40. Not Created

Adhyaya 3 Pada 3 AdhikaraNa 3

The Eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead Is Not Created


Introduction by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


The ChAndogya UpaniShad (6.2.1) affirms:


sad eva saumyedam


"O gentle one, in the beginning the Supreme
Personality of Godhead alone existed."

A doubt may arise about this statement. Was the eternal
Supreme Personality of Godhead created or not? PradhAna, mahat-
tattva, and many other things that are causes or creators of
other things were created, so perhaps the Supreme Personality of
Godhead was also created at some point. This may be so because the
Supreme Personality of Godhead is not really different from these
other causes.
In the following words the author of the sUtras addresses
this doubt.


SUtra 8


asambhavas tu sato .anupapatteH

asambhavaH - the state of not being created; tu - indeed;sataH - of
the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead; anupapatteH - because
of impossibility


Indeed, the eternal Supreme Personality of Godhead was never
created, for such a creation is impossible.

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


The word "tu" (indeed) is used here either to remove
doubt or affirm the truth of this statement. The eternal Supreme
Personality of Godhead was never created. Why not? The sUtra
explains: "anupapatteH" (because that is impossible).
There is no creator of the Supreme Personality of Godhead,
because it is illogical and inappropriate to assume the existence
of such a creator. That is the meaning here.
shvetAshvatara UpaniShad (6.9) explains:


sa kAraNaM kAraNAdhipAdhipo
na cAsya kashcij janitA na cAdhipaH


"the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of
all causes. He is the king of all other causes. No one is His
creator. No one is His king."
It is not possible to say that because all other causes are
created by something else therefore the Supreme Personality of
Godhead must have been created by someone else, for such a
statement contradicts these words of the shruti-shAstra. A root
cause of everything must be accepted, for if it is not then there
is an unending chain of causes. By definition the root cause of
everything does not have another cause, a root from which it has
sprung. This is described in the Sa~Nkhya-sUtra (1.67) in these
words:


mUle mUlAbhAvAt


"This is so because the root cause of everything is
not caused by another root cause."

In this way the doubt that perhaps the Supreme Personality
of Godhead is created by someone else is clearly refuted. Because
the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the first cause of all
causes, by definition He is not caused by someone else. However,
the secondary causes, such as the avyakta and the mahat-tattva
are all created by another cause. The sUtras explaining that
ether and the other material elements were all created were given
as examples of this general truth.