Then just as (in the beginning) this (moving world) existed as Nature, by the might of Yoga,
The Overlord of the Moving World now spread this about, like a Yogi with a magic net of psychic powers.
Commentary
At first the moving world existed as Nature and was not differentiated until the Overlord spread about the totality. The Overlord is called a Yogi with a magic net of psychic powers like anima, etc. Siva is known as Siddhesvara or the powerful God of psychically attained Yogis. In the Siva Sutra Varttika (I.13) it says, "As sport She (Sakti) emanates the cosmos from Sadasiva to the earth." It further states in the Saundarya Lahari (verse 35) that Sakti "manifests Herself in the shape of the cosmos."
In the beginning all is one and an undifferentiated totality as Root Nature, which is not a production nor an emanation as the Samkhya Karika (verse 3) declares. Nature is symbolized by the Goddess Sarasvati in the Pancharatra Agama, "There is one Mother of the cosmos...... Sarasvati, having no origin; so She is called Root Nature."
It is from Root Nature that the moving world of name and form arises. The sage deals with this in the next verse.