असदिति, चेत्, न, प्रतिषेधमात्रत्वात् ॥ ७ ॥
asaditi, cet, na, pratiṣedhamātratvāt || 7 ||
asat—Non-existent; iti cet—if it be said; na—no; pratiṣedhamātratvāt—for it is merely a negation.
7. If it be said (that- the world, the effect, would then he) non-existent (before creation), (we say) no, for it is merely a negation (without any basis).
If Brahman, which is intelligent, pure, and without qualities, is the cause of the world of an opposite character, it follows that before creation the world was non-existent, for Brahman was then the only existence. This means that something which was non-existing is brought into existence, which is not accepted by the Vedantins. This argument of the opponent this Sutra refutes by saying that this negation is a mere statement without any objective validity. The effect exists in the cause before its origination as well as after it. It can never exist independent of the cause either before or after creation. Therefore the world exists in Brahman even before creation and is not absolutely non-existent.