Shloka 31
Atithi-prāpti and the Brāhmaṇa’s Deliberation on Triadic Dharma (अतिथिप्राप्तिः धर्मत्रयविचारश्च)
“व्यक्तभावको प्राप्त हुए उन्हीं अनिरुद्धने पितामह ब्रह्माकी सृष्टि की। वे ब्रह्मा सम्पूर्ण तेजोमय हैं और उन्हींको समष्टि अहंकार कहा गया है
vyaktabhāvakaḥ prāptaḥ sa evāniruddho pitāmaha-brahmaṇaḥ sṛṣṭiṃ cakāra | sa brahmā sarva-tejomayaḥ, sa eva ca samaṣṭy-ahaṅkāra iti kathyate |
Vaiśampāyana said: When the principle called Vyaktabhāvaka had manifested, that very Aniruddha brought forth the creation of Pitāmaha Brahmā. Brahmā is described as wholly constituted of radiance, and he is also identified as the collective (cosmic) ego-sense—the universal ‘I’-principle from which differentiated creation proceeds.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames creation as proceeding through cosmic principles: Brahmā, though a personal creator figure, is also interpreted philosophically as the universal (collective) ahaṅkāra—the cosmic ‘I’-sense that enables differentiation and the unfolding of the world.
Vaiśampāyana describes a stage in the cosmogonic account where Aniruddha, upon the manifestation of a ‘Vyaktabhāvaka’ principle, produces Brahmā (Pitāmaha) and characterizes Brahmā as radiant and as the cosmic ego-principle.