Kalahastishavilasa 1.43

1.43

athamabhiprāyaḥ | bhāratopabṛṃhitātharva vākyena
brahmaviṣṇurudrāṇāṃ trayāṇāmapi viśeṣeṇa sṛjyatvāvagamāt
rudrotpatteḥ kālāgnirudraparatvāt akāraṇamiti niṣedhena
trayāṇāmapi kāraṇatvaniṣedhāt | vai lakṣaṇya pratipādakena tu
śabdena tritayabhinnasyaiva śambhoḥ paramakāraṇatva vidhānāt
viṣṇūtpatteravatāraparatvakalpanasya paramakāraṇādhīnatvāt
tadabhāve tasyāpyayogāt | śivādipadānāṃ kāraṇavācakānāṃ
viṣṇuparatvamayuktam | paśuchāga nyāye naiva sadātmādipadānāṃ
nārāyaṇādi padānāmapi śisra paratvasya vaktuṃśakyatvāt |
taduktaṃ kaivalyopaniṣadi -

Now, this is the purport: By the Atharva passage corroborated by the Mahābhārata, all three—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Rudra—are understood specifically to be created beings; the origination of Rudra refers to Kālāgnirudra; by the negation “non-cause,” causality is denied to all three; and by the word “however” (tu) which expresses distinctness, the supreme causality of Śambhu alone, who is distinct from the triad, is enjoined; and because the assumption that Viṣṇu's origination refers to a descent depends on a supreme cause, in the absence of that [supreme cause in him] that too is untenable; therefore it is improper that the words denoting the cause, such as Śiva, refer to Viṣṇu. Indeed, by the principle of the animal and the goat, words such as ‘Sat’ and ‘Ātman’, and even words such as ‘Nārāyaṇa’, can be said to refer to Śiva. That has been stated in the Kaivalyopaniṣad: