Manava Dharmashastra 1.4

1.4

sa manuramitaujāstairmaharṣibhirmahātmabhiḥ pṛṣṭastathā tān pratyuvāca śrūyatāmiti | tathā tena prāguktena prakāreṇa | pṛcchyamānavastu praśnavidhiśca prakāravacane tathāśabde'ntarbhūtaḥ| tenāyamarthastathāpṛṣṭastān dharmān pṛṣṭaḥ pratyuvāca | athavā tatheti prakāramātramācaṣṭe | pṛṣṭa iti pūrvaślokātpṛcchayamānaviśeṣo buddhau viparivartata eva | tena yatpṛṣṭastatpratyuvāca 'śrūyatāmiti' praśnaprativacanayorekakarmatā siddhā bhavati | tadā ca tathāśabdaḥ ślokapūraṇārthaḥ | ādye tu vyākhyāne tathāśabdopāttaiva praśnaprativacanayorekakarmatā | samyakśabdaḥ prativacanaviśeṣaṇam | samyak pratyuvāca | prasannena manasā na krodhādiyogena | amitaujā akṣīṇavāgvibhavaḥ | amitamanantaṃmojo vīryamabhidhānasāmarthyamasyeti | mahātmatayā maharṣīṇāṃ dharmapraṣṭṛtvaṃ maharṣitvaṃ cāviruddhamityāha maharṣīniti | 'parārthakārī satataṃ mahātmā' tyucyate | tena yadyapi svayaṃ vidvāṃso'dhigatayāthātathyāḥ—anyathā maharṣitvānupapatteḥ— tathā'pi parārthamapṛcchan | manuḥ prakhyātatarapramāṇabhāvaḥ | etena yaducyate tallokenādriyate | pratyayato'yaṃ samupāsyate'taḥ śāstrāvatārārthamupādhyāyīkurmaḥ | asmābhiśca pṛcchyamānaḥ pramāṇatarīkariṣyate janeneti | ata evorcya tān sarvānityarcanamaviruddham | anyathā śiṣyasyopādhyāyātkīdṛgyarceti | arcayaterāṅpūrvasya lyabantasya rūpamārcyeti | pāṭhāntaram 'arcayitvā tāniti' |
atra yaducyate "yadi manunā'yaṃ granthaḥ kṛtaḥ parāpadeśo na yuktaḥ—sa taiḥ pṛṣṭaḥ pratyuvāceti | 'ahaṃ pṛṣṭaḥ pratyabravamiti' nyāyyam | athānyatara eva granthasya kartā mānavavyapadeśaḥ kathamiti"—tadacodyam | prāyeṇa granthakārāḥ svamataṃ parāpadeśena bruvate—'atrāha' 'atra pariharantīti' naivama'haṃ taiḥ pṛṣṭa iti' | yo yaḥ pūrvataraḥ sa sa pramāṇataro lokenābhyupagamyate—'tatpramāṇaṃ bādarāyaṇasyeti' | athavā bhṛguproktā saṃhiteyam | mānavī tu smṛtirupanibaddheti mānavavyapadeśaḥ | pratyuvāca tān maharṣīn | kiṃ tat | yadahaṃ pṛṣṭastat śrūyatāmiti |

The authority for what is declared in the present verse consists of Mantra, Arthavāda and Inference. As for the Mantra we have the following (in Ṛgveda, 10.129.3)—‘Darkness existed, enveloped in darkness, uncognised in the beginning; this whole existed in a fluid state; the gross was contained in the subtile; the one entity that existed came to lie born, by virtue of austerities.’ The meaning is as follows:—‘At the Universal Dissolution, the Sun, the Moon, the Fire and other sources of light having been destroyed, there existed Darkness alone;—this (subtile) Darkness was ‘enveloped,’ wrapped, in Darkness in the gross form; at this time there was no cogniser; hence, there being no one to cognise things, there was no cognition of anything; therefore Darkness is described as enveloped in darkness;—‘in the beginning,’ i.e. before elemental creation, it was ‘uncognised,’ unknown; ‘this whole existed in the fluid state,’ i.e. every active or mobile object was motionless; the ‘gross,’ the larger, ‘was contained in the subtile,’ the smaller; i.e. every differentiated object was resolved into its original evolvents; this indicates the undifferentiated state of the world; and the last foot of the Mantra describes the earliest stage of evolution; that ‘one entity’ which ‘existed’ ‘came to be born, by virtue of austerities,’ i.e. by the force of austerity it became manifested in differentiated forms; i.e. under the influence of past acts, it came into existence again; or, it may mean that under the conditions described, Hiraṇyagarbha, came into existence by himself, by virtue of his austerities; as described later on (verso 6)—‘Thereupon the self-born &c. &c.’