गोविन्द भाष्य (श्रील बलदेव विद्याभूषण - अचिन्त्यभेदाभेद वेदान्त ब्रह्मसूत्र भाष्य सटीक)

In the Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad it is said: pūrvam hy ekam evādvitīyaṁ brahmāsīt. tasmād avyaktam vyaktam evākṣaraṁ tasmād akṣarān mahān mahato vā ahaṅkāras tasmād ahaṅkārāt pañca-tan-mātrāṇi tebhyo bhūtāni tair āvṛtam akṣaraṁ 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 akṣara. From the akṣara came the mahat-tattva. From the mahat-tattva came false-ego. From false-ego came the five tan-mātras. From them came the material elements. The akṣara is filled with all these." Saṁśaya (doubt): Do the pradhāna and other parts of this sequence arise one from the other or do they all arise directly from the Supreme Personality of Godhead? Pūrvapakṣa: They arise from each other, for that is the statement of the texts. Siddhānta (the conclusion): The author of the sūtras gives His conclusion in the following words. Sūtra 12 tad abhidhyānād eva tu tal liṅgāt saḥ tat—that; abhidhyānāt—because of meditation; eva—indeed; tu—indeed; tat— that; liṅgāt—because of the body; saḥ—He. Because of meditation and because of the body, it is indeed He. Purport by Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa 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 pradhāna, earth, and other features of the material creation are effects created by Him. Why is that? The sūtra explains: "Because of meditation and because of the body." The Śruti-śāstra explains: