"He who knows the fruits to be enjoyed, their means and material causes,—
"Apart from him this world knows not how the desert that resides in accumulated actions should ripen."—
"The universe is the subject of our argument, and it must have had an intelligent maker,
"This we maintain from its being an effect, just as we see in any other effect, as jars, &c."
God's omniscience also is proved from his being identical with everything, and also from the fact that an ignorant being cannot produce a thing.[118] This has been said by the illustrious Mṛigendra[119]—
"He is omniscient from his being the maker of all things: for it is an established principle
"That he only can make a thing who knows it with its means, parts, and end."
"Well," our opponents may say, "we concede that God is an independent maker, but then he has no body.[120] Now experience shows that all effects, as jars, &c., are produced by beings possessed of bodies, as potters, &c.; but if God were possessed of a body, then he would be like us subject to trouble, and no longer be omniscient or omnipotent." We, however, deny this, for we see that the incorporeal soul does still produce motion, &c., in its associated body; moreover, even though we conceded that God did possess a body, we should still maintain that the alleged defects would not necessarily ensue. The Supreme Being, as he has no possible connection with the fetters of matter, such as mala,[121] action, &c., cannot have a material body, but only a body of pure energy (Sákta),[122] since we know that his body is composed of the five hymns which are forms of Śakti, according to the well-known text: "The Supreme has the Iśána as his head, the Tatpurusha as his mouth, the Aghora as his heart, the Vámedeva as his secret parts, and the Sadyojáta as his feet."[123] And this body, created according to his own will, is not like our bodies, but is the cause of the five operations of the Supreme, which are respectively grace, obscuration, destruction, preservation, and production.[124] This has been said in the Śrímat Mṛigendra—