Verse 94

Objection: The scriptures (e.g. “From which all beings are born…”) declare that the world, including body and objects, is truly born of Brahman. If so, how can it be said to be mere appearance (prātibhāsika)?

Answer: The notion of causality must be understood carefully. There are two kinds of cause:

1. Nimitta (efficient cause): only the cause of origination.
2. Upādāna (material cause): the cause of origination, continuance, and dissolution.

Vedānta declares that the material cause of the world is ajñāna (ignorance, māyā) — “Know Māyā as Prakṛti” (Śvetāśvatara 4.10). And because the śruti also includes Brahman as cause (by the conjunctive “and”), both Brahman and ajñāna together must be considered.

• Brahman alone cannot be the cause, since it is changeless.
• Ajñāna alone cannot be the cause, since it is inert.
• Therefore, Brahman in association with ajñāna is spoken of as the cause of the world.
• As the Upaniṣad says: “He combines the real and the unreal” (Bṛhadāraṇyaka 1.4.7).

The example is clay and pots:

• Brahman is like water — the immutable substratum.
• Ajñāna is like clay — capable of forming shapes, covering the truth.

Thus, when ajñāna is destroyed by Brahma-vidyā, the appearance of multiplicity (world, jīva, īśvara) vanishes. Brahman alone remains.