वेदान्त पारिजात सौरभ (भगवद् निम्बार्काचार्य - द्वैताद्वैत वेदान्त ब्रह्मसूत्र भाष्य सटीक)

[SŪ. 1. 3. 30. 188 VEDĀNTA-KAUSTUBHA ADH. 7.] Vedānta-kaustubha To the objection, viz : The view that Prajāpati, having known the particular forms of object by means of the Veda,—in accordance with the maxim of a person arisen from sleep,—¹ creates them as he did before, fits in the case of the periodical dissolution.² But since in the case of the total dissolution ³ there is destruction of everything, how can the priority of the Veda to creation be possible ? How can also its eternity be possible ? How can again the world be preceded by it ? The author replies here : The word "and" (in the sūtra) is meant for removing the doubt. The word "even" implies possibility. That is to say, there is no contradiction whatsoever "even with regard to the recurrence" consisting in a continuous stream of creation and dissolution of the material world, i.e. with regard to the first creation at the end a great dissolution. Why ? "On account of having the same name and form." Thus, during the total dissolution, the Lord Vāsudeva, the one mass of a multitude of attributes which are special to Him, eternal, infinite and natural, and possessing the sentient and the non-sentient as His powers, having drawn in all the effects, consisting in His own powers (śakti) of the sentient and the non-sentient, as a tortoise draws in its limbs, and having placed them in Himself in a successive order, opposed to that of creation, abides in silence, like a boy who has gathered up his toys. At that time, the Vedas, the objects denoted by them, as well as the forms of the latter, exist in Him, all blended together with Him. Thus, the entire Universe always exists in its cause, viz. Vāsudeva or Brahman, possessing the sentient and the non-sentient as His powers. There is no such thing as absolute destruction, in accordance with the scriptural text : " 'The existent alone, my dear, was this in the beginning, one only, without a second ' " ((Chānd. 6.2.1). That is, 'My child !' 'this', i.e. the Universe, 'was existent alone', i.e. was non-different from its cause, 'in the beginning', ¹ See footnote 2, p. 184. ² Naimittika-pralaya. ³ Prākṛta-pralaya. Naimittika pralaya means the dissolution of the three worlds when one day of the Kāryya-brahman or Hiraṇyagarbha comes to an end; while prākṛta pralaya means the dissolution of all objects together with the Kāryya-brahman himself. Vide Ved. Pari, 7th chap. for the four kinds of pralayas: nitya, naimittika, prākṛta and ātyantika.