1.4.23
Brahma Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.4.23
प्रकृतिश् च प्रतिज्ञादृष्टान्तानुपरोधात्
prakṛtiś ca pratijñādṛṣṭāntānuparodhāt
The line
And Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) is the material cause, because that does not conflict with the promise and the examples.
नेपालीमा
र ब्रह्म उपादान कारण हो, किनकि त्यो प्रतिज्ञा र उदाहरणसँग बाझिँदैन।
Where it sits
Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) from 1.1.2, the yataḥ (यतः), is the subject, now explicitly prakṛti (प्रकृति) as well as agent. Śaṅkara (शङ्कर) takes the material cause as not a second thing beside Brahman (ब्रह्मन्), and holds that Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) does not become the world by a change in himself. Rāmānuja (रामानुज) takes a real transformation of his body, the conscious and the non-conscious, while his inner self does not suffer. Madhva holds that Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) is not the stuff of the world: prakṛti (प्रकृति) here means he is the source who governs matter, and the world is real and dependent.
Split: prakṛtiḥ (प्रकृतिः) + ca (च) + pratijñā-dṛṣṭānta-anuparodhāt (प्रतिज्ञा-दृष्टान्त-अनुपरोधात्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| prakṛtiḥ (प्रकृतिः) | nominative singular, feminine | the material cause, the nature from which the effect is drawn |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | also, and |
| pratijñā-dṛṣṭānta-anuparodhāt (प्रतिज्ञा-दृष्टान्त-अनुपरोधात्) | ablative singular, masculine | because there is no conflict with the promise and the examples |
The phrases
ca adds something. Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) is not only the agent who makes the world. Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) is also prakṛti (प्रकृति), the stuff the world is made from. The promise to Śvetaketu (श्वेतकेतु) was that by one lump of clay every clay thing is known. The examples are clay, copper, iron. Those examples work if the cause is the material, not if the cause is only a maker standing outside a different stuff.
anuparodha is non-obstruction, the absence of a conflict. Taking him as material cause does not fight the promise or the examples. It is what they require.
Sanskrit in this line
prakṛti (प्रकृति) is feminine, nominative prakṛtiḥ (प्रकृतिः), recited prakṛtiś (प्रकृतिश्) before ca. The long compound is one masculine ablative, read from anuparodha.
Say it back
Say the clay. The clay is why the cause is being called prakṛti (प्रकृति), not only maker.
Next
1.4.24. The text teaches a prior intention, 'may I be many'.