Verse 2.372

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

आलातस्यैकरूपस्य वैश्वरूप्यं यथान्यतः ।
रूपाभिधानभ्रान्त्युत्था बहुतेयं परात्मनः ।
प्रजायेयेत्यतो वक्ति नामरूपात्मना प्रभुः ॥ ३७२ ॥

ālātasyaikarūpasya vaiśvarūpyaṃ yathānyataḥ |
rūpābhidhānabhrāntyutthā bahuteyaṃ parātmanaḥ |
prajāyeyetyato vakti nāmarūpātmanā prabhuḥ || 372 ||

English translation of verse 2.372:

Just as a firebrand, while remaining of one shape, appears in different forms due to other causes, so also the plurality of forms of the supreme Self is due to the illusion of name and form. Hence, the Lord says, “Let me be born,” through the manifestation of name and form.

Notes:

Just as Brahman is said to have desires only through māyā, so also it puts on a plurality of forms only through māyā. The desires of Brahman are nothing but the transformations of māyā (māyāśaktireva kāmanākāreṇa vikriyāmāpadyate). The world of name and form is a product of avidyā. Though Brahman is partless, one, and non-dual, it appears as many through the illusory name and form projected by avidyā. The example of a firebrand is given in order to drive home this idea. If a firebrand is moved swiftly, it makes a circle, a straight line, or a cooked line depending upon the nature of the movement. But when it is not in motion, it does not take any form, straight or crooked, but remains just a burning faggot. So it puts on different forms due to other causes, viz., the kind of motion that is involved. Similarly, Brahman which is pure undifferentiated consciousness appears as the world of name and form through avidyā. The following passage from the Māṇḍūkya-kārikā (IV, 47-43) is relevant in this context: “As a firebrand, when set in motion, appears as straight, crooked, etc., so also consciousness, when set in motion, appears as the perceiver, the perceived, and the like. As the firebrand, when not in motion, is free from all appearance and remains changeless, similarly consciousness, when not in motion, is free from all appearances and remains changeless.”