Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.48.18
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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pradhāna-puruṣau
—
the original two Persons
Compound: pradhāna (primordial) + puruṣa (Person). The dual form is striking — Akrūra addresses Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma as the original pair. Gauḍīyas read this as scriptural backing for the dvitīya-prakāśa doctrine: Balarāma is Kṛṣṇa's prakāśa, the original expansion, never separate.
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jagat-mayau
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identical with the universe
Compound: jagat (universe) + maya (consisting of, dual). Acintya-bhedābheda's outer face: the universe is non-different from the Lord because it is His śakti's display. Yet 'than You there is nothing apart' — the bheda is also preserved.
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hetū
—
the (two) causes
Dual of hetu (cause). Nimitta-kāraṇa and upādāna-kāraṇa — efficient and material cause — both rest in the Lord. Sāṅkhya needs two; Vedānta knows the two are one Person's two roles.
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param
—
subtle cause
From para (higher, subtle). Paired in the verse with aparam (gross product), the two together exhaust the ontology — from the most refined cause to the most material effect, everything is enclosed inside Bhagavān. Nothing escapes Him into independence.
After praising Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma for having saved Their dynasty, Akrūra now points out that the Lord actually has no mundane connection with any social or political institution. He is the original Personality of Godhead, performing His pastimes for the benefit of the entire universe.
"You have protected this dynasty and increased its prosperity. It is not surprising since the whole universe belongs to you." The dual case is used because the Lord appears in two forms. "You are the pradhana and you are the purusa. You are the cause (jagaddhetu) and you are the effect (jaganmayau)." By negation Akrura expresses the same idea. "Without you, there is no cause and no effect."
You both are the original Supreme Person, the cause of the universe and its very substance. Not the slightest subtle cause or manifest product of creation exists apart from you. What to speak of protecting this kingdom! The whole universe belongs to you. Though there is one Supreme Lord, because he has manifested as two, the verse is in the dual. You are the main puruṣas with the internal and external energies. You are the material and efficient causes of the universe. You are situated as one with the universe by your two expansions--prakṛti and jīva. āsīj jṣānam atho artha ekam evāvikalpitam yadā viveka-nipuṇā ādau kṛta-yuge ’yuge Originally, during Satya-yuga, when all men were expert in spiritual discrimination, and also during the period of annihilation, the Lord was complete, one alone, without difference. tan māyā-phala-rūpeṇa kevalaṁ nirvikalpitam vāṅ-mano-’gocaraṁ satyaṁ dvidhā samabhavad bṛhat That one entity, remaining free from material dualities, divided himself into two categories—prakṛti and jīva, which are beyond words and mind and which are real. SB 11.24.2-3 Apart from you, nothing exists either as cause or effect. The universe is saved and made prosperous by you.
If a single sun's light illumines every leaf, no leaf is lit by anyone else; if every form of creation rests in Kṛṣṇa-and-Balarāma, no form is sourced elsewhere. Akrūra's theology begins where Vedānta begins: there is no second cause.
My note
Source: vedabase.io