स्पन्दास्पन्दसमाकारात् ततो विष्णुरजायत । स्यन्दमानरसापूरात् तरङ्गः सागरादिव ॥ १२ ॥
spandāspandasamākārāt tatō viṣṇurajāyata | syandamānarasāpūrāt taraṅgaḥ sāgarādiva || 12 ||
Translation
From that, which is the same in moving and in stillness, Viṣṇu was born, as a wave rises from the ocean with its flowing mass of water.
Word by word
- spanda
- in moving
- aspanda
- and in stillness
- samākārāt
- from what has the same form
- tatō
- (tataḥ) from that
- viṣṇur
- (viṣṇuḥ) Viṣṇu
- ajāyata
- was born
- syandamāna
- flowing
- rasa
- of water
- āpūrāt
- with its mass
- taraṅgaḥ
- a wave
- sāgarād
- (sāgarāt) from the ocean
- iva
- as
Meaning
Spanda and aspanda, movement and stillness, are a pair this work will return to again and again. Consciousness at rest and consciousness vibrating are one thing. The commentary says that it keeps one form through the appearing and vanishing of māyā and its effects, as the ocean remains water whether calm or moving. Here Viṣṇu is the first wave, the cosmic person pervading all effects, whom the commentary identifies with the Virāṭ. The image governs the whole account that follows. A wave is not a second thing that the ocean makes. Everything that rises in this story, the gods included, is the water, moving.