Devanagari
स वै विश्वसृजां गर्भो देवकर्मात्मशक्तिमान् ।
विबभाजात्मनात्मानमेकधा दशधा त्रिधा ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
sa vai viśva-sṛjāṁ garbho
deva-karmātma-śaktimān
vibabhājātmanātmānam
ekadhā daśadhā tridhā
Synonyms
saḥ
—
that
;
vai
—
certainly
;
viśva
—
sṛjām — of the gigantic virāṭ form
;
garbhaḥ
—
total energy
;
deva
—
living energy
;
karma
—
activity of life
;
ātma
—
self
;
śaktimān
—
full with potencies
;
vibabhāja
—
divided
;
ātmanā
—
by Himself
;
ātmānam
—
Himself
;
ekadhā
—
in oneness
;
daśadhā
—
in ten
;
tridhā
—
and in three .
Translation
The total energy of the mahat-tattva, in the form of the gigantic virāṭ-rūpa, divided Himself by Himself into the consciousness of the living entities, the life of activity, and self-identification, which are subdivided into one, ten and three respectively.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This fetus composed of the elements, endowed with jīva-śakti, prāṇa-śakti and ātmā-śakti, divided itself up into one, ten and three parts by its own powers.
In order to produce the organs such as mouth on this form, first the three śaktis are described. This fetus, the result of the combined elements (viśva-sṛjām), was endowed with jīva, prāṇa and adhyātma śaktis (deva-karmātma-śaktimān). He divided himself up by himself. There is one jīva-śakti, ten prāṇa-śaktis and three ātma-śaktis.
Purport
Consciousness is the sign of the living entity, or the soul. The existence of the soul is manifest in the form of consciousness, called
jṣāna-śakti.
The total consciousness is that of the gigantic
virāṭ-rūpa,
and the same consciousness is exhibited in individual persons. The activity of consciousness is performed through the air of life, which is of ten divisions. The airs of life are called
prāṇa, apāna, udāna, vyāna
and
samāna
and are also differently qualified as
nāga, kūrma, kṛkara, devadatta
and
dhanaṣjaya.
The consciousness of the soul becomes polluted by the material atmosphere, and thus various activities are exhibited in the false ego of bodily identification. These various activities are described in
Bhagavad-gītā
(2.41)
as
bahu-śākhā hy anantāś ca buddhayo ’vyavasāyinām.
The conditioned soul is bewildered into various activities for want of pure consciousness. In pure consciousness the activity is one. The consciousness of the individual soul becomes one with the supreme consciousness when there is complete synthesis between the two.
The monist believes that there is only one consciousness, whereas the
sātvatas,
or the devotees, believe that although there is undoubtedly one consciousness, they are one because there is agreement. The individual consciousness is advised to dovetail with the supreme consciousness, as instructed by the Lord in
Bhagavad-gītā
(18.66)
:
sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja.
The individual consciousness (Arjuna) is advised to dovetail with the supreme consciousness and thus maintain his conscious purity. It is foolish to try to stop the activities of consciousness, but they can be purified when they are dovetailed with the Supreme. This consciousness is divided into three modes of self-identification according to the proportion of purity:
ādhyātmika,
or self-identification with the body and mind,
ādhibhautika,
or self-identification with the material products, and
ādhidaivika,
or self-identification as a servant of the Lord. Of the three,
ādhidaivika
self-identification is the beginning of purity of consciousness in pursuance of the desire of the Lord.