Shloka 27
वेदव्यास-परम्परा तथा प्रणव-ब्रह्म-स्तुति
प्रधानम् आत्मयोनिश् च गुहासत्त्वं च शब्द्यते अविभागं तथा शुक्रम् अक्षरं बहुधात्मकम्
pradhānam ātmayoniś ca guhāsattvaṃ ca śabdyate avibhāgaṃ tathā śukram akṣaraṃ bahudhātmakam
That unmanifest first principle is spoken of by many names—Pradhāna, the self-born source, and the inner reality hidden in the cave of the heart. It is undivided; it is the pure, luminous seed; it is imperishable—yet it becomes the ground of manifold forms.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Multiple designations of the unmanifest principle (pradhāna etc.) and its paradoxical unity-with-manifold manifestation
Teaching: Philosophical
Quality: revealing
Creation Stage: Primary
Concept: The unmanifest is described through multiple terms (pradhāna, ātmayoni, guhāsattva), undivided and imperishable, yet serving as the luminous ground for diverse forms.
Vedantic Theme: Atman
Application: Hold a unified vision behind life’s multiplicity—practice inward contemplation (guhā of the heart) while engaging the world without fragmentation.
Vishishtadvaita: Unity without erasing plurality: the imperishable ground supports real manifold forms, aligning with the world-and-souls as modes (prakāra) of the Supreme.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
Antaryamin: Yes
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
Here Pradhāna is presented as the unmanifest, undivided, imperishable ground that underlies the emergence of diverse forms in creation.
He explains it through multiple epithets—self-born source, inner essence in the ‘cave’ of the heart, pure luminous seed—showing one reality described from different angles.
Within the Vishnu Purana’s framework, such descriptions of the imperishable, all-pervading ground of multiplicity ultimately support the text’s vision of a single supreme reality, identified with Vishnu as the sovereign basis of cosmic order.