तासां त्रिवृतं त्रिवृतमेकैकां करवाणीति सेयं देवतेमास्तिस्रो देवता अनेनैव जीवेनात्मनानुप्रविश्य नामरूपे व्याकरोत् ॥ ६.३.३ ॥
tāsāṃ trivṛtaṃ trivṛtamekaikāṃ karavāṇīti seyaṃ devatemāstisro devatā anenaiva jīvenātmanānupraviśya nāmarūpe vyākarot || 6.3.3 ||
3. Sat [Existence] thought, ‘I shall divide each of these three deities threefold.’ Then, having entered into these three deities as the individual self, he manifested himself as names and forms.
Word-for-word explanation:
Tāsām, of these [three deities]; trivṛtam trivṛtam, dividing them threefold; ekaikām, each of them; karavāṇi iti, I shall make; sā iyam devatā, that deity [Existence]; imāḥ tisraḥ devatā, these three deities; anena jīvena eva ātmanā, as the individual self; anupraviśya, having entered; nāmarūpe vyākarot, manifested himself as names and forms.
Commentary:
Trivṛtam is applied in the case of fire, water, and earth as follows:
gross fire = 1/2 subtle fire + 1/4 subtle water + 1/4 subtle earth gross water = 1/2 subtle water + 1/4 subtle fire + 1/4 subtle earth gross earth = 1/2 subtle earth + 1/4 subtle fire + 1/4 subtle water
This mixture turns the subtle elements into gross elements. It makes them separate and yet one. A similar process, called pañcikaraṇa, is applied in the case of the five elements—space, air, fire, water, and earth.
Sat, or Brahman, is present in all the elements as their Self. First he is manifest as their sum total, called Virāṭ He then manifests himself as names and forms.