Devanagari
परस्परानुप्रवेशात् तत्त्वानां पुरुषर्षभ ।
पौर्वापर्यप्रसङ्ख्यानं यथा वक्तुर्विवक्षितम् ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
parasparānupraveśāt
tattvānāṁ puruṣarṣabha
paurvāparya-prasaṅkhyānaṁ
yathā vaktur vivakṣitam
Synonyms
paraspara
—
mutual
;
anupraveśāt
—
because of the entrance (as subtle causes within gross manifestations, and vice versa)
;
tattvānām
—
of the various elements
;
puruṣa
—
ṛṣabha — O best among men (Uddhava)
;
paurva
—
in terms of prior causes
;
aparya
—
or of resultant products
;
prasaṅkhyānam
—
enumeration
;
yathā
—
however
;
vaktuḥ
—
the speaker
;
vivakṣitam
—
wants to describe .
Translation
O best among men, because subtle and gross elements mutually enter into one another, philosophers may calculate the number of basic material elements in different ways, according to their personal desire.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O best among men! Because subtle and gross elements mutually enter into one another, philosophers may desire to calculate the number of elements in terms of causes or effects according to their personal desire and thus arrive at different totals.
The statement of verse 4 that the elements are included in other elements is explained further in two verses. Because the elements enter each other they may be counted in their previous or later condition. Some say that the effects are in the cause, so they count the cause, the previous elements. Others say that the cause is in the effect, so they count the effect, the later elements. There will thus be either less or more elements in counting. Paurvāparya-prasaṅkhyānam is a dvandva compound in the singular. “Why do we have to speak of entering into causes or effects? Why have less or more elements?” They have various opinions according to their desire to speak.
Purport
Material creation takes place as a chain reaction in which subtle elements expand and transform into progressively denser elements. Since a cause is in a sense present within its effect, and the effect is subtly present within the cause, all subtle and gross elements have entered within one another. Thus one may categorize basic material elements in many different ways, assigning various numbers and names according to one’s methodology. Although material philosophers proudly assume their individual theories to be supreme, they are all speculating according to their personal proclivities, as described in this and the following verse.