Devanagari
स्वधिष्ण्यं प्रतपन् प्राणो बहिश्च प्रतपत्यसौ ।
एवं विराजं प्रतपंस्तपत्यन्तर्बहि: पुमान् ॥ १७ ॥
Verse text
sva-dhiṣṇyaṁ pratapan prāṇo
bahiś ca pratapaty asau
evaṁ virājaṁ pratapaṁs
tapaty antar bahiḥ pumān
Synonyms
sva
—
dhiṣṇyam — radiation
;
pratapan
—
by expansion
;
prāṇaḥ
—
living energy
;
bahiḥ
—
external
;
ca
—
also
;
pratapati
—
illuminated
;
asau
—
the sun
;
evam
—
in the same way
;
virājam
—
the universal form
;
pratapan
—
by expansion of
;
tapati
—
enlivens
;
antaḥ
—
internally
;
bahiḥ
—
externally
;
pumān
—
the Supreme Personality .
Translation
The sun illuminates both internally and externally by expanding its radiation; similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by expanding His universal form, maintains everything in the creation both internally and externally.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Just as the life air energizes the body inside and spreads its influence outside as well, the Lord energizes the universe inside and outside as well.
Purport
The universal form of the Lord, or the impersonal feature of the Lord known as the
brahmajyoti,
is clearly explained here and compared to the radiation of the sun. The sunshine may expand all over the universe, but the source of the sunshine, namely the sun planet or the deity known as Sūrya-nārāyaṇa, is the basis of such radiation. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Kṛṣṇa is the basis of the impersonal
brahmajyoti
radiation, or the impersonal feature of the Lord. This is confirmed in the
Bhagavad-gītā
(14.27)
. So the universal form of the Lord is the secondary imagination of the impersonal form of the Lord, but the primary form of the Lord is Śyāmasundara, with two hands, playing on His eternal flute. Seventy-five percent of the expansive radiation of the Lord is manifested in the spiritual sky (
tripād-vibhūti
), and twenty-five percent of His personal radiation comprehends the entire expansion of the material universes. This is also explained and stated in the
Bhagavad-gītā
(10.42)
. Thus the seventy-five-percent expansion of His radiation is called His internal energy, whereas the twenty-five-percent expansion is called the external energy of the Lord. The living entities, who are residents of the spiritual as well as the material expansions, are His marginal energy (
taṭasthā-śakti
), and they are at liberty to live in either of the energies, external or internal. Those who live within the spiritual expansion of the Lord are called liberated souls, whereas the residents of the external expansion are called the conditioned souls. We can just make an estimate of the number of the residents of the internal expansions in comparison with the number of residents in the external energy and may easily conclude that the liberated souls are far more numerous than the conditioned souls.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
An example is given. The life air energizes the interior of the body, and spreads its heat outside as well. The Lord situated in the universal form as the antaryāmī, energizes in the sense of empowering it with his jṣāna, kriyā and dravya śaktis, and thus spreads his influence inside and outside as well.