Shloka 316
अव्यक्त-गुण-पुरुषविवेकः | Avyakta, Guṇas, and Discrimination of Puruṣa
रश्मिजालमिवादित्यस्तत् तत्काले नियच्छति । प्रकृतिदेवी ही जगत्की सृष्टि और प्रलय करती है। जैसे सूर्य प्रतिदिन प्रातःकाल अपनी किरणोंको सब ओर फैलाता और सायंकालमें अपने किरण-जालको समेट लेता है
raśmijālam ivādityas tat tatkāle niyacchati | prakṛtidevī hi jagat sṛṣṭiṃ ca pralayaṃ ca karoti | yathā sūryaḥ pratidinaṃ prātaḥkāle svāḥ raśmīḥ sarvato vistarayati sāyaṃkāle ca svaṃ raśmijālaṃ saṃharati, tathā ādipuruṣo brahmā svasya dina-kalpasya ārambhe triguṇān vistarayati ante ca sarvān saṃhṛtya kevala eva avaśiṣyate |
Vasiṣṭha said: “Just as the Sun gathers back its net of rays at the proper time, so too does the divine Power of Prakṛti bring about the world’s creation and dissolution. As the Sun each day spreads its rays in the morning and withdraws them in the evening, in the same way the primordial Brahmā, at the beginning of his day—the kalpa—unfolds the three guṇas, and at its end draws everything back, remaining alone.”
वसिष्ठ उवाच
Educational Q&A
Cosmic manifestation is cyclical: Prakṛti, through the play of the three guṇas, unfolds the universe and later withdraws it. The simile of the Sun’s rays teaches that expansion and retraction occur according to an ordered time, encouraging a view of change as lawful and impersonal rather than random.
Vasiṣṭha is explaining a cosmological principle using a vivid daily image. He compares the Sun spreading and gathering its rays to Brahmā’s ‘day’ (kalpa), during which the guṇas expand into creation and are later reabsorbed at dissolution, leaving the primordial principle alone.