Adhikarana 7: Brahman is Both Primary and Secondary Cause

Adhyāya 1: The subject matter of all Vedic literatures is Brahman;
Pāda 4: Some scriptural texts that may seem to describe the jīvas or some other topic actually describe the Supreme Brahman.;

Viṣaya: Now that he has refuted the atheistic pradhāna theory, he will refute some theistic theories and prove that all scriptural descriptions of the cause of the universe refer to the Supreme Brahman. Some philosophers consider that the material world is an illusion, and only the spiritual existence is actually real. However, for this to be the case, the material energy would have to be completely different from the the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The actual Vedic philosophy is that the Lord is both the efficient cause and the material cause of the material manifestation; in other words, He is both the Creator and the ingredient of the material world. In this way it may be understood that the vivarta theory, that the material world is an illusion, is untrue and the pariṇāma theory that the material world is a transformation of Brahman is the truth taught in the Vedic scriptures.

Let us consider the following scriptural passages:

तस्माद् वा एतस्माद् आत्मन आकाशः सम्भूतः

tasmād vā etasmād ātmana ākāśaḥ sambhūtaḥ

“From ātmā the sky was manifested.” [Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.1.1]

यतो वा इमानि भूतानि जायन्ते

yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante

“From the Supreme these creatures were born.” [Taittirīya Upaniṣad 2.1.1]

सद् एव सौम्येदम् अग्र आसीद् एकम् एवाद्वितीयं तद् ऐक्षत बहु स्याम् प्रजायेय

sad eva saumyedam agra āsīd ekam evādvitīyaṃ tad aikṣata bahu syām prajāyeya

“O gentle one, in the beginning was the Supreme, who was one without a second. He thought: ‘Let me become many. Let me become the father of many.’ ” [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.2.1]

स ऐक्षत लोकान् नु सृजा

sa aikṣata lokān nu sṛjā

“He thought: ‘Now I shall create the worlds.’ ” [Aitareya Upaniṣad 1.1.2]

Saṃśaya: Should Brahman be considering the primary cause or the ingredient of the creation? Because the Upasniṣads say sa aikṣata: “He thought: ‘Now I shall create the worlds’,” the first proposal, that Brahman is the primary cause and not the ingredient of creation, should be considered true. Although the Upaniṣad says tasmād vā etasmād ātmana ākāśaḥ sambhūtaḥ: “From ātmā the sky was manifested,” still this should be interpreted to mean only that the Supreme is the primary Creator, and not the ingredient of creation of the worlds. The quotes tad aikṣata bahu syām prajāyeya: “He thought, ‘Let me become many. Let me become the father of many.’ ” and sa aikṣata lokān nu sṛjā: “He thought: ‘Now I shall create the worlds’,” because of their clear explanation that the Lord’s thinking precedes the creation, show that the Lord is the primary Creator in the same way a potter is the creator of pots. Because the creation itself and the ingredients of which it is made must have the same nature, the ingredient of the material creation must be the material energy [prakṛti]. It is not possible to say that the primary cause of creation is identical with the ingredients of the creation. In the material world made of dull matter, the ingredients are earth and the other elements, and the creator is consciousness, just as pots are made of the elements and the creator of the pots is the conscious potter. Here the pots and the potter are clearly different. Furthermore, many diverse causes may create a single effect. Therefore it cannot be said that a single thing is both the primary cause and the ingredient of creation. The changing material energy [prakṛti], which is controlled by the unchanging Brahman is the ingredient of the changing material universe, and Brahman is only its primary cause.

This statement is not based only on logic, for it is also supported by the following passage of the Culika Upaniṣad:

विकार-जननीम् अज्ञां अष्ट-रूपाम् अजां ध्रुवम्
ध्यायते ‘ध्यासिता तेन तन्यते प्रेरिता पुनः

vikāra-jananīm ajñāṃ aṣṭa-rūpām ajāṃ dhruvam
dhyāyate ‘dhyāsitā tena tanyate preritā punaḥ

सूयते पुरुषार्थं च तेनैवाधिष्ठिता जगत्
गौर् अनाद्य्-अन्तवती सा जनित्री भूत-भाविनी

sūyate puruṣārthaṃ ca tenaivādhiṣṭhitā jagat
gaur anādy-antavatī sā janitrī bhūta-bhāvinī

सितासिता च रक्ता च सर्वकाम् अधुना विभोः
पिबन्त्य् एनाम् अविषमाम् अविज्ञाताः कुमारकाः

sitāsitā ca raktā ca sarvakām adhunā vibhoḥ
pibanty enām aviṣamām avijñātāḥ kumārakāḥ

एकस् तु पिबते देवः स्वच्छन्दो ‘त्र वशानुगाम्
ध्यान-क्रियाभ्यां भगवान् भुङ्क्ते ‘सौ प्रसभं विभुः

ekas tu pibate devaḥ svacchando ‘tra vaśānugām
dhyāna-kriyābhyāṃ bhagavān bhuṅkte ‘sau prasabhaṃ vibhuḥ

सर्व-साधारणीं दोग्ध्रीं पीयमानां तु यज्वभिः
चतुर्-विंशति-सङ्ख्याकं अव्यक्तं व्यक्तम् उच्यते

sarva-sādhāraṇīṃ dogdhrīṃ pīyamānāṃ tu yajvabhiḥ
catur-viṃśati-saṅkhyākaṃ avyaktaṃ vyaktam ucyate

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead meditates on the unborn, eternal, unintelligent material nature [prakṛti], which has eight forms, and by His order the material nature creates the material worlds and the various goals of life adopted by the living entities. Material nature is a beginningless, endless cow, the mother of the worlds. Without knowing, her children, the creatures in goodness, passion, and ignorance all drink her nourishing milk. The one independent, all-powerful Supreme Personality of Godhead strongly enjoys her with thought and deed, she who is the milk-giving mother of all, who is drunk by the performers of sacrifice, and who is said to be both the unmanifested and the manifested divided into 24 elements.”

Furthermore, the Viṣṇu Purāṇa says:

यथा सन्निधि-मात्रेण गन्धः क्षोभाय जायते
मनसो नोपकर्तृत्वात् तथासौ परमेश्वरः

yathā sannidhi-mātreṇa gandhaḥ kṣobhāya jāyate
manaso nopakartṛtvāt tathāsau parameśvaraḥ

सन्निधानाद् यथाकाश-कालाद्याः कारणं तरोः
तथैवापरिगामेन विश्वस्य भगवान् हरिः

sannidhānād yathākāśa-kālādyāḥ kāraṇaṃ taroḥ
tathaivāparigāmena viśvasya bhagavān hariḥ

निमित्त-मात्रम् एवासौ सृष्टानां सर्ग-कर्मणि
प्रधान-कारिणी भूता यतो वै सृज्य-शक्तयः

nimitta-mātram evāsau sṛṣṭānāṃ sarga-karmaṇi
pradhāna-kāriṇī bhūtā yato vai sṛjya-śaktayaḥ

“When there is a fragrant flower before someone, the fragrance is touched by the smelling power of the person, yet the smelling and the flower are detached from one another. There is a similar connection between the material world and the Supreme Personality of Godhead: actually He has nothing to do with this material world, but He creates by His glance and ordains. In summary, material nature, without the superintendence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, cannot do anything. Yet the Supreme Personality is detached from all material activities.”

For these reasons, whatever scriptural passages state that Brahman is the ingredient of the creation should be interpreted to have a different meaning.

Siddhānta: To this argument he replies: