श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । परमे ब्रह्मणि ब्रह्मा स्वभाववशतः स्वयम् । जातः स्पन्दमयो नित्यमूर्मिरम्बुनिधाविव ॥ ४ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | paramē brahmaṇi brahmā svabhāvavaśataḥ svayam | jātaḥ spandamayō nityamūrmirambunidhāviva || 4 ||
Translation
Śrī Vasiṣṭha said: In the supreme Brahman, Brahmā arose of himself, by the force of his own nature, and always made of movement, as a wave arises in the ocean.
Word by word
- śrīvasiṣṭha
- Śrī Vasiṣṭha
- uvāca
- said
- paramē
- in the supreme
- brahmaṇi
- Brahman
- brahmā
- Brahmā
- svabhāva
- of his own nature
- vaśataḥ
- by the force
- svayam
- of himself
- jātaḥ
- arose
- spandamayō
- (spandamayaḥ) made of movement
- nityam
- always
- ūrmir
- (ūrmiḥ) a wave
- ambunidhau
- in the ocean
- iva
- as
Meaning
The answer goes back to what Brahmā is. He is spandamaya, made of movement, a wave of the ocean that is Brahman. Sva-bhāva-vaśataḥ, by the force of his own nature: the commentary reads this as the strength of the knowledge, action and tendencies of a former birth, and says he has abundant power of action. The image from the last sarga returns for a reason: Brahmā's care for the world is itself a movement of the one water.