118 VManta-Sara, or Essence of the VMdnta. [No. 158. 



The soul, in which the ignorance with its two powers is inherent, is 



by its own principality the instrumental cause* 



Origin of the world. . ^ ^ « v , , A . . 



(■R"RtT) and by the principality of its quality 



(ignorance) the material cause (^m^T«t)j as a spider by its own 



principality is the instrumental cause, and by the principality of its 



body the material cause of the web. From the soul, covered with 



unconsciousness, as illusive power, (the second power) in which the 



darkness (the third quality) prevails, is produced the ether,t from 



the ether the wind, from the wind the fire, from the fire the water, 



from the water the earth. 



" From this soul, in which unconsciousness is inherent, the ether 

 is produced," says the Sruti. In the cause of them (the five elements,) 

 darkness predominates on account of the prevalence of the inanimate 

 in those elements; in that state are the three qualities, (truth, action 

 and darkness) produced in the ether and the other elements accord, 

 ing to the quality of their causes. Those subtile elements are called 

 atoms (fT'STT^) and uncombined elements. 



From them are produced the organisms and the gross elements. The 

 subtile organisms are the seventeen organs, and the internal organisms. 

 Those organs are the five intellectual senses, understanding and reason, 

 the five organs of acting and the five internal airs. The intel- 

 lectual senses are the ear, the sense of touch (skin,) the eyes the 

 tongue and the nose. They are separately, according to their 

 order, produced from the united parts of the first 



a .^., an ing *^ quality of those elements. Understanding is called 

 Reason. tne act ^ on °f tne mind, by which it asserts ; reason 



*r?r; that action of the mind, by which it doubts or de- 



Thmking. ^eg . j n both (actions) are thinking (f^rf ) and con- 



™^* sciousness included ; thinking is that action of the 



* There are three kinds of causes, 1. Samavayikarana, the same which is here 

 called vJirj^Tct, which signifies the elements, of which any substance may be 

 produced, therefore material cause ; 2. Asamavayikarana, the actual union of the 

 componing parts ; 3. Nimitta Karana, the instrument, by which an effect is pro- 

 duced ; vide Bhasha Paricheda. 



t " , 5fl c Hr«B.» * s ^ e ^ rst e l ement » i Q which all others are comprehended ; accord- 

 ing to the Bhasha Paricheda it is everywhere, and has, with the exception of the 

 sound, the same attributes with time. In want of a more appropriate term ether 

 perhaps expresses best its meaning. 



