Atma Bodha Verse 09

Hari AUM


saccidAtmanyanusyUte nitye viShNau prakalpita: |
vyaktyo vividhAssarvA hATake kaTakAdivat       ||

Translation :
The Existence and Consciousness, the Eternal, the All-Pervasive ViShNu is the cause of this manifold Universe; Just as gold is the cause of various ornaments.

Explanation :

    The causation of this world is being explained further. In the previous verse, we saw that God is the substratum of this Universe and that the Universe "emerges" from God. That concept has been further explained in this verse.

    God, who is Existence and Consciousness, projects this world out of Himself/Herself i.e. God is the material cause of this world.  Just as various ornaments are made out of gold i.e. gold is the material cause of the ornaments. But, the true nature of gold remains unaffected by this process. Gold still remains gold no matter what form it may be fashioned in to.

    Note the use of ViShNu for God. The meaning of ViShNu is "One who pervades [the Universe]". It is intentended to convey that God is unlimited by time, space or causation.  Also, ShrI Shankara in his works does not exclusively use ViShNu for God. He switches frequently between ViShNu, Shiva and Shakti. It only goes to show that people who fight over which God/Godess( or for that matter Allah, Jehovah, Jesus etc. )  is higher are yet to grasp the higher teaching that is Atma Bodha.

|| bhava Shankara deshikame SharaNam ||