Heyathwa-Avachanaachcha

When the cause is known, one can know all consequences. The entire Universe, that is to say, the moving and the unmoving, everything formed from the five primordial elements and hence named Prapancha, has been projected by the Divine Will. It is a consequence of Bhagavath Sankalpa, the Will of God, which is the Cause. No consequence can happen without a precedent Cause. The Cause has, however, two aspects, the material cause (Upaadaana Kaarana) and the efficient cause (Nimitta Kaarana).

The material cause is primary; earlier than the product. It is the entire, the total basis on which the product rests. Consider a silver cup, for example. The cup has no existence apart from silver. When the silver, which can be shaped into a cup, is absent, the product too is absent. Silver is the material cause. In other words, before the Form (the Rupa) 'becomes', the 'Being' is and has to be. The cup is the form imposed on silver by the efficient cause, the Nimitta Kaarana. It is the consequence of art, artificial. Silver is the pre-existent Cause, the Upaadaana kaarana. A silversmith prepares the cup. Once the cup is ready, the smith has no affinity with it. But, the cup and silver have close affinity forever.

God is the material Cause of Creation, of the Cosmos, the Universe. He is the substance, the basis, the Upaadaana Kaarana. He is the efficient cause, too, the Nimitta Kaarana. He is both transcendental and phenomenal, both Being and Becoming. As silver in the cup, the Cosmos is all God. He has been manifesting Himself as all this. He has willed to Become all this. In every thing (Padaartha), He, the Paraatha, the Highest Truth, is immanent. In the absence of this Highest Truth, no Padaartha can exist. Each one is sustained by the all-comprehensive Reality. This wondrous mystery is beyond man's grasp. His intelligence cannot unravel it. With his distorted vision (Ku-darsan), he sees only the Name-Form, the Appearance. He is deluded into confusion. He is tossed by likes and dislikes, pleasure and pain, elation and depression. He is aware only of the unreal many, parading diverse names and forms.