न विलक्षणत्वादस्य, तथात्वं च शब्दात् ॥ ४ ॥
na vilakṣaṇatvādasya, tathātvaṃ ca śabdāt || 4 ||
na—Not; vilakṣaṇatvāt—because of the contrary nature; asya—of this; tathātvaṃ—its being so; ca—and; śabdāt—from Sruti.
4. (Brahman is) not (the cause of the world) because this (world) is of a contrary nature (from Brahman); and its being so, (i. e. different from Brahman) (is known) from the scriptures.
Brahman is intelligence, pure, etc., while the world is something material, impure, etc., and so is different from the nature of Brahman; as such, Brahman cannot be the cause of this world. The effect is nothing but the cause in another form; therefore the cause and effect cannot be altogether of a different nature. Intelligence cannot produce material effects and vice versa . That the world and Brahman differ entirely in their characteristics is known from texts like “Brahman became intelligence as also non-intelligent” (Taitt. 2. 6), where “non-intelligent” stands for the world. So Brahman cannot be the First Cause of the material world, though the scriptures may say so.