सूर्यो भूत्वा प्रतपति विष्णुः पाति जगत्त्रयम् । रुद्रः सर्वान् संहरति सर्गान् सृजति पद्मजः ॥ १६ ॥
sūryō bhūtvā pratapati viṣṇuḥ pāti jagattrayam | rudraḥ sarvān saṁharati sargān sṛjati padmajaḥ || 16 ||
Translation
Becoming the sun he blazes; as Viṣṇu he protects the three worlds; as Rudra he destroys all; as the lotus-born Brahmā he brings forth the creations.
Word by word
- sūryō
- the sun
- bhūtvā
- becoming
- pratapati
- he blazes
- viṣṇuḥ
- as Viṣṇu
- pāti
- he protects
- jagat
- worlds
- trayam
- the three
- rudraḥ
- as Rudra
- sarvān
- all
- saṁharati
- he destroys
- sargān
- the creations
- sṛjati
- he brings forth
- padmajaḥ
- as the lotus-born (Brahmā)
Meaning
From here to v. 23, the commentary says, Vasiṣṭha gives the mark of the bodiless one "from the world's point of view": he is the Self of all, and so every power in the world is his. The sun's heat and light, the three gods who keep, end and make the worlds: all are he. This is not a boast for a man who has died; it says that freedom is not a withdrawal into a small corner, but the end of a boundary, after which there is nothing that is not one's own Self.