Eekshather Naa Sabdam

The Vedas assert that Brahmam is the Primal Cause of Jagath (Cosmos). They do not posit any non-conscious entity (achetana) as the Cause. The Sabdam, or the Voice of God or Veda, does not support the view of the non-conscious as being the origin of Creation. On the other hand, the Being (Sath) is asserted to have resolved upon Becoming, to have entertained a Sankalpa (decision). Resolution, decision, design - these are acts of Consciousness; non-conscious entities are incapable of such exercises of will. Brahmam, which is All-conscious, has therefore to be accepted as the Primal Cause.

The non-conscious or achetana is called the Pradhaana. The Vedas do not speak about it. This is what this Sutra reveals very clearly. Pradhaana is the designation by which the Name-Form-Flux, namely, the Jagath or Cosmos, is denoted by some schools of thought. Other schools refer to it as Atom-composed or Prakrithi (the Made). Others say, in terms of praise, "You are the Omniwill, the Absolute Self, the Paramatma. Because of You, all this diversity is projected." Others argue that the three gunas or qualities are the fundamental constituents, which, through the preponderance of one or the other, cause the diversity in Nature.

These views are not supported by the Vedic authority. The Vedas maintain that Brahman willed and Creation emerged. That Will is the prologue, the preliminary act. The Sankhya school posits the Pradhaana and bases Creation on the Gunas. When the three Gunas (Sathwa - Serenity; Rajas - Activity; and Tamas - Passivity) are well balanced and in equipoise, no conscious decision can arise, the Sankhyas said. That state has to receive the impact of a Purusha who is the Witness and who is Awareness or Consciousness, in other words, the impact of God's Will. That makes the Pradhaana knowing and knowable.