4.7: Prakṛty-adhikaraṇam - Arguments against prakṛti as the material cause
Brahman is also prakṛti, the material nature. This is the only proposition that is not contradictory to the conclusions of the Upaniṣads. Brahman is both the creator and the ingredient
« Vedānta-sūtra: The Govinda-bhāṣya of Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa
Topic 7: Prakṛty-adhikaraṇam - Arguments against prakṛti as the material cause
Brahman is both the creator and the ingredient of creation. There is no other nature separated or independent from Him
prakṛtiś ca pratijñā-dṛṣṭāntānurodhāt, abhidhyopadeśāc ca, sākṣāc cobhayāmnātāt, ātma-kṛteḥ pariṇāmāt, yoniś ca hi gīyate
“Brahman is also prakṛti, the material nature. This is the only proposition that is not contradictory to the conclusions of the Upaniṣads. Brahman is both the creator and the ingredient, because it is described that He creates the world out of desire, and because of other reasons.
He is certainly the creator and also the ingredient of creation, because both truths are directly stated in the scriptures. He creates the world by the permutation of His energy. The scriptures declare that the Lord is the womb, or source, from which the material world was born.”
Sūtra 1.4.23 - Material nature is not separated from the Lord
prakṛtiś ca pratijñā-dṛṣṭāntānurodhāt
prakṛtiḥ: Prakṛti, the primordial material nature; ca – and; pratijñā: proposition (to be proved); dṛṣṭānta: example; anurodhāt: because of agreement, conformity, non-contradiction.
Brahman is also prakṛti, the material nature. This is the only proposition that is not contradictory to the conclusions of the Upaniṣads.
Commentary: With all the arguments explained in the previous sūtras, the misconceptions of the materialistic Sānkhya philosophy are finally defeated. However, some theistic philosophies also include misconceptions. One of these is the idea that the material world is false, with Māyā (illusion) being imposed on Brahman. According to this theory, Brahman is the ultimate source of spiritual existence, including all the jīvas, but the material world is something different in nature, some kind of force that is superimposed on top of this spiritual existence, covering the souls with ignorance. This theory negates the potencies of the Supreme Lord, making Him impersonal and formless, incapable of creating or performing actions.
The real philosophy of the Vedas doesn’t support the idea that the material world is false. It is certainly illusory, but it is not false. The material manifestation is not false because it ultimately comes from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and nothing false can come from the Absolute Truth. It’s also not correct to say that Brahman is the creator, but the material energy is something separated from Him. No, ultimately everything is Brahman. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is not just the creator of the material world, but the ingredient as well, since everything that exists comes from His energy. Since the jīvas also come from the Lord, in reality there is nothing that is separated from Him.
The idea that the material world is false comes from the vivarta-vada. It is counteracted by the pariṇāma-vada (propounded by Vyāsadeva), which explains that the material world is in reality a permutation of the spiritual energy, or in other words, a permutation of Brahman.
Brahman is eternal and never undergoes transformation. The external potency is also spiritual and also doesn’t undergo transformation. However, under the influence of the illusory potency, matter is permuted, or organized in a certain way, creating the illusory material world. It is called illusory because it is ultimately neither material nor separated from the Supreme Lord, but covered by ignorance; the conditioned souls see it as such. As Kṛṣṇa directly revealed to Brahmā at the beginning of creation:
aham evāsam evāgre, nānyad yat sad-asat param
paścād aham yad etac ca, yo ’vaśiṣyeta so ’smy aham
ṛte ’rtham yat pratīyeta, na pratīyeta cātmani
tad vidyād ātmano māyām, yathābhāso yathā tamaḥ“Brahmā, it is I, the Personality of Godhead, who was existing before the creation, when there was nothing but Myself. Nor was there the material nature, the cause of this creation. That which you see now is also I, the Personality of Godhead, and after annihilation, what remains will also be I, the Personality of Godhead. O Brahmā, whatever appears to be of any value, if it is without relation to Me, has no reality. Know it as My illusory energy, that reflection which appears to be in darkness.” (SB 2.9.33-34)
Māyāvādis believe that Māyā covers the Supreme Brahman, who, under illusion, thinks he has become many and is entangled in the material world. Although a Māyāvādi will never admit it, the practical result of this belief is that Māyā is not only a separate force, but it is greater than Brahman.
Indeed, there is a force called Māyā, the illusory potency of the Lord, but it exists completely under His control. Māyā, however, can cover the individual souls who reject their eternal position of service to the Lord. This is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:
“In that place, Śrīla Vyāsadeva, in his own āśrama, which was surrounded by berry trees, sat down to meditate after touching water for purification. Thus he fixed his mind, perfectly engaging it by linking it in devotional service [bhakti-yoga] without any tinge of materialism, and thus he saw the Absolute Personality of Godhead along with His external energy, which was under full control. Due to this external energy, the living entity, although transcendental to the three modes of material nature, thinks of himself as a material product and thus undergoes the reactions of material miseries.” (SB 1.7.3-5)
Another misconception is the idea that Brahman is the creator, but the ingredient is something else. According to this theory, the material nature has a separate existence, and this separate and independent mass is used by Brahman for the creation.
The cause and effect of the material manifestation
The fact that the Lord utilizes his multifarious potencies to create the material manifestation is described in many passages of the scriptures. The Taittirīya Upaniṣad, for example, states:
tasmād vā etasmād ātmana ākāśaḥ sambhūtaḥ
ākāśād vāyum vāyor agnim, agner āpam adbhyam pṛthivī
pṛthivyā oṣadhayaḥ oṣadhībhyo ’nnam, annāt puruṣam“From that Self (Brahman) sprang ākāśa (ether); from ākāśa sprang air; from air, fire; from fire, water; from water, earth. From earth sprang plants; from plants came food; from food arose man.” (2.1.3)
tasmā etat provāca, annam prāṇam cakṣuḥ śrotram mano vācamiti
tam hovāca
yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante, yena jātāni jīvant
yatprayantyabhisamviśanti tad vijijñāsasva, tad brahmeti“Food, prāṇa, seeing, hearing, the mind, and speech are Brahman. From Him, all beings arise. From Him, they all obtain sustenance, and unto Him, they at last return. This Brahman you should now seek.” (Taittirīya Upaniṣad 3.1.1)
The Chāndogya Upaniṣad confirms:
sad eva somyedam agra āsīd ekam evādvitīyam
“O gentle one, previous to creation of the universe, only sat (Brahman) existed, as the one without a second.” (6.2.1)
tad aikṣata, bahu syām prajāyeyeti
“He deliberated, “May I become many. May I manifest in a remarkable way.” (6.2.3)
The Aitareya Upaniṣad (1.1.2) mentions:
sa aikṣata lokān nu sṛjā
“He thought: ‘Now I shall create the worlds.’”
All these passages give the idea that at the beginning, nothing existed apart from Brahman, and that this Supreme Brahman is not just the creator, but the origin of all materials used for the creation of the material world.
However, there are passages from the scriptures that appear to suggest that prakṛti, the material energy, is something else, and Brahman just uses this separate energy as the ingredient for the creation of the universe.
The Cūlikā Upaniṣad, for example, states:
vikāra-jananīm ajñām aṣṭa-rūpām ajām dhruvam
dhyāyate ‘dhyāsitā tena tanyate preritā punaḥ
sūyate puruṣārtham ca tenaivādhiṣṭhitā jagat
gaur anādy-antavatī sā janitrī bhūta-bhāvinī
sitāsitā ca raktā ca sarvakām adhunā vibhoḥ
pibanty enām aviṣamām avijñātāḥ kumārakāḥ
ekas tu pibate devaḥ svacchando ‘tra vaśānugām
dhyāna-kriyābhyām bhagavān bhunkte ‘sau prasabham vibhuḥ
sarva-sādhāraṇīm dogdhrīm pīyamānām tu yajvabhiḥ
catur-vimśati-sankhyākam avyaktam vyaktam ucyate“The Supreme Personality of Godhead glances over His prakṛti, the unborn, eternal material nature, which appears in eight forms and twenty-four elements, and binds the living entities in ignorance, being set in motion by Him. This prakṛti is like a cow, without beginning and end, the mother of all beings in the past, present, and future. Under His order, she creates the material worlds and the various goals of life adopted by the living entities. Without knowing her, the creatures, born in goodness, passion, and ignorance, all drink her milk of material desires and are thus nourished by her through the performance of sacrifices. The independent and omnipresent Lord, however, enjoys at will, having her under his full control.”
This verse clearly shows the Lord as the creator and master, but one may get the impression that it speaks about a separate material nature that is controlled and enjoyed by Him.
In the Viṣṇu Purāṇa, we find another verse that gives a similar idea:
yathā sannidhi-mātreṇa gandhaḥ kṣobhāya jāyate
manaso nopakartṛtvāt tathāsau parameśvaraḥ
sannidhānād yathākāśa-kālādyāḥ kāraṇam taroḥ
tathaivāparigāmena viśvasya bhagavān hariḥ
nimitta-mātram evāsau sṛṣṭānām sarga-karmaṇi
pradhāna-kāriṇī bhūtā yato vai sṛjya-śaktayaḥ“Just as a fragrance produces mental agitation without directly contacting the nose, the Lord agitates prakṛti without contacting it. By His mere presence, He becomes the cause of the universe without personal effort, just as ether, time, and other factors become the causes of a tree by their very presence. He is thus the efficient cause of created beings in the act of creation, while pradhāna is the material cause, endowed with powers for creation.”
Based on these verses, one could argue that Brahman is the primary cause, but not the ingredient of the creation. In other words, Brahman creates the universe using something else as an ingredient, just like a potter creates pots and other things by using clay as the ingredient. Since the material creation is by definition material, and Brahman is by definition spiritual, the ingredients used to create the material universes must be different from Brahman, one could argue. By following this thesis, one then comes to the conclusion that pradhāna, or prakṛti, the material nature, is something separated from Brahman, which leads to dualism.
To this, Vyāsadeva answers: prakṛtiś ca pratijñā-dṛṣṭāntānurodhāt. Brahman is also prakṛti, the material nature. There is nothing independent from the Supreme Lord, who is both the cause and the effect. He is both the creator and the ingredient. This is the only proposition that does not contradict the examples given in the Upaniṣads.
If we accept the idea that Brahman is separate from prakṛti, or in other words, if we accept that material nature is independent and different in nature from Brahman (just like clay and a potter), we contradict many passages from the Upaniṣads. Therefore, this idea must be incorrect. Take this passage, for example:
śvetaketo, yan nu somyedam mahāmanā anūcānamānī stabdho ’si, uta tam ādeśam aprākṣyo yenāśrutam śrutam bhavati amatam matamavijñātam vijñātamiti
“O Śvetaketu, dear one, you have grown proud, conceited, and arrogant, thinking yourself learned. But have you inquired about the principle by which everything unheard becomes heard, by which everything inconceivable becomes understandable, and by which everything unknown becomes known?” (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.1.3)
This statement speaks about a single principle that, once understood, makes everything known. This indicates that the ingredient of the world must not be different from the creator of the world, otherwise this passage would be directly contradicted. Therefore, the analogy of the potter and clay is not applicable.
This passage by itself may not look like sufficient proof to sustain that Brahman and prakṛti are one but look into this second verse that comes immediately after the first:
yathā saumyaikena mṛtpiṇḍena sarvam mṛṇmayam vijñātam syād vācārambhaṇam vikāro nāmadheyam mṛttiketyeva satyam
“O dear one, just as by knowing a single lump of clay, all things made of clay become known – since their different names are just figures of speech, while the clay alone is the real object – in the same way, by understanding this unifying principle, everything becomes known.” (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 6.1.4)
This verse clearly speaks about the ingredient of the world, and not about the creator. It promises that by knowing the unifying principle, we also understand the creation, since it is not different from the creator.
We may say that by understanding the nature of the clay, the pot becomes known (since the pot is nothing but clay, being a transformation of it), but we can’t say that by knowing the potter, the pot becomes known, since they are of two different natures. Anatomical knowledge of human beings does not directly translate into knowledge of pottery. The verse thus explains that the ingredient of the world is not different from the original creator of the world. By understanding the Supreme Brahman, the material creation also becomes known, because Brahman includes everything. If the material nature were different from Brahman, then the principle described in the verses would be false, since knowing Brahman would not make the material nature known.
One could then argue that this second verse supports the idea that Brahman and prakṛti are separated, but by doing so, one contradicts the first verse, which states that there is a single teaching that explains everything. A proposition that appears to be supported by some passages of the scriptures while contradicting others must be incorrect. Therefore, the only proposition that does not contradict the passages from the Upaniṣads is the idea that Brahman and prakṛti are non-different, or, in other words, that the cause and the ingredient are one. This is the only correct explanation, according to Vyāsadeva.
Sūtra 1.4.24 - The Lord creates out of desire
abhidhyopadeśāc ca
abhidhya: will, desire, intention; upadeśāc: because of the teaching; ca: and.
Brahman is both the creator and the ingredient, because it is described that He creates the world out of desire, and because of other reasons.
Commentary: There are many passages of the scriptures that state that the Lord had the desire to create the material world. In the Taittirīya Upaniṣad (2.6.1), for example, it’s mentioned:
so’kāmayata, bahu syām prajāyeyeti, sa tapo’tapyata
sa tapastaptvā, idam sarvam asṛjata, yad idam kiñca
tat sṛṣṭvā, tad evānuprāviśat, tad anupraviśya
sac ca tyac cābhavat
niruktam cāniruktam ca, nilayanam cānilayanam ca
vijñānam cāvijñānam ca, satyam cānṛtam ca satyam abhavat
yad idam kiñca, tat-satyam ityācakṣate
tad apy eṣa śloko bhavati“The Lord desired, “May I become many! May I produce offspring!” After deliberating in this way, He created the material universes and whatever exists. Having created the universes, He entered into each of them. Having entered, he became the conscious and unconscious entities, the definable and undefinable, the shelter and the sheltered, the knowledge and ignorance, truth and falsehood. The sages who see things as they are declare that whatever exists is the Lord.”
Some philosophies try to prove that God has no desire, but this is not true according to the Vedas. In some passages (like SB 3.5.5), the Lord is described as “desireless” because He doesn’t have material desires, but this doesn’t mean He doesn’t have desires at all. It simply means that all His desires are pure and spiritual in nature.
These passages follow the same principle as passages that describe the Lord as not having a form. The real meaning is not that the Lord is truly formless, but just that He doesn’t have a material form. Just like we have desires, the Lord also has desires; the difference is that His desires are not contaminated by the material modes like the material desires we currently have.
This verse describes that the Lord desired to become many and father many children. All living beings are created by the Lord, and in this way, they are all his children. All souls are also part and parcel of the Lord, and therefore, we are separate expansions of Him. Thus, by His desire to become many and have many children, the Lord created the material universes.
A similar, but more detailed description is given in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.5.23-24:
“The Personality of Godhead, the master of all living entities, existed prior to the creation as one without a second. It is by His will only that creation is made possible and again everything merges in Him. This Supreme Self is symptomized by different names. The Lord, the undisputed proprietor of everything, was the only seer. The cosmic manifestation was not present at that time, and thus He felt imperfect without His plenary and separated parts and parcels. The material energy was dormant, whereas the internal potency was manifested.”
As the verse explains, the Lord existed before the material creation. At that time, all the souls were resting inside His body, and the material energy was dormant. This means they also already existed at that time. When different verses describe that the Lord created the different living entities, we should understand that this applies to their subtle and gross bodies. Other passages appear to describe the Lord as the creator of the souls, but this also should not be taken literally, as other passages explain that creation and destruction are concepts that exist only in the material plane. Everything spiritual is simply eternal, not subject to creation or destruction at any time.
As Kṛṣṇa explains in the Bhagavad-gītā (2.20), the soul has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. The soul is simply eternal and ever-existing. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that passages that describe the Lord as the creator of the souls just use material language to ascertain the relationship, making it clear that the Lord is the chief and the foundation.
Kṛṣṇa has two principal creative potencies: the internal potency (that comprises all spiritual planets), and the external potency, which is used to create the material world. The external potency is part of the Lord and is also eternal in nature, just like all souls. What is temporary is the cosmic manifestation, which is a permutation of the external energy. Different cycles of creation and destruction happen continuously, giving a chance to the conditioned souls to satisfy their material desires and eventually regain their eternal spiritual nature.
In this way, the desire of the Lord to create the material manifestation does not come from a desire to enjoy it. When the verse mentions that “He felt imperfect without His plenary and separated parts and parcels”, this shows that He misses the spiritual association of the souls who fall into illusion, and desires to bring them back to their proper spiritual consciousness. The desire to create the material world comes from this purpose. As Śrīla Prabhupāda explains in his purport to SB 3.5.24:
“The Lord is the supreme seer because only by His glance did the material energy become active for cosmic manifestation. At that time the seer was there, but the external energy, over which the glance of the Lord is cast, was not present. He felt somewhat insufficient, like a husband feeling lonely in the absence of his wife. This is a poetic simile. The Lord wanted to create the cosmic manifestation to give another chance to the conditioned souls who were dormant in forgetfulness. The cosmic manifestation gives the conditioned souls a chance to go back home, back to Godhead, and that is its main purpose. The Lord is so kind that in the absence of such a manifestation He feels something wanting, and thus the creation takes place. Although the creation of the internal potency was manifested, the other potency appeared to be sleeping, and the Lord wanted to awaken her to activity, just as a husband wants to awaken his wife from the sleeping state for enjoyment. It is the compassion of the Lord for the sleeping energy that He wants to see her awaken for enjoyment like the other wives who are awake. The whole process is to enliven the sleeping conditioned souls to the real life of spiritual consciousness so that they may thus become as perfect as the ever-liberated souls in the Vaikuṇṭhalokas.”
The process of creation in itself is described in the following verses (SB 3.5.25-28):
“The Lord is the seer, and the external energy, which is seen, works as both cause and effect in the cosmic manifestation. O greatly fortunate Vidura, this external energy is known as māyā or illusion, and through her agency only is the entire material manifestation made possible.
The Supreme Living Being in His feature as the transcendental puruṣa incarnation, who is the Lord’s plenary expansion, impregnates the material nature of three modes, and thus by the influence of eternal time the living entities appear.
Thereafter, influenced by the interactions of eternal time, the supreme sum total of matter, called the mahat-tattva, became manifested, and in this mahat-tattva the unalloyed goodness, the Supreme Lord, sowed the seeds of universal manifestation out of His own body.
Thereafter the mahat-tattva differentiated itself into many different forms as the reservoir of the would-be entities. The mahat-tattva is chiefly in the mode of ignorance, and it generates the false ego. It is a plenary expansion of the Personality of Godhead, with full consciousness of creative principles and time for fructification.”
In the Bhagavad-gītā (7.14), Kṛṣṇa refers to His external potency as “daivi hy esa guna-mayi“, His divine potency composed of the three modes of material nature. Being one of the potencies of the Lord, it is spiritual in nature and non-different from Him. This spiritual potency is used to create the material elements used for the construction of the universes, and therefore the Lord is both the creator and the elements used in the creation, as indicated by Śrīla Vyāsadeva in this sūtra.
Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa indicates in his commentary that the word “ca” (and) included at the end of the sūtra specifies that there are other reasons not explicitly indicated. The meaning is that apart from the desire of the Lord to become many, there are many other reasons for the creation of the universe. Just like in other activities of the Lord, the desire to create the material world fulfills many purposes simultaneously.
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