Verse 2.379

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

मृद्वच्चेत्कारणं ब्रह्म कार्यं सर्वं तदात्मकम् ।
तदात्मतातिरेकेण प्रवेशोऽन्यो न विद्यते ॥ ३७९ ॥

mṛdvaccetkāraṇaṃ brahma kāryaṃ sarvaṃ tadātmakam |
tadātmatātirekeṇa praveśo'nyo na vidyate || 379 ||

English translation of verse 2.379:

If it be said that Brahman is the cause (of the world) like clay, then the entire world of effects must be of the nature of Brahman. (On this view) apart from remaining in the form of the world, it has no other entry (into the world).

Notes:

Śruti says that having created the universe. Brahman, the Creator, entered into that very universe. How are we to understand the entry of Brahman into the universe? Is it in the sense that the Creator entered into the universe in the same form as Creator or in a different form? Different possible answers which may be suggested are examined one by one by the opponent. Rejecting all of them, he arrives at the conclusion that the śruti text which speaks about the entry of Brahman into the world is meaningless and has, therefore, to be rejected.

The opponent's view begun in verse (379) is concluded in the first line of verse (390).

One may answer the question by saying that the Creator entered into the universe in the same form as Creator. The example of clay may be cited in support of this answer. Just as clay which is the cause enters into the pot which is its effect, so also Brahman, the cause, enters into the world which is its effect. But this view is untenable. The clay which is the material cause gets transformed as a pot and remains as a pot. Once the pot has been produced, the clay cannot enter over again into it as a separate entity. In the same way, if Brahman, like the clay, is the cause of the world, it is transformed into, and remains as, the world. If so, it cannot be said that subsequent to the creation of the world Brahman enters into it once again. But śruti says that, having created the world, Brahman then entered into that very world.