etan nÄnÄ-vidhaá¹ viÅ›vam
Ätma-sṛṣá¹am adhoká¹£aja
ÄtmanÄnupraviÅ›yÄtman
prÄṇo jÄ«vo bibhará¹£y aja
etat - this; nÄnÄ-vidham - variegated; viÅ›vam - universe; Ätma - from Yourself; sṛṣá¹am - created; adhoká¹£aja - O transcendental Lord; ÄtmanÄ - in Your manifestation (as the ParamÄtmÄ); anupraviÅ›ya - entering within; Ätman - O Supreme Soul; prÄṇaḥ - the principle of vitality; jÄ«vaḥ - and the principle of consciousness; bibhará¹£i - You maintain; aja - O unborn one.
O transcendental Lord, from Yourself You created this entire variegated universe, and then You entered within it in Your personal form as the Supersoul. In this way, O unborn Supreme Soul, as the life force and consciousness of everyone, You maintain the creation.
When creating the material universe, the Lord expands Himself as the ParamÄtmÄ, or Supersoul, and accepts the creation as His universal body. No material body has any reason for existing without some jÄ«va soul desiring it for his enjoyment, and no jÄ«va can independently maintain a body without the ParamÄtmÄ accompanying him there for guidance. The Vaiṣṇava ÄcÄryas, in their commentaries on the Second Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad BhÄgavatam, explain that even before BrahmÄ is born from the lotus navel of GarbhodakaÅ›ÄyÄ« Viṣṇu, he first accepts the whole material energy, the mahat-tattva, as his body. Thus BrahmÄ is the jÄ«va embodied by the universe, and Viṣṇu is the ParamÄtmÄ who joins him. BrahmÄ must organize the specific manifestations of creation, but he cannot begin to do so until Lord Viṣṇu expands Himself again into the subtle energy of action — which is the sÅ«tra-tattva, or original vital air — and also into the creative energy of consciousness, buddhi-tattva.
