44. The Elements Are Manifested

Adhyaya 3 Pada 3 AdhikaraNa 7

The Elements Are Manifested From the Supreme Personality of
Godhead


Introduction by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


The description here, that the material elements are
manifested in a particular sequence, beginning with ether, is
given to remove controversy in regard to the sequence in which
the elements are manifested. The fact that the pradhAna, mahat-
tattva, and all the elements are created by the Supreme
Personality of Godhead has already been proved in sUtra 1.1.2
(janmAdy asya yataH). Now the author of the sUtras begins a more
detailed description of that creation. In the Subala UpaniShad it
is said:


tad AhuH kiM tad AsIt tasmai sa hovAca na san nasan na sad
asad iti tasmAt tamaH sa~njAyate tamaso bhUtAdir bhUtAder
AkAsham AkAshAd vAyur vAyor agnir agner Apo .adbhyaH
pR^ithivI tad aNDam abhavat


"They said: What was in the beginning? He replied:
In the beginning was neither existence nor non-existence. Nothing
existed and nothing did not exist. In the beginning there was
darkness. From the darkness the origin of the material elements
was born. From the origin of the material elements, ether was
born. From ether, air was born. From air, fire was born. From
fire, water was born. From water, earth was born. In this way the
egg of the material universe was created."

Here it should be understood that akShara, avyakta, mahat-tattva,
tan-mAtras, and material senses should also be placed, in this
sequence, between darkness and ether. This should be done to
complement the following statement of Agnimalaya:


sandagdhvA sarvANi bhUtAni pR^ithivy apsu pralIyate. Apas
tejasi pralIyante. tejo vAyau pralIyate. vAyur AkAshe
pralIyate. AkAsham indriyeShv indriyANi tan-mAtreShu tan-
mAtrANi bhUtAdau vilIyante. bhUtAdir mahati vilIyate.
mahAn avyakte vilIyate. avyaktam akShare vilIyate. akSharaM
tamasi vilIyate. tama ekI-bhavati parasmin. parasmAn na san
nasan na sad asat.


"When the all the elements are burned up, earth
merges into water, water merges into fire, fire merges into air,
air merges into ether, ether merges into the senses, the senses
merge into the tan-mAtras, the tan-mAtras merge into the origin
of the material elements, the origin of the material elements
merges into the mahat-tattva, the mahat-tattva merges into the
avyakta, the avyakta merges into the akShara, and the akShara
merges into the great darkness. Then the great darkness becomes one with theSupreme. In the Supreme is neither existence nor
non-existence. Nothing exists and nothing does not exist."

The word "origin of the material elements" here
means "the false-ego". False-ego is of three kinds. From
false-ego in the mode of goodness, the mind and the demigods are
manifested. From false-ego in the mode of passion, the material
senses are manifested. From false-ego in the mode of ignorance
are manifested the tan-mAtras, from which are manifested the
ether and the other elements. In this way these different
explanations all corroborate each other.
In the GopAla-tApanI UpaniShad it is said:


pUrvam hy ekam evAdvitIyaM brahmAsIt. tasmAd avkyataM
vyaktam evAkSharaM tasmAd akSharAn mahAn mahato vA
aha~NkAras tasmAd aha~NkArAt pa~nca-tan-mAtrANi tebhyo
bhUtAni tair AvR^itam akSharaM bhavati.


"Before the material world was manifest, only the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is one without a second,
existed. From Him came the avyakta. From the avyakta came the
akShara. From the akShara came the mahat-tattva. From the mahat-
tattva came false-ego. From false-ego came the five tan-mAtras.
From them came the material elements. The akShara is filled with
all these."

SaMshaya (doubt): Do the pradhAna and other parts of this
sequence arise one from the other or do they all arise directly
from the Supreme Personality of Godhead?

PUrvapakSha: They arise from each other, for that is the
statement of the texts.

SiddhAnta (the conclusion): The author of the sUtras gives
His conclusion in the following words.


SUtra 12


tad abhidhyAnAd eva tu tal li~NgAt saH

tat - that; abhidhyAnAt - because of meditation;eva - indeed;
tu - indeed; tat - that; li~NgAt - because of the body;saH - He.


Because of meditation and because of the body, it is indeed
He.

Purport by shrIla Baladeva VidyAbhUShaNa


The word "tu" (indeed) is used to dispel doubt. The
Supreme Personality of Godhead is the master of all potencies,
including the potency of great darkness, the potency that begins
the material creation. He is the direct cause, and the pradhAna,
earth, and other features of the material creation are effects
created by Him. Why is that? The sUtra explains: "Because
of meditation and because of the body." The shruti-shAstra explains:


so .akAmayata bahu syAM prajAyeya


"The Supreme Personality of Godhead desired: Let Me
become many. Let me create the material world."

Thus, it is by the desire of the all-powerful Supreme
Personality of Godhead that the pradhAna and other features of
the material world are created. That is how He is the cause of
the material world. Also, the material world is the body of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of
Godhead enters the great darkness of the material world and
transforms it into pradhAna and the others aspects of matter. In
this sense the material world is His body. This is confirmed by
the AntaryAmi-brAhmaNa of the BR^ihad-AraNyaka UpaniShad, and also
by the Subala UpaniShad, which explains:


yasya pR^ithivI sharIram


"The world is the body of the Supreme Personality of
Godhead."