अद्भ्यस्चैनं चन्द्रमसस्च दैवः प्राण आविशति; स वै दैवः प्राणो यः संचरंश्चासंचरंश्च न व्यथते, अथो न रिष्यति; स एवंवित्सर्वेषाम् भूतानामात्मा भवति; यथैषा देवतैवं सः; यथैतां देवतां सर्वाणि भूतान्यवन्ति, एवं हैवंविदं सर्वानि भूतान्यवन्ति । यदु किंचेमाः प्रजाः शोचन्ति, अमैवासां तद्भवति, पुन्यमेवामुं गच्छति, न ह वै देवान् पापं गच्छति ॥ २० ॥
adbhyascainaṃ candramasasca daivaḥ prāṇa āviśati; sa vai daivaḥ prāṇo yaḥ saṃcaraṃścāsaṃcaraṃśca na vyathate, atho na riṣyati; sa evaṃvitsarveṣām bhūtānāmātmā bhavati; yathaiṣā devataivaṃ saḥ; yathaitāṃ devatāṃ sarvāṇi bhūtānyavanti, evaṃ haivaṃvidaṃ sarvāni bhūtānyavanti | yadu kiṃcemāḥ prajāḥ śocanti, amaivāsāṃ tadbhavati, punyamevāmuṃ gacchati, na ha vai devān pāpaṃ gacchati || 20 ||
20. The divine vital force from water and the moon permeates him. That is the divine vital force which, when it moves or does not move, feels no pain nor is injured. He who knows as above becomes the self of all beings. As is this deity (Hiraṇyagarbha), so is he. As all beings take care of this deity, so do they take care of him. Howsoever these beings may grieve, that grief of theirs is connected with them. But only merit goes to him. No demerit ever goes to the gods.
Likewise the divine vital force from water and the moon permeates him. It is being specified: That is the divine vital force which, when it moves among the different beings taken individually, or does not move, when they are taken collectively—or moves in moving animals and does not move in stationary objects— feels no pain, is not affected by fear that causes sorrow, nor is injured or killed. He who knows the meditation on the three kinds of food as identical with himself, as described above, becomes the self of all beings, becomes their vital force, their mind and their speech, and thus, being the self of all beings, becomes omniscient and the doer of everything as well. This is the import. As is this deity, Hiraṇyagarbha, who attained this state first, so is he—his omniscience or omnipotence is never thwarted. ‘He’ refers to the sage who is compared with the other. Moreover, as all beings take care of or worship this deity, Hiraṇyagarbha, through sacrifices et., so do they take care of him, one who knows as above, constantly offer him worship consisting of sacrifices etc.
Now a doubt arises: It has been said that he becomes the self of all beings. Hence, being identified with their bodies and organs, he may be affected by their joys and sorrows. To which the answer is: Not so, for his understanding is not limited. It is those that identify themselves with limited objects who are seen to be affected by sorrow when, for instance, they are abused by anybody, thinking he has abused them. But this sage who is the self of all has no particular notion of identity with either the object that is abused or the agency that abuses, and cannot therefore be miserable on that account. And there is no ground for sorrow as in the case of that due to someone’s death. As when somebody dies, a man feels miserable, thinking that he was his son or brother—the grief being due to this relationship, and where this cause is absent, one, although witnessing that death, is not afflicted, similarly this divine being, who is not identified with limited things, having no defects such as the false notions about ‘mine,’ or ‘yours,’ and so on, which lead to misery, is not affected by it.
This is being expressed: Howsoever these beings may grīevè, that grīef of theirs, the pain due to that grief and the like, is connected with them, for it is due to their identification with limited things. But in the case of one who is the self of all, what can be connected, or disconnected, and with what? But only merit, i.e. good results, goes to him, the sage who is enjoying the status of Hiraṇyagarbha. He has done exceedingly meritorious work; hence only the results of that go to him. No demerit ever goes to the gads, for there is no scope for the results of evil actions among them. That is, misery, which is the result of evil actions, does not go to them.
Meditation on all three—the organ of speech, the mind and the vital force—without any distinction has been described in the passage, ‘These are all equal, and all infinite’ (I. v. 13). No speciality attaching to any one of these has been mentioned. Should one understand this as it is, or upon examination may some distinction be found in any one of these either for the purposes of a vow or meditation? This is being answered: