Text 63]
Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Śiva
1107
महानहं खं मरुदग्निवार्धराः
सुरर्षयो भूतगणा इदं यतः ॥६३॥
tvam eka ādyaḥ puruṣaḥ supta-śaktis tayā rajaḥ-sattva-tamo vibhidyate mahān aham kham marud agni-vār-dharāḥ surarṣayo bhūta-gaṇā idam yataḥ
tvam—Your Lordship; ekaḥ—one; ādyaḥ—the original; puruṣaḥ—person; supta—dormant; śaktiḥ—energy; tayā—by which; rajaḥ—the passion energy; sattva—goodness; tamaḥ—ignorance; vibhidyate—is diversified; mahān—the total material energy; aham—egotism; kham—the sky; marut—the air; agni—fire; vāḥ—water; dharāḥ—earth; sura-rṣayaḥ—the demigods and the great sages; bhūta-gaṇāḥ—the living entities; idam—all this; yataḥ—from whom.
TRANSLATION
My dear Lord, You are the only Supreme Person, the cause of all causes. Before the creation of this material world, Your material energy remains in a dormant condition. When Your material energy is agitated, the three qualities—namely, goodness, passion and ignorance—act, and as a result the total material energy—egotism, ether, air, fire, water, earth, and all the various demigods and saintly persons—becomes manifest. Thus the material world is created.
PURPORT
If the whole creation is one, that is, nothing but the Supreme Lord, or Viṣṇu, then why do the expert transcendentalists make such categories as are found in the above verse? Why do learned and expert scholars distinguish between matter and spirit? In answer to these questions, Lord Śiva says that spirit and matter are not creations of various philosophers, but are manifested by Lord Viṣṇu, as described in this verse:  tvam eka ādyaḥ puruṣaḥ . Spiritual and material categories are made possible by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but actually there are no such distinctions for the living entities who are eternally engaged in the service of the Lord. There is only a material world for those who want to imitate the Lord and become enjoyers. Indeed, the material world is nothing but forgetfulness of the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, the creator