the Absolute Truth. Similarly, reasons