Shloka 17
Sāṅkhya: Categories of the Absolute Truth and the Unfolding of Creation
Tattva-vicāra
प्रकृतेर्गुणसाम्यस्य निर्विशेषस्य मानवि । चेष्टा यत: स भगवान्काल इत्युपलक्षित: ॥ १७ ॥
prakṛter guṇa-sāmyasya nirviśeṣasya mānavi ceṣṭā yataḥ sa bhagavān kāla ity upalakṣitaḥ
My dear mother, O daughter of Svāyambhuva Manu, the time factor I have described is Bhagavān Himself; from Him creation begins when the neutral, unmanifested prakṛti is stirred.
The unmanifested state of material nature, pradhāna, is being explained. The Lord says that when the unmanifested material nature is agitated by the glance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it begins to manifest itself in different ways. Before this agitation, it remains in the neutral state, without interaction by the three modes of material nature. In other words, material nature cannot produce any variety of manifestations without the contact of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is very nicely explained in Bhagavad-gītā. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the cause of the products of material nature. Without His contact, material nature cannot produce anything.
FAQs
This verse states that when material nature is in a neutral equilibrium of the three guṇas, the force that sets it into motion comes from the Supreme Lord, who is therefore recognized as Time (kāla).
Kapila is teaching Devahūti Sāṅkhya as a path of realization—explaining that matter does not act independently; the Lord’s potency as kāla initiates material activity and manifestation.
Seeing time as the Lord’s governing energy encourages urgency in sādhana, detachment from temporary changes, and steadiness in devotion amid life’s shifting circumstances.