Bhashya
अत्र चोदयन्ति — कुतः प्रजापतेरेकत्वदर्शनं जातम् ? को वास्मै उपदिदेश ? अथानुपदिष्टमेव प्रादुरभूत् ; अस्मदादेरपि तथा प्रसङ्गः ।अथ जन्मान्तरकृतसंस्कारहेतुकम् , एकत्वदर्शनानर्थक्यप्रसङ्गः ।यथा प्रजापतेरतिक्रान्तजन्माव-हि नैमित्तिकानां कार्याणां निमित्तभेदोऽनेकधा विकल्प्यते ।तथा निमित्तसमुच्चयः ।तेषां च विकल्पितानां समुच्चितानां च पुनर्गुणवदगुणवत्त्वकृतो भेदो भवति ।तद्यथा— रूपज्ञान एव तावन्नैमित्तिके कार्ये तमसि विनालोकेन चक्षूरूपसंनिकर्षो नक्तंचराणां रूपज्ञाने निमित्तं भवति ; मन एव केवलं रूपज्ञाननिमित्तं योगिनाम् ; अस्माकं तु संनिकर्षालोकाभ्यां सह तथादित्यचन्द्राद्यालोकभेदैः समुच्चिता निमित्तभेदा भवन्ति ; तथालोकविशेषगुणवदगुणवत्त्वेन भेदाः स्युः ।एवमेवात्मैकत्वज्ञानेऽपि कचिञ्जन्मान्तरकृतं कर्म निमित्तं भवति ; यथा प्रजापतेः ।कचित्तपो निमित्तम् ; ‘तपसा ब्रह्म विजिज्ञासस्व’ इति श्रुतेः ।कचित् ‘आचार्यवान्पुरुषो वेद’ ‘श्रद्धावाँल्लभते ज्ञानम्’ ‘तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन’ ‘आचार्याद्धैव’ ‘ज्ञातव्यो द्रष्टव्यः श्रोतव्यः’ इति श्रुतिस्मृतिभ्य एकान्तज्ञानलाभनिमित्तत्त्वं श्रद्धाप्रभृतीनाम् अधर्मादिनिमित्तवियोगहेतुत्वात् ; वेदान्तश्रवणमनननिदिध्यासनानां च साक्षाज्ज्ञेयविषयत्वात् ; पापादिप्रतिबन्धक्षये चात्ममनसोः, भूतार्थज्ञाननिमित्तस्वाभाव्यात् ।तस्माद्धेतुत्वं न जातु ज्ञानस्य श्रद्धाप्रणिपातादीनामिति ॥
In plain words
Here an objection is raised: How did Prajāpati attain the realization of non-duality? Who taught him? If it arose without a teacher, the same logic would apply to ordinary people like us. If it was due to latent impressions from past lives, then striving for knowledge would become meaningless. Just as conditional effects in everyday life have diverse contributory causes—for instance, nocturnal animals perceive forms in the dark without external light through mere sensory contact, yogis perceive them through the mind alone, while ordinary people require a combination of senses, light, and varying conditions of illumination—so too, the awakening to the non-dual Self may arise from past karma, as in Prajāpati's case. Elsewhere, austerity is the cause, as the scripture says: 'Seek to know Brahman through austerity.' And scriptures declare that faith, prostration, and having a qualified teacher are contributory causes of knowledge because they clear away impurities like demerit. When obstacles such as sin are removed, the mind and the Self naturally awaken to reality through the hearing, reflection, and meditation on the Vedānta. Therefore, practices like faith and prostration are not the direct mechanical causes of illumination itself.
Close to the Sanskrit
Here they raise an objection: How did Prajāpati's realization of oneness arise? Or who instructed him? Alternatively, if it appeared uninstructed, the same contingency applies to us as well. Or if it is caused by latent impressions from past lives, it would render the pursuit of the vision of oneness pointless. Just as various alternative and combined causes are conceived for conditional effects originating from past births—for instance, in nocturnal animal perception of form in darkness without light, sensory contact alone serves as the cause, while for yogis the mind alone is the cause, but for us, combined contributory causes exist alongside sensory contact and light, and further distinctions arise through the superior or inferior nature of the light—similarly, in the realization of the unity of the Self, sometimes past karma serves as the cause, as in the case of Prajāpati; sometimes austerity is the cause, according to the scriptural text: 'Desire to know Brahman through austerity'; sometimes based on śruti and smṛti statements such as: 'A person who has a teacher knows', 'One endowed with faith gains knowledge', 'Know that by prostration', 'Indeed from a teacher', 'He is to be known, to be seen, to be heard'—faith and other practices act as contributory causes for attaining supreme knowledge because they remove obstacles like adharma, and because hearing, reflection, and meditation on Vedānta have reality as their direct object, and upon the destruction of impediments like sin, the mind and the Self naturally tend toward the knowledge of actual truth. Therefore, faith and prostration are never the absolute direct causes of knowledge.