Shloka 46
दुर्वासाशापः, क्षीरसागरमन्थनम्, श्रीः (लक्ष्मी) उद्भवः तथा श्रीस्तुतिः
यः कारणं च कार्यं च कारणस्यापि कारणम् कार्यस्यापि च यः कार्यं प्रसीदतु स नो हरिः
yaḥ kāraṇaṃ ca kāryaṃ ca kāraṇasyāpi kāraṇam kāryasyāpi ca yaḥ kāryaṃ prasīdatu sa no hariḥ
May Hari be gracious to us—He who is both cause and effect; the cause even of the cause, and the very effect within what is called the effect.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya; doxological framing of Vishnu as the Supreme Reality)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How the Supreme relates to causation—being both cause and effect, and the ultimate ground of all causal chains
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: revealing
Creation Stage: Primary
Concept: Hari is simultaneously the cause and the effect, and the ultimate cause even behind what is called a cause—nothing stands outside Him in the causal series.
Vedantic Theme: Brahman
Application: When tracing ‘why’ behind events, end the regress in the divine ground; cultivate surrender rather than anxiety over secondary causes.
Vishishtadvaita: Establishes Vishnu as both upādāna (material) and nimitta (efficient) cause while still remaining the sovereign Lord—core to Viśiṣṭādvaita cosmology.
Vishnu Form: Hari
Bhakti Type: Shanta
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
This verse presents Vishnu as the ultimate ground of reality—transcendent as the source of all causes and immanent as the presence within all effects—so creation is not separate from His sovereignty.
Parāśara’s teaching frames Vishnu as prior to and greater than any intermediate causal principle (like primordial nature or cosmic intellect), making Him the final explanation behind every chain of causation.
Vishnu is affirmed as Para Brahman—worthy of prayer for grace—whose being encompasses both the world’s origin and its manifested order, aligning with core Vaishnava metaphysics.