Devanagari
एको नानात्वमन्विच्छन् योगतल्पात् समुत्थित: ।
वीर्यं हिरण्मयं देवो मायया व्यसृजत् त्रिधा ॥ १३ ॥
Verse text
eko nānātvam anvicchan
yoga-talpāt samutthitaḥ
vīryaṁ hiraṇmayaṁ devo
māyayā vyasṛjat tridhā
Synonyms
ekaḥ
—
He, one alone
;
nānātvam
—
varieties
;
anvicchan
—
so desiring
;
yoga
—
talpāt — from the bedstead of mystic slumber
;
samutthitaḥ
—
thus generated
;
vīryam
—
the semen
;
hiraṇmayam
—
golden hue
;
devaḥ
—
the demigod
;
māyayā
—
by the external energy
;
vyasṛjat
—
perfectly created
;
tridhā
—
in three features .
Translation
The Lord, while lying on His bed of mystic slumber, generated the seminal symbol, golden in hue, through external energy out of His desire to manifest varieties of living entities from Himself alone.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The one Lord, desiring to become many, rose from his bed after the sleep of universal destruction, and created the universe shining brightly in three forms by his energy. The Lord created three forms: adhidaivam (sense devatā), adhyātmam (subtle sense organ) and adhibhūtam (gross sense form).
Purport
In the
Bhagavad-gītā
(9.7-8) the creation and annihilation of the material world are stated as follows:
sarva-bhūtāni kaunteya
prakṛtiṁ yānti māmikām
kalpa-kṣaye punas tāni
kalpādau visṛjāmy aham
prakṛtiṁ svām avaṣṭabhya
visṛjāmi punaḥ punaḥ
bhūta-grāmam imaṁ kṛtsnam
avaśaṁ prakṛter vaśāt
“At the end of each millennium the creative forces, namely the material nature and the living entities who struggle in the material nature, all merge together into the transcendental body of the Lord, and again when the Lord desires to manifest them, all of them are again displayed by the Lord. Therefore the material nature is working under the control of the Lord. All of them, under the agency of material nature and under the control of the Lord, are thus repeatedly created and annihilated by the will of the Lord.”
As such, before the creation or manifestation of the material cosmic world, the Lord exists as total energy (
mahā-samaṣṭi
), and thus desiring Himself to be diffused to many, He expands Himself further into multitotal energy (
samaṣṭi
). From the multitotal energy He further expands Himself into individuals in three dimensions, namely adhyātmic, adhidaivic and adhibhautic, as explained before (
vyaṣṭi
). As such, the whole creation and the creative energies are nondifferent and different simultaneously. Because everything is an emanation from Him (the Mahā-Viṣṇu or Mahā-samaṣṭi), nothing of the cosmic energies is different from Him; but all such expanded energies have specific functions and display as designed by the Lord, and therefore they are simultaneously different from the Lord. The living entities are also similar energy (marginal potency) of the Lord, and thus they are simultaneously one with and different from Him.
At the stage of nonmanifestation, the living energies remain potent in the Lord, and when they are let loose in the cosmic manifestation they are exhibited differently in terms of different desires under the modes of nature. Such differential manifestations of the living energies are conditional states of the living entities. The liberated living entities, however, in the
sanātana
(eternal) manifestation, are unconditionally surrendered souls, and therefore they are not subject to the conditions of creation and annihilation. So this creation takes place by the glance of the Lord from His bedstead of mystic slumber. And thus all the universes and the lord of the universe, Brahmā, are again and again manifested and annihilated.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
How did the universal form (samaṣṭi-virāḍ) arise? This verse explains. The one entity, merging the jīvas in himself at the time of destruction, was situated as one. After that (anu), at the time of creation, he desired variety (nānātvam). He then separated the jīvas from himself. From his bed of yoga, having slept at the time of destruction, representing night, the spiritual puruṣa (devaḥ) then rose up in the morning, at the time of creation. Having created the elements such as mahat-tattva by his energy (māyayā), he created by these elements the universe with its layers, shining brightly (vīryam) with golden color. This is the great creation. The creation of the universal form situated in the shell measuring five hundred million yojanas took place by combining the Lord’s energy with parts of the elements such as mahat-tattva. The puruṣa then entered the shell of the universe, filled half of it with water emanating from himself, and placing the universal form within himself, went to sleep on the Garbhodaka ocean. After that, he rose from his bed and manifested the totality of the universe, golden in color, in three forms. What are the three forms? These are adhidaivam, adhyātmam and adhibhūtam. [Note: These aspects are explained in the commentary on verse 18.]
That totatliy or samaṣṭi will become the lotus stem arising from the Lord’s navel and this lotus stem will become the gross form of the universal form with fourteen planetary systems. It will also become the subtle Hiraṇyagarbha, the form of Brahmā consisting of the totality of jīvas. It will also become the four-headed Brahmā who carries out creation. Thus Brahmā has three forms. [Note: Brahmā three forms are: 1) 4-headed Brahmā; 2) Hiraṇyagarbha; and 3) Universal form.] Now let us return to the topic at hand.