Sūtra 2.1.32

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Sūtra 2.1.32:

न प्रयोजनवत्त्वात्

na prayojanavattvāt

na – not; prayojana-vattvāt – being endowed with a motive.

“[The Lord has no inclination towards creation, because] He has no motive.” (32)

Sūtra pagination:
Adhyāya 2:
  No Conflict Between Vedānta and Other Vedic Scriptures;
Pāda 1:
  Refutation of Opposing Views;
Adhikaraṇa 9:
  Brahman, the Operative Cause.

Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s commentary (Govinda-bhāṣya)

The word na [not] is understood in this sūtra from the preceding one. The word na-prayojana-vattvāt is a compound word meaning “because of being without motive.” The usual form would have been a-prayojana-vattvāt. The Lord has no urge to create, because being perfect, He has no motive to create. Every activity in the world is seen to exist on a motive beneficial either to one’s self or for the sake of another. The motive of benefiting His own self cannot exist in the case of the Lord, because being perfect, His wishes are automatically fulfilled, as the scriptures repeatedly declare.

The Lord tells Prahlāda in the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya [14.32]:

नित्यं च पूर्ण-कामस्य
जन्मानि विविधानि मे
भक्त-सर्वेष्ट-दानाय
तस्मात् किं ते प्रियं वद

nityaṃ ca pūrṇa-kāmasya
janmāni vividhāni me
bhakta-sarveṣṭa-dānāya
tasmāt kiṃ te priyaṃ vada

“My desires are always automatically fulfilled, but I take various births in this world just to bestow on My devotees the satisfaction of all their desires. So please tell Me what you would like from Me.”

An objector may say, “Nor is His motive to do something beneficial to others, because the creation evidently is for the sake of punishing the conditioned souls, making them suffer the pains of birth and death. An all-compassionate Lord would not create such a universe, merely to punish the erring jīvas for their misdeeds. And no one creates anything without a motive. Therefore, it follows that the Lord has nothing to urge Him to creation.”

This objection is answered in the next sūtra.