परस्तस्मात्तु भावोऽन्योऽव्यक्तोऽव्यक्तात्सनातनः । यः स सर्वेषु भूतेषु नश्यत्सु न विनश्यति ॥
parastasmāttu bhāvo'nyo'vyakto'vyaktātsanātanaḥ | yaḥ sa sarveṣu bhūteṣu naśyatsu na vinaśyati ||
Translation
But beyond that unmanifest there is another unmanifest — eternal — which does not perish when all beings perish.
Interpretation
Two unmanifests are described. The first (described in verses 18-19) is the cosmic unmanifest — the seed state from which creation emerges and into which it dissolves; this itself is subject to cosmic time. But beyond it is another unmanifest (anyo avyaktah) — eternal (sanatanh), which remains when all beings perish. This second, higher unmanifest is the eternal ground of being — the Brahman, the Absolute — which is not subject to any cycle because it is the very basis from which all cycles arise.