Verse 6.1.4

यथा सोम्यैकेन मृत्पिण्डेन सर्वं मृन्मयं विज्ञातं स्याद्वाचारम्भणं विकारो नामधेयं मृत्तिकेत्येव सत्यम् ॥ ६.१.४ ॥

yathā somyaikena mṛtpiṇḍena sarvaṃ mṛnmayaṃ vijñātaṃ syādvācārambhaṇaṃ vikāro nāmadheyaṃ mṛttiketyeva satyam || 6.1.4 ||

4. O Somya, it is like this: By knowing a single lump of earth you know all objects made of earth. All changes are mere words, in name only. But earth is the reality.

Word-for-word explanation:

Somya, young man; yathā, just as; ekena mṛtpiṇḍena, from one single lump of earth; sarvam mṛnmayam vijñātam, all objects made of earth are known; vācārambhaṇam nāmadheyam vikāraḥ, all changes are mere words, in name only; mṛttika iti eva satyam, the earth is the reality.

Commentary:

What is this ādeśa that Śvetaketu’s father wanted him to learn from his teacher? It is that there is only one single reality in this world, and that reality appears to be many because of the different names and forms superimposed on it.

Here he is using earth as an example. If you know a single thing made of earth—for instance, a pot—then you know all things made of earth. How? The word ‘pot’ is merely a name; the real object is earth. Earth may assume different names and forms, but it remains the same earth.