That which is omniscient, all-knowing, whose ardent practice consists in knowledge —from it are born this Brahman, name, form, and food.

The verse concludes the first section identifying the ultimate source: the Omniscient Being whose essence is knowledge.

Sarvajñaḥ sarva-vit — omniscient, knower-of-all. Not accumulation of information but the very nature of pure knowledge, unlimited.

Jñānamayaṃ tapaḥ — ardent practice that consists in knowledge. The supreme tapas is not bodily asceticism but the intense practice of discrimination, the discernment between the real and the apparent.

Tasmād etad brahma… jāyate — from it is born this Brahman. Even the conditioned Brahman (the creator), names, forms, material substance —everything comes from that primordial knowledge.

The paradox: the conditioned Brahman (the creator) emerges from the absolute Brahman (pure knowledge). Creation is a play of consciousness with itself.

The yogī understands that their practice of tapas must be oriented toward jñāna, direct knowledge. Not by doing more does one progress, but by better understanding what one does.