Devanagari
एक एव परो ह्यात्मा सर्वेषामपि देहिनाम् ।
नानेव गृह्यते मूढैर्यथा ज्योतिर्यथा नभ: ॥ ४४ ॥
Verse text
eka eva paro hy ātmā
sarveṣām api dehinām
nāneva gṛhyate mūḍhair
yathā jyotir yathā nabhaḥ
Synonyms
ekaḥ
—
one
;
eva
—
only
;
paraḥ
—
the Supreme
;
hi
—
indeed
;
ātmā
—
Soul
;
sarveṣām
—
among all
;
api
—
and
;
dehinām
—
embodied beings
;
nānā
—
many
;
iva
—
as if
;
gṛhyate
—
is perceived
;
mūḍhaiḥ
—
by those who are bewildered
;
yathā
—
as
;
jyotiḥ
—
a celestial body
;
yathā
—
as
;
nabhaḥ
—
the sky .
Translation
Those who are bewildered perceive the one Supreme Soul, who resides in all embodied beings, as many, just as one may perceive the light in the sky, or the sky itself, as many.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Those who are bewildered perceive the one Supreme Soul, who resides in all embodied beings, as many, just as one may perceive the light in the sky, or the sky itself, as many.
KB 10.54.44
“The spirit soul is of the same pure quality in any embodiment of matter, but those who are not sufficiently intelligent see only the bodily differences between animals and men, literates and illiterates, rich and poor, which cover the pure spirit soul. Such differences, observed merely on the basis of the body, are exactly like the differences between fires in terms of the various types of fuel they consume. Whatever the size and shape of the fuel, there is no such variety of size and shape in the fire which comes out. Similarly, in the sky there are no differences in size or shape.”
Purport
The last line of this text, y
athā jyotir yathā nabhaḥ,
introduces two analogies in which we perceive one thing to be many.
Jyotiḥ
indicates the light of heavenly bodies such as the sun or moon. Although there is only one moon, we may see the moon reflected in pools, rivers, lakes and buckets of water. Then it would appear as if there were many moons, although there is only one. Similarly, we perceive a divine presence in each living being because the Supreme Lord is present everywhere, although He is one. The second analogy given here,
yathā nabhaḥ,
is that of the sky. If we have a row of sealed clay pots in a room, the sky, or air, is in each pot, although the sky itself is one.
The
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
(1.2.32)
gives a similar analogy concerning fire and wood:
yathā hy avahito vahnir
dāruṣv ekaḥ sva-yoniṣu
nāneva bhāti viśvātmā
bhūteṣu ca tathā pumān
“The Lord, as the Supersoul, pervades all things, just as fire permeates wood, and so He appears to be of many varieties, though He is the absolute one without a second.”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In two verse he refutes the misconception of those who think body is self. First he states that the body is not the supersoul. The supersoul is certainly the one inspirer of the many jivas with bodies. Two examples are given to show one is the basis of many. It is like fire within wood and ether in the pot, as is said in the First cantao: yatha hy avahito...
The Lord, as Supersoul, pervades all things, just as fire permeates wood, and so He appears to be of many varieties, though He is the absolute one without a second.(sb 1.2.32)
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
“We directly see variety in the universe. So then there should also be friendship in the universe.” How do you say that? This is illusion about ātmā. All the jīvas are spiritual in nature, and thus actually have no difference. They are one only (ekaḥ). As amśas of Paramātmā they all have similar svarūpa. Paramātmā with inconceivable energy is like the sun. The ātmās, as aṁśas of taṭastha-śakti, are like particles of light in the sun’s rays. Since the ātmās are like the light of the sun, because of the inconceivable energy, acintya-śakti, there is no room for raising an objection about them. They are one because (hi) the ātmā is different from the body (paraḥ). There is variety only because of bodies. There is no variety in the ātmā. How can variety be perceived, since the ātmās are all without material disturbances? The variety arises because of variety in the ātmā’s location. Examples are given. In the first example of light perceived as many reflections, there is difference perceived between the object and its reflection. Thus another example is given: the sky in the pot.
There is another meaning. Ātatatvāc ca mātṛtvād ātmā hi paramo hariḥ: the Lord is called ātmā since he spreads everywhere and is the source of everything like a mother. (quoted in Śrīdhara’s Bhāgavatam commentary) The Supreme Lord (ātmā) is one only. He is the one ātmā in all those who identify with their bodies. He is in reality the best, superior (paraḥ) to all of them, exhibiting the highest prema. The ātmās, those who identify with bodies, are accepted by fools to be supreme. When illusion dissolves in some persons, they perceive ātmā in its true form according to qualification, with a shadow of prema. An example is given. If one has not seen the sun, a lamp is accepted as supreme. Having not seen the expansive sky, flies take the space in an uḍumbara tree to be the supreme sky.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
“We directly see variety in the universe. So then there should also be friendship in the universe.” How do you say that? This is illusion about ātmā. All the jīvas are spiritual in nature, and thus actually have no difference. They are one only (ekaḥ). There is one ātmā for all those receiving various types of bodies of four types since it is different from the bodies (paraḥ). The bodies are various, but not the ātmā. Why is variety perceived? There is variety in the upādhi of bodies. An example is given. It looks like variety (iva) for fools who do not know the truth or who identify with their bodies, but is actually one.