पूर्वं न सम्भवत्येव स्मरणीयमिति स्वयम् । पद्मजादित्वमायाति चैतन्यस्य तथास्थितेः ॥ १८ ॥
pūrvaṁ na sambhavatyēva smaraṇīyamiti svayam | padmajāditvamāyāti caitanyasya tathāsthitēḥ || 18 ||
Translation
Earlier there was just nothing to be remembered; awareness itself, being so, comes of its own to be the lotus-born and the rest.
Word by word
- pūrvaṁ
- earlier
- na
- nothing
- sambhavatya
- (sambhavati) there was
- ēva
- just
- smaraṇīyam
- to be remembered
- iti
- so
- svayam
- of its own
- padmajāditvam
- to be the lotus-born and the rest
- āyāti
- comes
- caitanyasya
- awareness
- tathā
- so
- sthitēḥ
- being
Meaning
The commentary: earlier, there were no objects to remember. Awareness under māyā, holding the impressions of the former creator's body and the rest, stands in that very shape, and so takes the form of a new Brahmā and the others. Another commentary: the making of creation is the very nature of awareness. Nothing outside awareness brings the creator about.