ya eko 'varṇo bahudhā śaktiyogād varṇān anekān nihitārtho dadhāti | vi caiti cānte viśvam ādau sa devaḥ sa no buddhyā śubhayā saṃyunaktu ||
"He who is one and colorless, yet through the manifold working of his power gives rise to many colors and forms according to a hidden purpose, and into whom this universe dissolves at its end just as it arose from him at its beginning, he is God. May he endow us with clear and auspicious understanding."
What This Means:
This verse describes God as one single reality that has no "color" of its own, no shape, division, or quality we can pin down. Yet out of that one source, by the power within it, the endless variety of the world springs up for a purpose we cannot fully see. Everything came out of God in the beginning and dissolves back into God in the end, and the seer closes with a prayer for a clear, blessed mind to grasp this.
Going Deeper:
In Vedanta terms, the "one without color" is the undifferentiated Absolute (Brahman), and the "many colors" are the differentiated forms of the manifest universe produced through its power (śakti / māyā), so the one and the many are not two separate things but a single reality in two aspects. Because all forms both arise from and return to that one source, creation is not the making of something other than God but the expression and reabsorption of God himself.
How To Apply This:
When you notice how many different things, people, and moods fill your day, let it remind you that all this variety flows from a single source you can quietly turn toward, and ask sincerely for a clear and steady mind to see it.
Key Sanskrit Terms: