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THE VEDANTA PHILOSOPHY
state
in a state of contraction (). This is the which recurs at the end of each and Brahma is then said to be in its causal condition ( कारणावस्था). To that state all those Vedic passages refer which speak of the Brahma or self as being in the beginning one only without a second. Brahma then is indeed not absolutely one, for it contains within itself matter and soul in a germinal condition; but as in that condition they are so subtle as not to allow of individual distinctions being made, they are not counted as something second in addition to Brahma. When the प्रलय state comes to an end, creation takes place owing to an act of volition on the Lord's part. The primary unevolved matter then passes over into its other condition; it becomes gross and thus acquires all those sensible attributes, visibility, tangibility and so on, which are known from ordinary experience. At the same time the souls enter into connection with material bodies corresponding to the degree of merit or demerit acquired by them in previous forms of existence; their intelligence at the same time undergoes certain expansion (T). The Lord together with matter in its gross state and the expanded souls is Brahma in the condition of effect (कार्यावस्था ). Cause and effect are thus at the bottom the same; for the effect is nothing but the cause which has undergone a certain change (R). Hence the cause being known, the effect is known likewise.
Jain Education International
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(b) Owing to the effects of their former actions the individual souls are implicated in the R, the endless cycle of birth, action and death, final escape from which is to be obtained only through the study of the s of Veda. Compliance with the is does not lead outside the da. But he who, assisted by the grace of the Lord, cognizes and meditates on him in the way
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