Shloka 19
स्वकृतविचित्रयोनिषु विशन्निव हेतुतया तरतमतश्चकास्स्यनलवत् स्वकृतानुकृति: । अथ वितथास्वमूष्ववितथं तव धाम समं विरजधियोऽनुयन्त्यभिविपण्यव एकरसम् ॥ १९ ॥
sva-kṛta-vicitra-yoniṣu viśann iva hetutayā taratamataś cakāssy anala-vat sva-kṛtānukṛtiḥ atha vitathāsv amūṣv avitathāṁ tava dhāma samaṁ viraja-dhiyo ’nuyanty abhivipaṇyava eka-rasam
Seeming to enter, as the causal power, into the variegated species You have created, You impel the jīvas to act and reveal Yourself according to their higher and lower stations, just as fire appears differently according to the shape of what it burns. Therefore, those of spotless intelligence, free from attachment, realize Your undivided, unchanging Self as the enduring reality amid these impermanent forms of life.
Hearing these prayers of the personified Vedas, in which the śrutis describe the Supersoul as entering countless varieties of material bodies, a critic may question how the Supreme can do this without becoming limited. Indeed, proponents of Advaita philosophy see no essential distinction between the Supreme Soul and His creation. In the impersonalists’ conception, the Absolute has inexplicably gotten itself entrapped by illusion and has thus become first a personal God and then the demigods, humans, animals, plants and finally matter. Śaṅkarācārya and his followers take great pains to cite Vedic evidence to support this theory of how illusion is imposed on the Absolute. But speaking for themselves, the Vedas here answer this objection and refuse to lend their authority to Māyāvāda impersonalism.
FAQs
It explains that the Lord appears within the many forms of life as the causal principle, pervading them like fire within its products, yet remains transcendental and unchanged.
The personified Vedas are speaking, praising the Supreme Lord to clarify that He is the real, uniform truth beyond the temporary world and the ultimate goal of spiritual pursuit.
By recognizing the temporary nature of worldly identities and cultivating a purified, passion-free understanding, one can steadily pursue the Lord’s unchanging reality through devotion and disciplined spiritual practice.