Manava Dharmashastra 1.19

1.19

sūkṣmātsthūlamutpadyate sambhavati avyayād vyayamityetāvati tātparyam, na tu ṣaṇṇāṃ saptānāṃ vā tattvānāṃ mātrābhya iti | caturviṃśatitattvāni | tāni sṛṣṭau sarveṣāṃ nimittam | athavā piṇḍasṛṣṭau sapteva pradhānaṃ kāraṇam, ṣaḍaviśeṣāḥ saptamo mahān | tebhyo bhūtendriyāṇyutpadyante | teṣu cotpanneṣu piṇḍībhavati śarīram | 'vyayāt pradhānādupasaṃhṛtasarvavikārādekībhūtādidaṃ bahudhā viprakīrṇaṃ viśvarūpaṃ jagadutpadyate | kiṃ yugapadeva samastairvikāraiḥ sthūlarūpaiḥ pradhānaṃ vikriyate ? netyāha teṣāmidamiti | yādṛśaḥ prāguktaḥ kramastenaiva | prakṛtermahām̐stato'haṃkārastasmādgaṇastu ṣoḍaśaka iti (sāṅkhyakā-22) | puruṣaśabdastattve puruṣārthatvātprayuktaḥ | mahaujasāṃ svakārye vīryavatām | aparimitavikārahetutvānmahattvam | teṣāṃ yāḥ sūkṣmā mūrtimātrāḥmūrtiḥ śarīraṃ, tadarthā mātrāḥ, tābhya idaṃ bhavati | ata ucyate 'kṣayyādvyayamiti | kāḥ punasteṣāṃ sūkṣmā mātrāḥ | na hi tanmātrāṇāmanyā mātrāḥ saṃbhavanti yena teṣāṃ sūkṣmā mātrā iti vyatireka upapadyate | na teṣāṃ svagatamātrāpekṣattvam kiṃ tarhi tanmātrebhyaḥ sūkṣmo mahānmahataḥ prakṛtiriti |

From out of the Subtile constituents of the frames of the said exceedingly potent principles is produced this (Gross Body)—the perishable proceeding from the imperishable.—(19)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):
All that is meant by saying that ‘the perishable proceeds from the imperishable’ is that the Gross is produced out of the Subtile; and it is not meant to emphasise whether it is produced out of the particles of six or seven Principles; in fact there are twenty-four Principles, all of which form the cause of the origin of all things. Or, the meaning may be that in the production of the gross oḥjeot only seven Principles form the principal cause, e.g., the six non-differentiated Principles (the live Rudimentary Substances and the principle of Egoism) and the seventh, the Great Principle of Intelligence. Out of these (seven) are produced the Elemental Substances and the Organs; and when these latter have been produced, the gross body becomes formed.

[It has been said that] from out of the imperishable Primordial Matter,—which in its unified form, contains within itself the possibilities of all its evolutes,—is produced this world, which is multifarious in its character and appears in all possible forms.

Now the question arises—Docs the Primordial Matter become modified into all its gross evolutes at one and the same time? And the answer to this is ‘No;’ what really happens is described in the present verse—‘From out of the subtile, &c., &c.,’ The order in which the things are produced is the same as that which has been described before: that is, from out of Primordial Matter is produced the Great Principle of Intelligence;—from this latter the Principle of Egoism; and from this latter again the ‘group of sixteen’ (kārikā, 22).

The term ‘Puruṣa’ has been used in the sense of the Principles, on the ground that these latter subserve the purposes of the Puruṣa (Soul).

‘Exceedingly potent’—capable of producing their effects; it is because they are the cause of innumerable products that they have been called ‘exceedingly.’

The said principles have certain ‘subtile constituents of their frames’;—‘mūrti’ is frame; the constituents that go to form that frame are called ‘constituents of the frame’; from out of these is born ‘this’ (the gross Body). It is in reference to this that it is added—‘the perishable proceeding out of the imperishable.’

Question—“What are the ‘subtile constituents’ of the said Principles? Certainly the Rudimentary Substances have no other ‘constituents’ (save those that are subtile), in reference to (for the exclusion of) which such specification could be possible (as that intended by the epithet ‘subtile’).”

Answer—The qualification ‘subtile' is not in relation to the constituents of any single Principle itself; what is meant is that (one principle is ‘subtile’ in relation to, in comparison to, another, i.e.) the Great Principle of Intelligence is subtile as compared to the Rudimentary Substances, and the Root Evolvent (Primordial Matter) is ‘subtile’ as compared to the Great Principle.

[Another explanation of the verse is given below, in the form of an introduction to verse 20].—19