As the spider emits and retracts its thread, as plants spring from the earth, as hair grows from the human body —thus from the Immutable does all this universe emerge.

Three metaphors illustrate how Brahman remains immutable while manifestation arises from it.

Ūrṇanābhiḥ — the spider. It emits its web without diminishing its being; it retracts it without increasing itself. Thus Brahman projects the universe without change in its essential nature.

Oṣadhayaḥ — the plants. They sprout from the earth without it losing its substance. Manifestation is like vegetation: apparently distinct from its source but inseparable from it.

Keśa-lomāni — hair and body hair. They arise from the body without conscious effort. The universe is not a deliberate creation but the very nature of Brahman unfolding itself.

Akṣarāt — from the Immutable. This paradox defines the relationship: the changing is born of the unchanging, multiplicity from unity, time from eternity.

The yogī contemplates that their own body-mind, like everything else, is a manifestation of that which never changes. Identification with the changing is suffering; rest in the immutable is freedom.