Shloka 44
वासुदेवस्वरूपनिरूपणं—सर्गक्रमश्च
Vāsudeva’s Nature and the Ordered Process of Creation
तस्मिंस् तस्मिंस् तु तन्मात्रा तेन तन्मात्रता स्मृता तन्मात्राण्य् अविशेषाणि अविशेषास् ततो हि ते
tasmiṃs tasmiṃs tu tanmātrā tena tanmātratā smṛtā tanmātrāṇy aviśeṣāṇi aviśeṣās tato hi te
In each succeeding principle, the corresponding tanmātra is present; therefore it is said to bear the nature of that tanmātra. And those tanmātras are themselves undifferentiated (aviśeṣa), for from them arise the undifferentiated principles.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Nature of tanmātras as ‘undifferentiated’ and their presence in successive principles
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Creation Stage: Primary
Concept: Each later principle contains the corresponding tanmātra, and the tanmātras themselves are initially ‘aviśeṣa’ (undifferentiated), serving as subtle sources from which differentiated manifestation proceeds.
Vedantic Theme: Brahman
Application: Meditate on the common substrate beneath diverse sensory experience; cultivate equanimity by seeing distinctions as emergent rather than ultimate.
Vishishtadvaita: Differentiation arises within an underlying unity ordered by the Supreme; plurality is real but grounded in a single sustaining reality (Vishnu) as inner ruler and cause.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
This verse frames tanmātras as subtle causal principles present within successive stages of creation, explaining how specific sensory qualities and elements emerge from a subtler, undifferentiated basis.
Parāśara states that tanmātras are “aviśeṣa” because they are not yet gross, fully differentiated elements; they function as subtle sources from which further manifestation proceeds.
Even while using a subtle-cause framework (tanmātras/aviśeṣa), the Vishnu Purana presents creation as proceeding under the sovereignty of the Supreme Reality—Vishnu—who is the ultimate ground and regulator of cosmic evolution.