Manava Dharmashastra 1.11.3

1.11.3

evaṃ stutyā protsāhito jagannirmāṇameva tāvadvakti ‘āsīdidamiti’ | (ślo. 5) ‘tataḥ svayambhūriti’ ( ślo. 6) | pradhānamevaitaiḥ śabdairabhidhīyate | svayaṃ bhavati pariṇamati vikriyāmeti mahadāditattvabhāvena | na kaścidīśvaraḥ svabhāvasiddho'sti, yasyecchāmacetanaṃ pradhānamanuvartate | vastusvabhāva evāyaṃ yaduta prakṛtirūpaṃ pradhānaṃ punarvikriyate | yathā kṣīramacetanaṃ maṇḍakāvasthābhirdadhībhavati | bhagavāniti | svavyāpāra īśvaraḥ | mahābhūtādidvāreṇa pravṛttaḥ svakāryotsāha ‘ojaḥ’ sāmarthyam | ādiśabdaḥ prakāre vyavasthāyām | tena mahadādikāraṇamavyaktaṃ bhavati | vikārāvasthāyāṃ pracyutaṃ prāgrūpātsūkṣmabhāvāt prakāśamayaṃ ‘tamo nudatī’tyucyate | artha śabdādhyāhāreṇa vā pradhāne pulliṅganirdeśaḥ | puruṣaśabdaśca pradhānādiṣu dṛṣṭaḥ, ‘teṣāmidaṃ tu saptānāṃ puruṣāṇāmiti’ (manu. 1|19)| yo'sāviti ( ślo. 7 ) pūrvavat | so'bhidhyāyeti ( ślo. 8) | abhidhyānaṃ guṇataḥ, acetanatvātpradhānasyābhidhyānāsambhavāt | yathā kaścidabhidhyāyaiva kāryaṃ nirvartayet | anyakāryanirapekṣameva vastu svābhāvyena pariṇamamānamīśvarecchānapekṣatayā'bhidhyāyetyucyate | apa ādau sasarja | mahābhūtāntarāpekṣayā tāsāmāditvaṃ, na tu mahadāditattvotpatteḥ | vakṣyati hi ‘teṣāmidaṃ tu saptānāmiti’ | prathamaṃ tattvotpattistato bhūtānām | tāsu vīryamiti | vīryaṃ śaktimavāsṛjat | pradhānameva kartṛ bhavati | sarvataḥ pradhānaṃ pṛthivyādibhūtotpattau kāṭhinyameti, aṇḍarūpaṃ sampadyate | tadaṇḍamiti (ślo. 9) |

Verse 5-6
Being encouraged by the above eulogy, the Teacher proceeds to explain the subject of World-creation—‘Āsīt idam,’ ‘this was in existence,’ etc. (verse 5);—‘thereafter the self-born, etc., etc.’ (verse 6). It is Primordial Matter that is referred to by all these terms.—

(1) It is ‘self-born’ in the sense that it is by itself that it is ‘born,’ evolves, undergoes modifications, in the form of ‘Mahat’ and other principles; there is no such self-established being as ‘the Supreme Lord,’ whose will Primordial Matter obeys; on the other hand, it is in the very nature of things that Primordial Matter, in the form of the Hoot Evolvent, undergoes modifications; just in the same manner as milk (which is a non-intelligent entity), modifying into co-agulated milk, becomes solidified in the form of the Curd.—

(2) Primordial Matter is called ‘supreme being’ in the sense that it is master of its own activity.—

(3) It operates upon things like the elemental substances and other things [this is what is meant by the epithet ‘having its power operating upon elemental substances and other things’]; ‘power’ stands for capacity or energy for its own activity; the term ‘ādi’ (‘and other things’) signifies method and restriction, so that the unmanifested Primordial Matter becomes the cause of Mahat and other things [which it would not be if ‘mahābhūtādi’ were taken as ‘things beginning with the elemental substances’].—

(4) It is described as ‘dispelling darkness’ in the sense that when Primordial Matter changes from its pristine subtile (non-evolvent) condition into the evolvent condition, it becomes resplendent with light.—

The masculine gender of the epithets referring to Primordial Matter, Pradhāna (which is Neuter) may be explained as due to the word ‘puruṣa,’ (‘Being’) understood (which is Masculine); and the word ‘puruṣa’ is often found to be used in the sense of Primordial Matter and other things, as for instance in verse 1.19, where we have the expression ‘of the said seven puruṣas, etc.’

Verse 7
‘He who’ (verse 7) is explained as before.

Verse 8
‘So’bhidhyāya,’ ‘by mere willing’ (verse 8)—the willing is purely figurative; for Primordial Matter being non-intelligent, actual willing is not possible for it; what is meant by by ‘mere willing’ is that Primordial Matter, in evolving, acts by its own inherent force, independently of the will of a Supreme Lord, just in the same manner as a certain person accomplishes an act by himself, by his own will, independently of any extraneous thing.—‘He in the beginning produced water’—water is called ‘first’ in comparison with the other elemental substances; it does not mean that water was produced before Mahat and other principles; the real process is going to be described under verse 1.19, where it is stated that it is the Principles that are produced first, and then the elemental substances.—‘In that he threw the seed’—that Primordial Matter, which is the intended Nominative, threw the ‘seed’—i.e., its energy.

Verse 9
In the production of the earth and other Elemental Substances, Primordial Matter becomes solidified all over, and assumes the form of an egg; this is what is meant by the words ‘that became the egg’ (verse 9). Just as the Principles are, in the beginning, produced without any intercourse between the male and the female, in the same manner (without intercourse between male and female) was Brahmā also born, under the influence of his previous acts; his body is due to his own powers, and is not born out of any womb; just as the bodies of the mosquito and other insects are not born of wombs.