अयं हि जीवस्त्रिवृदब्जयोनि- रव्यक्त एको वयसा स आद्य: । विश्लिष्टशक्तिर्बहुधेव भाति बीजानि योनिं प्रतिपद्य यद्वत् ॥ २० ॥
ayaṁ hi jīvas tri-vṛd abja-yonir avyakta eko vayasā sa ādyaḥ viśliṣṭa-śaktir bahudheva bhāti bījāni yoniṁ pratipadya yadvat
- ayam
- this
- hi
- certainly
- jīvaḥ
- the supreme living entity who gives life to others
- tri-vṛt
- containing the three modes of material nature
- abja
- of the universal lotus flower
- yoniḥ
- the source
- avyaktaḥ
- unmanifest (materially)
- ekaḥ
- alone
- vayasā
- in course of time
- saḥ
- He
- ādyaḥ
- eternal
- viśliṣṭa
- divided
- śaktiḥ
- potencies
- bahudhā
- in many divisions
- iva
- like
- bhāti
- He appears
- bījāni
- seeds
- yonim
- in an agricultural field
- pratipadya
- falling
- yat-vat
- just like
When many seeds are placed in an agricultural field, innumerable manifestations of trees, bushes, vegetables and so on will arise from a single source, the soil. Similarly, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who gives life to all and is eternal, originally exists beyond the scope of the cosmic manifestation. In the course of time, however, the Lord, who is the resting place of the three modes of nature and the source of the universal lotus flower, in which the cosmic manifestation takes place, divides His material potencies and thus appears to be manifest in innumerable forms, although He is one.