सेयं देवतैक्षत हन्ताहमिमास्तिस्रो देवता अनेन जीवेनात्मनानुप्रविश्य नामरूपे व्याकरवाणीति ॥ ६.३.२ ॥
seyaṃ devataikṣata hantāhamimāstisro devatā anena jīvenātmanānupraviśya nāmarūpe vyākaravāṇīti || 6.3.2 ||
2. That god [Existence] decided: ‘Entering into these three deities [fire, water, and earth], as the individual self, I shall manifest myself in many names and forms’.
Word-for-word explanation:
Sā iyam devatā, that deity [i.e., Sat, Existence]; aikṣata, decided; hanta, so; aham, I; imāḥ tisraḥ devatāḥ, these three gods [i.e., fire, water, and earth]; anena jīvena ātmanā, as the jīvātman [i.e., the individual self]; anupraviśya, having entered; nāmarūpe, as names and forms; vyākaravāṇi iti, I shall manifest.
Commentary:
The Self (Sat) is within fire, water, and earth, but that is not to say that it is in any way affected by them. If you stand before a mirror, you see your reflection. The reflection may be good or it may not be good, but does that affect the mirror? The sun gives light to the eyes, but if there is anything wrong with the eyes, does that affect the sun?
Similarly, the Self is everywhere and in everything. But wherever it is, it is the same. Names and forms, apart from the Self, are false. But there is, in reality, nothing apart from the Self. Everything is the Self. In that sense, the names and forms are also the Self and therefore real.
“Everything is real. Brahman is real. The world is real. The world is Brahman. The life force is established in Truth. Hail Ramakrishna! Hail Ramakrishna! Say that he is the embodiment of Truth, and embodiment of Knowledge.”
— Swami Turiyananda (Source: God Lived With Them)