FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.32

యథా హ్యవహితో వహ్నిర్దారుష్వేక: స్వయోనిషు । నానేవ భాతి విశ్వాత్మా భూతేషు చ తథా పుమాన్ ॥ ౩౨ ॥
yathā hy avahito vahnir
[yathaa hy avahito vahnir]
dāruṣv ekaḥ sva-yoniṣu
[daarushv ekah sva-yonishu]
nāneva bhāti viśvātmā
[naaneva bhaati vishvaatmaa]
bhūteṣu ca tathā pumān
[bhooteshu cha tathaa pumaan]
yathā — as much as hi — exactly like avahitaḥ — surcharged with vahniḥ — fire dāruṣu — in wood ekaḥ — one sva-yoniṣu — the source of manifestation nānā iva — like different entities bhāti — illuminates viśva-ātmā — the Lord as Paramātmā bhūteṣu — in the living entities ca — and tathā — in the same way pumān — the Absolute Person.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
yathā hy avahito vahnir
yathā
as much as
hi
exactly like
avahitaḥ
surcharged with
vahniḥ
fire
dāruṣv ekaḥ sva-yoniṣu
dāruṣu
in wood
ekaḥ
one
sva-yoniṣu
the source of manifestation
nāneva bhāti viśvātmā
nānā iva
like different entities
bhāti
illuminates
viśva-ātmā
the Lord as Paramātmā
bhūteṣu ca tathā pumān
bhūteṣu
in the living entities
ca
and
tathā
in the same way
pumān
the Absolute Person.
The Lord, as Supersoul, pervades all things, just as fire permeates wood, and so He appears to be of many varieties, though He is the absolute one without a second.

Lord Vāsudeva, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by one of His plenary parts expands Himself all over the material world, and His existence can be perceived even within the atomic energy. Matter, antimatter, proton, neutron, etc., are all different effects of the Paramātmā feature of the Lord. As from wood, fire can be manifested, or as butter can be churned out of milk, so also the presence of the Lord as Paramātmā can be felt by the process of legitimate hearing and chanting of the transcendental subjects which are especially treated in the Vedic literatures like the Upaniṣads and Vedānta. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is the bona fide explanation of these Vedic literatures. The Lord can be realized through the aural reception of the transcendental message, and that is the only way to experience the transcendental subject. As fire is kindled from wood by another fire, the divine consciousness of man can similarly be kindled by another divine grace. His Divine Grace the spiritual master can kindle the spiritual fire from the woodlike living entity by imparting proper spiritual messages injected through the receptive ear. Therefore one is required to approach the proper spiritual master with receptive ears only, and thus divine existence is gradually realized. The difference between animality and humanity lies in this process only. A human being can hear properly, whereas an animal cannot.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Just as one fire, situated in pieces of wood as its natural place of manifestation, blazes forth as many fires, the one Supreme Lord, the soul of the universe, Paramātmā, situated in all living beings, manifests as many.
Commentary

Just as fire is always situated (avahitaḥ) in pieces of wood, so the soul of the universe, antaryāmī Viṣṇu, is situated in all living entities (bhūteṣu). If fire is made to appear in pieces of wood by friction, it burns up those pieces of wood. Similarly by practices of hearing and chanting Paramātmā is made to appear and removes the covering of māyā on the jīva. This is indicated by the example.

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