Sūtra 2.1.6

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Sūtra 2.1.6:

दृष्यते तु

dṛṣyate tu

dṛṣyate – is seen; tu – but.

“But it is seen [that the material cause of a thing may be of totally different quality from it].” (6)

Sūtra pagination:
Adhyāya 2:
  No Conflict Between Vedānta and Other Vedic Scriptures;
Pāda 1:
  Refutation of Opposing Views;
Adhikaraṇa 5:
  Brahman is the Material Cause of the Universe Established by Reason.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s commentary (Govinda-bhāṣya)

The word tu [but] removes the familiar doubt raised by the pūrvapakṣin. The word na [not] from Sūtra 2.1.4 is understood in this sūtra also. The objection that “the world cannot have Brahman for its cause because it is of a totally different nature from Him” is not correct, because it is seen in everyday experience that things that are entirely different in their essential natures stand as material cause and effect. Thus the rise of different qualities from things of different nature is common. For example, the quality of intoxication arises from the fermentation of pure sugar; flying insects arise from crawling larvae; the origin of the different species of animals, such as elephants and horses, from the wish-fulfilling tree in the heavenly planets; gold arises from the Philosopher’s Stone, etc.

Referring to matter coming out from spirit, the Ātharvanikas say:

यथोर्ण-नाभिः सृजते गृह्णते च
यथा पृथिव्याम् ओषधयः सम्भवन्ति
यथा सतः पुरुषात् केश-लोमानि
तथाक्षरात् सम्भवतीह विश्वम्

yathorṇa-nābhiḥ sṛjate gṛhṇate ca
yathā pṛthivyām oṣadhayaḥ sambhavanti
yathā sataḥ puruṣāt keśa-lomāni
tathākṣarāt sambhavatīha viśvam

“As a web is expanded and withdrawn by a spider, as herbs grow from the earth, and as hair grows from a living person’s head and body, so this universe is generated from the inexhaustible Supreme.” [Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.1.7]

Ultimately everything is spiritual because everything is an expansion of Kṛṣṇa; that is, everything is an expansion either of Kṛṣṇa Himself or of His potency. Because the potency is nondifferent from the potent, the potency and the potent are one [śakti-śaktimatayor abhedaḥ]. The Māyāvādīs, however, say, cid-acit-samanvayaḥ: “Spirit and matter are one.” This is a wrong conception.

Spirit [cit] is different from matter [acit], as explained by Kṛṣṇa Himself in Bhagavad-gītā [7.4-5]:

भूमिर् आपो ऽनलो वायुः
खं मनो बुद्धिर् एव च
अहङ्कार इतीयं मे
भिन्ना प्रकृतिर् अष्टधा

bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ
khaṃ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṅkāra itīyaṃ me
bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā

अपरेयम् इतस् त्व् अन्यां
प्रकृतिं विद्धि मे पराम्
जीव-भूतां महा-बाहो
ययेदं धार्यते जगत्

apareyam itas tv anyāṃ
prakṛtiṃ viddhi me parām
jīva-bhūtāṃ mahā-bāho
yayedaṃ dhāryate jagat

“Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intelligence and false ego—all together these eight comprise My separated material energies. But besides this inferior nature, O mighty-armed Arjuna, there is a superior energy of Mine, which consists of all living entities who are struggling with material nature and are sustaining the universe.”

Spirit and matter are superior and inferior energies, yet the Māyāvādīs and other speculators artificially try to make them one. Although spirit and matter ultimately come from the same source, they cannot be made one. There are many things that come from our bodies, but although they come from the same source, they are qualitatively different. Although the supreme source of both matter and spirit is one, the emanations from this source should be regarded separately, as inferior and superior. Vedānta philosophy recognizes this fact, and this is the main difference between it and all other speculative impersonal philosophies of the creation.

Spirit and matter emanate from the same source, exist together and interpenetrate one another. Yet they are different and cannot be artificially combined. For example, fire and heat interpenetrate and cannot be separated; where there is fire there is heat, and where there is heat there is fire. Nonetheless, although they are one, they are different. Therefore the actual Vedānta philosophy is acintya-bhedābheda: inconceivable, simultaneous qualitative oneness and difference between the Lord and His potencies.