Verse 2.162

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

कार्येऽसति तु तत्सूत्रं प्रज्ञानघनरूपभृत् ।
अवच्छिन्नं स्वकार्येण समष्टिव्यष्टितां व्रजेत् ॥ १६२ ॥

kārye'sati tu tatsūtraṃ prajñānaghanarūpabhṛt |
avacchinnaṃ svakāryeṇa samaṣṭivyaṣṭitāṃ vrajet || 162 ||

English translation of verse 2.162:

But as long as the effect has not come into being, the Sūtrātman remains in the form of the knowledge-self (prajñānaghana). When it is in a conditioned form by its effect, it manifests itself in cosmic and individual forms.

Notes:

Prior to the rise of the Virāj, the Sūtrātman remains in a potential condition as motion and knowledge (kriyāvijñāna śaktirūpeṇa), that is, as prajñāna-ghana, in Brahman, the first cause. It cannot be referred to either as the effect or as the cause. But it can be spoken of as the Sūtrātman differentiating it from Brahman, the first cause, and the Virāj only when it assumes the cosmic (samaṣṭi) and the individual (vyaṣṭi) forms, Vaiśvānara and Viśva respectively.

See verses (238) and (239) for an explanation of kriyā-śakti and vijñāna-śakti of the Sūtrātman.

Advaita inquires into the states of waking, dream, and sleep with a view to bring out the nature of the Self which is constant and unchanging in all the three states. These three states are characterized as gross (sthūla), subtle (sūkṣma), and causal (kāraṇa) respectively. Though Brahman-Ātman is one and non-dual, it is referred to variously both at the cosmic and individual levels because of the difference in respect of the adjuncts. The individual forms of Brahman-Ātman are: Viśva in the waking state, Taijasa in the dream state, and Prājña in the state of sleep. The cosmic forms of the Absolute are: Vaiśvānara in the gross form, the Sūtrātman in the subtle form, and īśvara in the causal form.