Shloka 16
सर्गभेदाः — अविद्या, स्रोतोभेदाः, नव सर्गाः, देवासुरादिसृष्टिः, वेद-यज्ञप्रादुर्भावः
तथाभिध्यायतस् तस्य सत्याभिध्यायिनस् ततः प्रादुर्भूतस् तदाव्यक्ताद् अर्वाक्स्रोतस् तु साधकः
tathābhidhyāyatas tasya satyābhidhyāyinas tataḥ prādurbhūtas tadāvyaktād arvāksrotas tu sādhakaḥ
As He contemplated—His contemplation unfailingly true—there manifested from the Unmanifest (avyakta) the ‘arvāksrotas’, the downward-flowing current: the operative principle that sets embodied creation into motion.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Classification and mechanism of creation (sarga), arising from avyakta through true divine contemplation
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Creation Stage: Primary
Concept: The unerring sankalpa (true contemplation) of the Supreme brings forth differentiated creation from the avyakta, initiating embodied becoming.
Vedantic Theme: Brahman
Application: Contemplate the causal order behind experience and cultivate intentionality (sankalpa) aligned with truth rather than impulse.
Vishishtadvaita: Affirms Vishnu as the intelligent and effective cause whose will actualizes real transformation of prakriti under His lordship.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
This verse presents the Avyakta as the source-state from which manifestation proceeds when Vishnu’s true, unfailing contemplation initiates creation.
Parāśara frames creation as arising from the Supreme’s contemplation (abhidhyāna); because it is satya (infallible), it becomes an effective cause, producing the downward current that drives embodied manifestation.
Vishnu is implied as the sovereign Supreme Reality whose will is inherently true and causative—creation unfolds not independently, but as a manifestation grounded in His supreme agency.