Devanagari
त्वमेक एवास्य सत: प्रसूति-स्त्वं सन्निधानं त्वमनुग्रहश्च
त्वन्मायया संवृतचेतसस्त्वांपश्यन्ति नाना न विपश्चितो ये ॥ २८ ॥
Verse text
tvam eka evāsya sataḥ prasūtis
tvaṁ sannidhānaṁ tvam anugrahaś ca
tvan-māyayā saṁvṛta-cetasas tvāṁ
paśyanti nānā na vipaścito ye
Synonyms
tvam
—
You (O Lord)
;
ekaḥ
—
being one without a second, You are everything
;
eva
—
indeed
;
asya sataḥ
—
of this cosmic manifestation now visible
;
prasūtiḥ
—
the original source
;
tvam
—
Your Lordship
;
sannidhānam
—
the conservation of all such energy when everything is annihilated
;
tvam
—
Your Lordship
;
anugrahaḥ ca
—
and the maintainer
;
tvat
—
māyayā — by Your illusory, external energy
;
saṁvṛta
—
cetasaḥ — those whose intelligence is covered by such illusory energy
;
tvām
—
unto You
;
paśyanti
—
observe
;
nānā
—
many varieties
;
na
—
not
;
vipaścitaḥ
—
learned scholars or devotees
;
ye
—
who are .
Translation
The efficient cause of this material world, manifested with its many varieties as the original tree, is You, O Lord. You are also the maintainer of this material world, and after annihilation You are the one in whom everything is conserved. Those who are covered by Your external energy cannot see You behind this manifestation, but theirs is not the vision of learned devotees.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The efficient cause of this material world, manifested with its many varieties as the original tree, is You, O Lord. You are also the maintainer of this material world, and after annihilation You are the one in whom everything is conserved. Those who are covered by Your external energy cannot see You behind this manifestation, but theirs is not the vision of learned devotees.
KB 10.2.28
The root cause of the material manifestation described here is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands Himself to take charge of the three qualities of the material world. Viṣṇu takes charge of the mode of goodness, Brahmā takes charge of the mode of passion, and Lord Śiva takes charge of the mode of ignorance. Brahmā, by the mode of passion, creates this manifestation, Lord Viṣṇu maintains this manifestation by the mode of goodness, and Lord Śiva annihilates it by the mode of ignorance. The whole creation ultimately rests in the Supreme Lord. He is the cause of creation, maintenance and dissolution, and when the whole manifestation is dissolved, in its subtle form as His energy it rests within His body.
“At present,” the demigods prayed, “the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa is appearing just for the maintenance of this manifestation. Actually the Supreme Cause is one, by less intelligent persons, being deluded by the three modes of material nature, see that the material world is manifested through different causes. Those who are intelligent can see that the cause is one, Kṛṣṇa.” As it is stated in the Brahma-saṁhitā, īśvaraḥ paramaḥ krsnah . . . sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam [Bs. 5.1]. “Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the cause of all causes.” Brahmā is the deputed agent for creation, Viṣṇu is the expansion of Kṛṣṇa for maintenance, and Lord Śiva is the expansion of Kṛṣṇa for dissolution.
Purport
Various demigods, beginning from Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and even Viṣṇu, are supposed to be the creator, maintainer and annihilator of this material world, but actually they are not. The fact is that everything is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, manifested in varieties of energy.
Ekam evādvitīyaṁ brahma.
There is no second existence. Those who are truly
vipaścit,
learned, are those who have reached the platform of understanding and observing the Supreme Personality of Godhead in any condition of life.
Premāṣjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti
(
Brahma-saṁhitā
5.38
). Learned devotees accept even conditions of distress as representing the presence of the Supreme Lord. When a devotee is in distress, he sees that the Lord has appeared as distress just to relieve or purify the devotee from the contamination of the material world. While one is within this material world, one is in various conditions, and therefore a devotee sees a condition of distress as but another feature of the Lord.
Tat te ’nukampāṁ susamīkṣamāṇaḥ
(
Bhāg.
10.14.8
). A devotee, therefore, regards distress as a great favor of the Lord because he understands that he is being cleansed of contamination.
Teṣām ahaṁ samuddhartā mṛtyu-saṁsāra-sāgarāt
(Bg. 12.7). The appearance of distress is a negative process intended to give the devotee relief from this material world, which is called
mṛtyu-saṁsāra,
or the constant repetition of birth and death. To save a surrendered soul from repeated birth and death, the Lord purifies him of contamination by offering him a little distress. This cannot be understood by a nondevotee, but a devotee can see this because he is
vipaścit,
or learned. A nondevotee, therefore, is perturbed in distress, but a devotee welcomes distress as another feature of the Lord.
Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma.
A devotee can actually see that there is only the Supreme Personality of Godhead and no second entity.
Ekam evādvitīyam
. There is only the Lord, who presents Himself in different energies.
Persons who are not in real knowledge think that Brahmā is the creator, Viṣṇu the maintainer and Śiva the annihilator and that the different demigods are intended to fulfill diverse purposes. Thus they create diverse purposes and worship various demigods to have these purposes fulfilled (
kāmais tais tair hṛta jṣānāḥ prapadyante ’nya-devatāḥ
). A devotee, however, knows that these various demigods are but different parts of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and that these parts need not be worshiped. As the Lord says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(9.23)
:
ye ’py anya-devatā bhaktā
yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ
te ’pi mām eva kaunteya
yajanty avidhi-pūrvakam
“Whatever a man may sacrifice to other gods, O son of Kuntī, is really meant for Me alone, but it is offered without true understanding.” There is no need to worship the demigods, for this is
avidhi,
not in order. Simply by surrendering oneself at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, one can completely discharge one’s duties; there is no need to worship various deities or demigods. These various divinities are observed by the
mūḍhas,
fools, who are bewildered by the three modes of material nature (
tribhir guṇamayair bhāvair ebhiḥ sarvam idaṁ jagat
). Such fools cannot understand that the real source of everything is the Supreme Personality of Godhead (
mohitaṁ nābhijānāti mām ebhyaḥ param avyayam
). Not being disturbed by the Lord’s various features, one should concentrate upon and worship the Supreme Lord (
mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja
). This should be the guiding principle of one’s life.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"This tree arises from your energies." With this intention the verse is spoken. "You are the only (eka) creator of this material tree which is real (sat). You are the destruction (sannidhanam) and the maintainer ( anugraha)."
"Oh devatas it is said that Brahma, Visnu and Siva are the masters of this world, so why do you say that I am the creator." The next statement answers this.
"Those who minds are covered by your maya see Brahma and others as independent, but those whose minds are not covered see only you. They see Brahma and others as your expansions only."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Other meanings of the word tvam (you) are here rejected. The meaning may be taken according to Śrīdhara Svāmī. Or another meaning is as follows. “How can I be the creator, maintainer and destroyer all at once?” This verse answers. The wise with minds uncovered by māyā (tvan-māyayā asaṁvṛta-cetasaḥ) do not see varieties and they see the non-difference of all the Lord’s forms since the one form of the Lord by his innate inconceivable śakti takes on various forms according to the type of worship and way of seeing.
maṇir yathā vibhāgena nīla-pītādibhir yutaḥ
rūpa-bhedam avāpnoti dhyāna-bhedāt tathācyutaḥ
Just as a gem shows blue, yellow and other colors at different times, the Lord takes different forms because of different types of meditation. Nārada-pañcarātra
The gem refers to the vaidurya which possesses various colors.
Or persons covered by your māyā see you in various forms as described. You attain such variety by māyā. People then think you are these various forms. But the wise do not think like this because of the Lord’s innate śakti. All the Lord’s forms are without māyā, full of knowledge and bliss.