Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 13, Verse 16

अविभक्तं च भूतेषु विभक्तमिव च स्थितम् । भूतभर्तृ च तज्ज्ञेयं ग्रसिष्णु प्रभविष्णु च

avibhaktaṃ ca bhūteṣu vibhaktamiva ca sthitam | bhūtabhartṛ ca tajjñeyaṃ grasiṣṇu prabhaviṣṇu ca

Translation

And undivided, yet remaining divided as it were in beings; supporter of beings, too, is That, the Knowable; devouring, yet generating.

— Alladi Mahadeva Sastri

Word meanings

avibhaktam

undivided

ca

and

bhūteṣu

in beings

vibhaktam

divided

iva

like

ca

and

sthitam

seated

bhūtabhartṛ

of beings, the supporter

ca

and

tat

that

jñeyam

to be known

grasiṣṇu

absorbing

prabhaviṣṇu

prevailing

ca

and

Śaṅkarācārya's commentary

It is undivided in the different bodies, It is one like the ākāśa. Still, it appears to be different in all the different bodies, inasmuch as It manifests Itself only in the bodies. The Knowable supports beings during sthiti, the period of sustenance of the Universe; and It devours them at pralaya, i.e., at the time of dissolution. It generates them at the time of utpatti, the origin of the Universe, just as a rope gives rise to an illusory snake.