Shloka 23
वासुदेवस्वरूपनिरूपणं—सर्गक्रमश्च
Vāsudeva’s Nature and the Ordered Process of Creation
नाहो न रात्रिर् न नभो न भूमिर् नासीत् तमो ज्योतिर् अभून् न चान्यत् श्रोत्रादिबुद्ध्यानुपलभ्यम् एकं प्राधानिकं ब्रह्म पुमांस् तदासीत्
nāho na rātrir na nabho na bhūmir nāsīt tamo jyotir abhūn na cānyat śrotrādibuddhyānupalabhyam ekaṃ prādhānikaṃ brahma pumāṃs tadāsīt
Then there was neither day nor night, neither sky nor earth; neither darkness nor light—nor anything else besides. Only the One remained: the primal Brahman, the supreme Puruṣa, beyond the mind’s instruments such as hearing and the rest; that foundational Reality alone was.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: State of reality at the beginning—before day/night, heaven/earth, light/dark
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: revealing
Creation Stage: Primary
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas (worlds)
Concept: Before differentiated cosmos and opposites, only the One primal Brahman—supreme Person—remained, beyond the grasp of sense-based cognition.
Vedantic Theme: Brahman
Application: Use contemplative practice to loosen fixation on opposites (light/dark, gain/loss) and seek the underlying unity through steady meditation and surrender.
Vishishtadvaita: Identifies the primordial ground as 'brahma pumān' (personal absolute), aligning impersonal Brahman with the supreme Person (Viṣṇu/Nārāyaṇa).
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
It defines pralaya as a condition where time (day/night) and the cosmos (sky/earth), along with even light and darkness, are absent—establishing that only the Supreme foundational Reality remains prior to creation.
He states that the One is not graspable through the usual instruments of knowing—senses like hearing and even the intellect—indicating a transcendent source that precedes and grounds all cognition.
It frames ultimate reality not as an impersonal abstraction but as the Supreme Person—aligned with Vaishnava theology where Vishnu is the transcendent ground from whom creation proceeds and into whom it dissolves.