Shloka 18
Paramparā of the Atharva Veda and Purāṇas; Definition of a Purāṇa
Daśa-lakṣaṇam
हेतुर्जीवोऽस्य सर्गादेरविद्याकर्मकारक: । यं चानुशायिनं प्राहुरव्याकृतमुतापरे ॥ १८ ॥
hetur jīvo ’sya sargāder avidyā-karma-kārakaḥ yaṁ cānuśāyinaṁ prāhur avyākṛtam utāpare
അവിദ്യ മൂലം ജീവൻ ഭൗതികകർമ്മങ്ങൾ ചെയ്യുന്നു; അതിനാൽ ഒരർത്ഥത്തിൽ സൃഷ്ടി, സ്ഥിതി, ലയം എന്നിവയുടെ കാരണമായി മാറുന്നു. ചിലർ ജീവനെ ജഡസൃഷ്ടിയുടെ അധിഷ്ഠാതാ പുരുഷനെന്ന്, മറ്റുള്ളവർ അവനെ അവ്യക്ത ആത്മാവെന്ന് പറയുന്നു.
The Supreme Lord Himself creates, maintains and annihilates the cosmos. However, such activities are performed in response to the desires of conditioned souls, who are described herein as hetu, or the cause of cosmic activity. The Lord creates this world to facilitate the conditioned soul’s attempt to exploit nature and ultimately to facilitate his self-realization.
FAQs
This verse explains that the jīva becomes a causal factor for worldly creation and experience because, under ignorance (avidyā), he acts as the doer through karma, generating further entanglement and repeated manifestation.
Śukadeva indicates that different teachers describe the bound soul in different terms: as anuśayī because latent impressions and tendencies remain dormant between manifestations, and as avyākṛta because the jīva’s conditioned identity can be spoken of as unmanifest prior to specific differentiation.
Recognize the false sense of doership that arises from ignorance, reduce karma-binding actions by cultivating devotion and selfless duty, and align choices with spiritual remembrance so impressions (anuśaya) no longer drive repeated suffering.