31. AjA

31. AjA

Adhyaya 1 PAda 4 AdhikaraNa 2

The "AjA" of shvetAshvatara UpaniShad 4.5 Does Not Mean PradhAna


Introduction by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa

Now another smArta theory is refuted. The
following is quoted from the shvetAshvatara UpaniShad
(4.5):

ajAm ekAM lohita-shukla-kR^iShNAM
bahvIH prajAH sR^ijamAnAM sarUpAH
ajo hy eko juShamAno .anushete
jahaty enaM bhukta-bhogam ajo .anyaH


"A certain unborn male serves the red, white, and black unborn
female that creates the many living entities and their forms,
while another another unborn male abandons her as she enjoys
pleasures."

SaMshaya: Does the word ajA here
mean the pradhAna of sa~Nkhya, or does
it mean the potency of Brahman described in this
UpaniShad?
PUrva-pakSha: Without any external help the
unborn material nature creates the innumerable living entities.
SiddhAnta: In regard to this, the
sa~Nkhyas.a belief concerning the creation, he says:


SUtra 8


camasavad avisheShAt

camasa - a cup; vat - like;
avisheShAt - because of not being specific.


(The word "ajA" in shvetAshvatara
UpaniShad 4.5 does not mean the sa_nkhya conception of
material nature) because of the lack of a specific description.
It is like the word "camasa" (cup) in BR^ihad-
AraNyaka UpaniShad 2.2.3.

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


The word na (not) should be read into this
sUtra from sUtra 1.4.5. It cannot be
said that the female described here is the material nature
as described in the sa~Nkhya-smR^iti. Why? Because the
material nature is not specifically described in this passage.
Because there is no specific description, but only the mention of
being unborn in the word ajA, which is derived from
the phrase na jAyate (it is not born). It is like
the example of the cup. In the BR^ihad-AraNyaka UpaniShad
(2.2.3) it is said:


arvAg-bilash camasa Urdhva-budhna


"There is a cup with its mouth down and its bottom
up."

It is not possible to take the word camasa,
which is derived from the verb cam (to drink), in
this mantra as literally a cup, or vessal to
consume what was offered in a yaj~na. It is
also not possible to consider the meaning of a word without reference
to etymology. For this reason it is not possible to interpret the word in thismantra as the material nature described in the
sa~Nkhya-smR^iti. It is also not possible because the
sa~Nkhya-smR^iti considers that material nature
creates the living entities independently.
The ajA here is the potency of the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, which is described in the
Vedas. Giving a specific reason to accept this, he says:


SUtra 9


jyotir upakramA tu tathA hy adhIyate eke

jyotiH - light; upakramA - beginning with;
tu - indeed; tathA - in that way; hi - indeed;
adhIyate - iread; eke - some.


Light is its origin. Also, other passages confirm it.

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


The word tu (but) is used in the sense of certainty. The
word light is used to mean the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In
this way He is celebrated in the shruti-shAstra (
BR^ihad-AraNyaka UpaniShad 10.4.16):


tad devA jyotiShAM jyotiH


"The demigods meditate on Him, the light of lights."

The word upakrama should be understood here in
the sense of "cause". Because this aja
(unborn) has Brahman as its cause, its being unborn is
metaphorical only, just as the "cup" in BR^ihad-
AraNyaka UpaniShad 2.2.3.
In that passage it is said:


arvAg-bilash camasa Urdhva-budhna


"There is a cup with its mouth down and its bottom
up."

As the "cup" here is actually the skull, in the same
way the ajA (unborn) here is not actually unborn,
but is the potency born from Brahman, as is described in the first
and fourth chapters of shvetAsvatara UpaniShad.
The first quote is (shvetAsvatara UpaniShad
1.3):


te dhyAna-yogAnugata apashyan
devAtma-shaktiM sva-guNair nigUDhAm


"The dhyAna-yogIs saw the Supreme
Lord.as potency, which was hidden by its own qualities."

The second quote is (shvetAsvatara UpaniShad
4.1):


ya eka-varNo bahudhA shakti-yogAt


"He (the Lord) who is one has become many by the
touch of His potency."

Then the author gives another reason in the
sUtra.as words
tathA hi. Hi in this context means
"reason". The reason is the
evidence given in other passages (adhIyate eke).
That the material nature is born from the Supreme Personality of
Godhead is also explained in the following passage (MuNDaka
UpaniShad 1.1.9):


tasmAd etad brahma nAma rUpam annaM ca jAyate


"From Him (the Lord), pradhAna
, names, forms, and food, are all born."

The word brahma here means pradhAna
, which is situated in the three modes of nature, and which is
also called brahma in
Bhagavad-gita (14.3):


mama yonir mahad brahma


"The total material substance, called Brahman, is
the source of birth."*

Now our opponent may ask: How, then, is the material nature
unborn? Then, if it is unborn, how can it be born from
light?
Fearing that these questions may be raised, he says:


SUtra 10


kalpanopadeshAc ca madhv-Adi-vad avirodhaH

kalpana - creation; upadeshAt - from the
instruction; ca - certainly;
madhv - honey; Adi - beginning with; vad
- like; avirodhaH - not a contradiction.


Because it is said to be created by the Supreme it is not a
contradiction to say that pradhAna is both created
and uncreated. In this way its is like honey and some other
things that are both created and uncreated.

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


This doubt is dispelled by the word ca
(certainly). It is possible for pradhAna to be both
created and uncreated. How is that? That is explained by the word
kalpana. Kalpana here means
creation". It should be understood in that way because it was
used with that sense in the R~N Veda.as statement,
yathA-pUrvam akalpayat (In the beginning the
Supreme Personality of Godhead created thew world). The meaning
of this is that the pradhAna is manifested from the
Supreme Brahman, who is the master of the potencies of darkness.
That is the truth in this matter. The Lord has an eternal and
very subtle potency named tamas (darkness), which
is described in the following statement (Rg Veda
10.1.29.3):

tama AsIt tamasA gUDham agre praketaM yadA
tamas tan na divA na rAtriH

"In the beginning was
darkness. Darkness covered everything. When the darkness was
manifested there was neither day nor night."

Tamas is also described in the Culika
UpaniShad:

gaur anAdavatI

"Matter has no power to speak."

At the time of cosmic annihilation pradhAna
attains oneness with Brahman, but does not merge into Brahman. In
the passage from shruti-shAstra beginning with the
words pR^ithivy apsu pralIyate it is said that the
material elements, beginning from earth and culminating in ether,
all merge into tamas (darkness), but there is no
mention of tamas merging into another substance
because tamas is already one with the Supreme.
Because tamas is very subtle there is no
possibility of it being separate from the Supreme, and therefore
it is one with Him. It is not otherwise. This does not mean that
tamas is identical with the Supreme. If it meant
identity with the Supreme the use of the pratyaya cvi
in ekI-bhavati, would not be appropriate.
When the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of the
tamas potency, desires to create, from Him arises
the unmanifested (avyakta) three modes of material
nature. The shruti-shastra explains:

mahAn avyakte lIyate avyaktam akShare akSharaM tamasi

"The mahat merges into the
avyakta, the avyakta merges into the
akShara, and the akShara merges into
tamas."

The
MahAbhArata explains,

tasmAd avyaktam utpannaM tri-guNaM dvija-sattama

"O best of the brAhmaNas, the
unmanifested three modes of material nature was born from the
Supreme Personality of Godhead."

These passages from scripture clearly describe the creation
of pradhAna and the other elements. In this way the
the scriptures teach that pradhAna is created and
that it is both cause and effect simultaneously. The ViShNu
PurANa explains this in the following words:

pradhAna-puMsor ajayoH
kAraNaM kArya-bhUtayoH

"Lord ViShNu is the cause of the unborn
PradhAna and PuruSha."

At the time of creation the three modes of material nature
arise in pradhAna and pradhAna
manifests many different names, such as pradhAna-
avyakta, and many different forms in red and other colors.
At this time it is said that the pradhAna is
manifested from the Supreme Light (jyotir-utpannA).
Next he (the author of the sutras) gives an
example: "It is like honey and other similar things (
madhv-Adi-vat)." The sun, when it is a cause, remains
one, and when it is an effect it becomes other things, such as
the honey enjoyed by the Vasus. In this way the sun is both cause
and effect simultaneously. There is no contradiction in this.