Commentary on Parmenides’s On Nature

Introduction:

In this proem, Parmenides articulates the origin of all Western reason and theology. Namely, he discovers the concept of objectivity and truth as the fundamental organizing axiom of existence. And it turns out that his notion of objectivity and truth is not at all a static, frozen object, although it is changeless and eternal, but is much more than that at the same time. His notion of Being is very much what I would consider a “science of complements.” Parmenides here articulates a fundamental dynamic modality of balancing and harmonizing complements. He articulates a modality in which dualities always interchange and balance with one another in qualitative and proportional perfection. The whole theme of the poem encapsulates the perfect balance of opposites with Being, Truth, and Goodness ultimately prevailing over their opposites and harmonizing the whole. The Western mentality is distinct from the Eastern in that there is a conquering of good over evil, there is a victory of beauty over ugliness. It’s not that such a conception is foreign to eastern thought, but it happens to be the optimistic, if not tragic, legacy of Western thought that ultimate good prevails. That the perpetual balance and harmony of forces tends to converge towards the ultimate Perfection. Here Parmenides demonstrates this dynamic modality in the science of complements.

Exegesis:

The mares that carry me, as far as impulse might reach,
Were taking me, when they brought and place me upon the much-speaking route
Of the goddess, that carries everywhere unscathed the man who knows;
Thereon was I carried, for thereon the much-guided mares were carrying me
Straining to pull the chariot, and maidens were leading the way
The axle, glowing in its naves, gave forth the shrill sound of a pipe,
(For it was urged on by two rounded
Wheels at either end), even while maidens, Daughters of the Sun, were hastening
To escort me, after leaving the House of Night for the light,
Having pushed back with their hands the veils from their heads

The mares are Parmenides’s own impulses towards transcendent beauty and holiness. There is a kind of instinct for structure and order, which is the innate human instinct towards beauty. It is unique to humans because only humans have reason and language. The mares and maidens are taking him on the much speaking route, which is the route in which the words pour forth by divine inspiration. The mares are guided by the goddess, the ultimate inspiration for man, his divine consort. The mares are much-guided, with the maidens leading the way. The maidens and the goddess represent the soul of man. The feminine is the plurality, while the masculine is unity. Parmenides’ being guided by the goddess has the significance that he is seeking to master the plurality and to find the innate pattern that unifies all plurality. He is discovering the true principle of universal existence, with his concept of Being. The chariot makes a shrill sound while the Daughters of the sun guide Parmenides from House of Night to the light. This pushes back the veils from their heads, to reveal their divinity.

There are the gates of the paths of Night and Day,
And a lintel and a threshold of stone surround them,
And the aetherial gates themselves are filled with great doors;
And for these Justice, much-avenging, holds the keys of retribution.
Coaxing her with gentle words, the maidens
Did cunningly persuade her that she should push back the bolted bar for them
Swiftly from the gates; and these made of the doors
A gaping gap as they were opened wide,
Swinging in turn in their sockets the brazen posts
Fitted with rivets and pins; straight through them at that point
Did the maidens drive the chariot and mares along the broad way

The gates of the path of Night and Day, are the fundamental duality of evil and good, of darkness and light. They are surrounded by a threshold of stone, they are an impenetrable, eternal mystery. The gates themselves are filled with doors. Good and evil, light and dark, are many-faceted. And Justice holds the keys of retribution. Here there is already proto-Christian language. Parmenides is foreseeing divine Justice, who will give the reward of Heaven. Justice is much avenging yet has the keys of retribution. The maidens persuade Justice that she should push back the bolted bar for them. Here Justice is a feminine, and the maidens are feminine because they are the reciprocation or the complement in the virile masculine soul of Parmenides, the anima. They are the object of his love and seeking. A gaping gap opens, Justice has revealed the inner secret of the doors of the gates. The maidens drive the chariot along the broad way.

And the goddess received me kindly, and took my right hand with her hand,
And uttered speech and thus addressed me:
‘Youth attended by immortal charioteers,
Who come to our House with mares that carry you,
Welcome; for it is no ill fortune that sent you forth to travel
This route (for it lies far indeed from the beaten track of men)
But right and justice. And it is right that you should learn all things,
Both the steadfast heart of persuasive truth,
And the beliefs of mortals, in which there is no true trust.
But nevertheless you shall learn these things as well, how the things which seem
Had to have genuine existence, permeating all things completely’

The goddess here is the generalized personification of the maidens, the gates, Justice, she is all of this as a single aggregate, in the divine vision. She takes Parmenides by the right hand. She addresses him as the youth attended by immortal charioteers, who come to our House. They are one and variety. She ensures him that it was no ill fortune that brought him there. This route is far from the trodden path of men. It is right and justice that brought him to this place. It is right that he should learn the nature of the whole, that he should be comprehend the vision of the whole. This whole includes both the truth of mortals and the heart of persuasive truth. The whole is a composite which includes both mortal and immortal truth. There is no trust in mortal truth, there is only truth in eternal. But he shall learn how the things which seem, which appear, which are mortal, had to have genuine existence and permeate things.

TRUTH

Come, I shall tell you, and do you listen and convey the story,
What routes of inquiry alone there are for thinking:
The one- that (it) is, and that (it) cannot be,
Is the path of Persuasion (for it attends upon truth);
The other- that (it) is not and that (it) needs must not be,
That I point out to you to be a path wholly unlearnable,
For you could not know what-is-not (for that is not feasible),
Nor could you point it out.

Here she delimits the routes of inquiry for thinking. She articulates the laws of thinking itself. This is essentially the law of non-contradiction, which is essential for all of later philosophy and mathematics. “The one” is, and cannot not be. The one will be an important concept for Plato and the neoplatonists, as well as for theology. It is also important for the Pythagoreans. The one is the path of Persuasion, meaning it is the path that convinces all and coordinates all. It is the divine expression that organizes all motion and motivation in space. “The other” is not and needs must not be. It is non-being, it is absence, emptiness, negation. Here Parmenides is framing the Western perspective versus the Eastern. The Western perspective about fullness, fulfillment, totality, mastery of existence, whereas the Eastern perspective is about emptiness and nothingness and change as fundamental to existence. We see this in the teachings of the Buddha, Lao-tze, Confucius, and zen, as well as Hinduism’s doctrine of reincarnation. The one represents the totality, the completion. It is not only the identity between internal and external environment, but also the mediation between internal and external environment in the proper balance. He is stating the fundamental axiom of Western existence, that there exists an objectivity, there exists a truth. And it is the responsibility of any person who rises above the level of mortal to axiomatically assume that the one mediates all interaction.

….Because the same thing is there for thinking and for being

There is an identity between the internal thought and the external environment. That is the axiom of all higher existence, that is what mediates interaction and motion.

Look upon things which, though far off, are yet firmly present to the mind;
For you shall not cut off what-is from holding fast to what-is,
For it neither disperses itself in every way everywhere in order,
Nor gathers itself together.

The things that are far off are also immediately present in the immediate surroundings. There is no way to cut off the identity between internal and external, what is holds fast to what is, they are binded together. Yet there is still a variegation of harmony. It neither disperses itself in every way everywhere in order, nor gathers itself together. It is a kind of distribution of situation that is both here and not here. It is localization as direct reflection of universalization. It neither all converges together nor is it all distributed, but it is a kind of harmonic interplay.

And it is all one to me
Where I am to begin; for I shall return there again.

This is unity of God. We are created from God and we return to God when we die. This anticipates the Christian idea. Parmenides has discovered the seed of the Christian idea, which is objectivity. That God is truly objective and independent, that he is one unified perfection.

It must be that what is there for speaking and thinking of is, for (it) is there to be,
Whereas nothing is not; that is what I bid you consider,
For <I restrain> you from that first route of inquiry,
And then also from this one, on which mortals knowing nothing
Wander, two-headed; for helplessness in their
Breasts guides their distracted mind; and they are carried
Deaf and blind alike, dazed, uncritical tribes,
By whom being and not-being have been though both the same
And not the same; and the path of all is backward-turning.

Parmenides speaks from the very depths what he is saying is an example of itself. It is because it is there to be. Nothing is not. He is restrained from saying both what is and also what is not. And mortals know nothing and thus wander with two minds, one affirming and one denying the same statement. They are undecided, confused, ambivalent. They are distracted, deaf, blink, dazed and uncritical. Because they think being and not-being are the same and not the same. And everything is backward turning, everything decays and diminishes.

For never shall this prevail, that things that are not are;
But do you restrain your thought from this route of inquiry,
Nor let habit force you, along this route of much-experience,
To ply an aimless eye and ringing ear
And tongue; but judge by reasoning the very contentious disproof
That has been uttered by me.

This confused, ambivalent way of mortals cannot prevail. It cannot be that things that are not are. Restrain your thought from this inquiry and do not be misled by habits to dwell on it. But strive with full force towards that which is, and away from what is not. Do not ply an aimless eye or ear or tongue. Judge by reason this disproof of negation. He is showing that reason is itself oneness, it itself becomes oneness.

A single story of a route still
Is left: that (it) is; on this (route) there are signs
Very numerous: that what-is is ungenerated and imperishable;
Whole, single-limbed, steadfast, and complete;
Nor was (it) once, nor will (it) be, since (it) is, now, all together,
One, continuous; for what coming-to-be of it will you seek?
In what way, whence did (it) grow? Neither from what-is-not shall I allow
You to say or think; for it is not to be said or thought
That (it) is not. And what need could have impelled it to grow
Later or sooner, if it began from nothing?
Thus (it) must either be completely or not at all.

There is a single narrative of the one, a single path, that is left for us to describe. That the one is, and on this route there are many signs, symbols of interpretation. There is deep and profound meaning in all things. By this path, you will see that what-is, the One, is ungenerated and imperishable, therefore eternal. It is entire and complete, it is loyal and true. It doesn’t come into being or pass out of being. It is now altogether. Parmenides draws us into direct contemplation and experience of the One itself, the unity of internal and external and past and future, the victory of good over evil. It is continuous, what coming-to-be of it will you seek, in other words, how does this Eternity manifest in your localized historical situation? What do your historical circumstances necessitate of the Eternal Goodness? How did the Eternal grow into your localized history and how will you restore its truth? But neither from what-is-not shall I allow you to say or think, nothingness is forbidden, the fullness of glory is the divine destiny, the fullness of perfection. Conquer over lack and scarcity and weakness. It is not to be said the divine perfection is not, this is against the laws of existence. The divine perfection could not have been impelled to grow if it began from nothing, because then it would be in contradiction with itself, confused. What could have impelled it to grow later or sooner? Yet it does grow later or sooner. Nothing is not the prototype, not the origin. The Perfect is the origin, what we are born from and what we return to. This Perfect perfection must be either completely or not at all. Parmenides is here discovering the very notion of objectivity and truth. He is discovering the notion that the strength of holiness prevails over sin and error. That the divine sanctity of creation over the seeing creation as a disease. Creation is itself good, inherently, naturally and supernaturally. This divine perfection of existence is the whole, it the finality, the completion and the source of motivation and intention and thought and speech. It is what all is derived from.

Nor will the strength of trust ever allow anything to come-to-be from what-is
Besides it; therefore neither (its) coming-to-be
Nor (its) perishing has Justice allowed, relaxing her shackles,
But she holds (it) fast; the decision about these matters depends on this:
Is (it) or is (it) not? But it has been decided, as is necessary,
To let go the one as unthinkable, unnameable (for it is no true
Route), but to allow the other, so that it is, and is true.
And how could what-is be in the future; and how could (it) come-to-be?
For if (it) came-to-be, (it) is not, nor (is it) if at some time (it) is going to be.
Thus, coming-to-be is extinguished and perishing not to be heard of.

The strength of trust is intrinsically tied to what-is, that is to eternity. Parmenides is articulating the true theory of human coordination, the source by which all human activity is coordinated and by which all behavior is regulated. The strength of trust does not allow any transitoriness from the eternal. Besides the eternal, neither transitoriness nor perishing has Justice allowed. Justice has not relaxed her shackles. She holds fast. The decision depends on, does the eternal exist or not? It has been decided as is necessary. Here Parmenides let’s go of the One as unthinkable, unnameable, and to allow the other so that it is, it is true. In the way, Parmenides demonstrates a reciprocal balance in the attainment of the divine fullness. He is not contradicting himself, he is articulating the balance between the One and the other, he is articulating the reciprocity between the two primordial energies in the attainment of the divine perfection. This is the part of the Poem in which he is explaining what he said at the beginning, “how the things which seem, Had to have genuine existence, permeating all things completely’”  The other is how things seem to be and it has to have genuine existence, although the One is the superessential and perfect reality of things. All things strive and move towards the great perfection in the intrinsic nature. Then he demonstrates that what-is did not come-to-be nor will it come-to-be in the future. If it came-to-be then it is not, and that is impossible. And it is not if at some time it will come to be in the future. The only way that it can exist, if it is eternal and perfect. And this is true objectivity, this is the true relationship between all complements and opposites. This is the true nature of interpretation of space and communication. The true nature is objective modality. It is one Way. Thus coming-to-be is extinguished and perishing not to be heard of. The coming-to-be is altogether secondary and derivative, it follows from the Eternal Perfection that causes it. The coming-to-be is an effect which has no enduring quality.

Nor is (it) divisible, since (it) all alike is;
Nor is (it) somewhat more here, which would keep it from holding together,
Nor is (it) somewhat less, but (it) is all full of what-is.
Therefore (it) is all continuous; for what-is is in contact with what-is.
Moreover, changeless in the limits of great chains
(It) is un-beginning and unceasing, since coming-to-be and perishing
Have been driven far off, and true trust has thrust them out.
Remaining the same in the same, (it) lies by itself
And remains thus firmly in place; for strong Necessity
Holds (it) fast in the chains of a limit, which fences it about.
Wherefore it is not right for what-is to be incomplete;
For (it) is not lacking; but if (it) were, (it) would lack everything.

The One is not divisible but is everywhere alike, it is not more localized which would keep it from subsisting. Nor is it less, but it is full of what-is. I hold that Parmenides is here describing not like a static object, he is describing an object-modality. He is describing the objective modality of interpreting space. In other words, there is a perfect harmonic balance in the play of forms in space, there is a certain modality of interpreting forms, in terms of their substantial meaning and their physical material quality. This way is all continuous. The internal always interacts with the external. It is changeless in the limits of great chaings, in other words, it is the perfect fusion of the limited and the unlimited, the finite and the infinite, it is their very meeting point. This is the root of perception itself, this is the modality of perception that has always been and can be remembered. It is the deep meaning of life. There are great chains of existence, but the Way does not change. It does not begin or cease, since these have been driven away. With these statements, Parmenides is demonstrating this modality directly to us. He is drawing us into perfect remembrance of this natural state. True trust have driven away beginning and ceasing. It is only in perfect trust that we can realize our true state, the true geometric-qualitative interpretation of space. And this interpretation institutes the harmony of all beings in spiritual truth. This harmony allows us to realize the best reciprocity of all virtues, of courage and prudence, especially.

The same thing is for thinking and (is) that there is thought;
For not without what-is, on which (it) depends, having been declared,
Will you find thinking; for nothing else <either> is or will be
Besides what-is, since it was just this that Fate did shackle
To be whole and changeless; wherefore it has been named all things
That mortals have established, trusting them to be true,
To come-to-be and to perish, to be and not to be,
And to shift place and to exchange bright colour.

There is an identity between the internal and the external. Thinking can attain its object, its fulfillment. Without the foundation of what-is being declared, thinking does not exist. Nothing else is possible for thought, except to converge towards what-is, towards its object of fulfillment and to negate all partiality. Fate has shackled what-is to be whole and changeless, and it has been named all things that mortals have established. Mortals trust these things to be true, to come-to-be and perish, to be and not be. In other words, the names of what-is are what mortals trust in. The immortals rather trust in what-is itself, and not its variegated names. The very existence of motion is a kind of denomination or naming, to shift places and exchange bright colors. The whole itself, what-is, has named all things though. The mortals did not name the things, but the names come from what-is. But the names are not themselves the truth of what-is, but more like external veils of its essence.

Since then, there is a furthest limit, (it) is completed,
From every direction like the bulk of a well-rounded sphere,
Everywhere from the centre equally matched; for (it) must not be any larger
Or any smaller here or there;
For neither is there what-is-not, which could stop it from reaching
(Its) like; nor is there a way in which what-is could be
More here and less there, since (it) all invioably is;
For equal to itself from every direction, (it) lies uniformly within limits.

There is a furthest limit, meaning there is a completion, a finality. Despite the fact that existence seems to be endless suffering, there is a goal that we are all oriented towards. It is like a well-rounded sphere, where the center is equally matched everywhere. It is not larger or smaller here or there, is a uniform distribution, but it reaches towards this distribution without fully achieving it (at first). What-is-not could not stop it from reaching its like, cannot stop it from matching with itself, for its own completion. It is not more here and less there, but is total and complete, distributed in every direction, within its own limits. That is, this thing, objectivity, eternity, or “what-is” is both limited and unlimited, it is everywhere distributed, one unchanging situation. This is Parmenides discovering the concept of objectivity and truth, not as a static object, but as a dynamic modality that is infused in all situation. It is the structure of situation as such. It is the universal structure of the particular position, in both its qualitative and extensive senses.

Here I stop my trustworthy speech to you and thought
About truth; from here onwards learn mortal beliefs,
Listening to the deceitful ordering of my words;
For they established two forms in their minds for naming,
Of which it is not right to name one- wherein they have gone astray-
And they distinguished opposites in body and established signs
Apart from one another: here, on the one hand, aetherial fire of flame,
Which is gentle, very light, everywhere the same as itself,
But not the same as the other; but on the other hand, that one too by itself
In contrast, dark night, a dense and heavy body;
All this arrangement I proclaim to you as plausible;
Thus no opinion of mortals shall ever overtake you.

Here he halts the inspired and trustworthy speech and thought about truth. Notice that he differentiates speech and thought, and his very premise is that in “what-is” these are not differentiated. From here onwards, are mortal beliefs. And here he notes the deceitful ordering of his words. That is words are confounding in appearance, but not in essence. They are confounding to mortals, but not to immortals. His words have established two forms in the mind, that are there for naming. There are like two primordial energies that can be denominated. It is not right to name one, wherein mortals have gone astray. And they distinguished opposites in body and established signs apart from one another. In truth, the opposites are complements, they are in balance. But for mortals they are opposed and differentiated in a plurality. And on the one hand, there is the aetherial fire of flame, which is gentle, light, and everywhere the same as itself. This is “what-is,” this is the objective truth, this is the vitality, the spirit, the source life itself. But it is not the same as the other, on the other hand, that one too is by itself, a dark night, dense, heavy body. These are the two primordial energies, light and dark. Both can be named, but it is not right to name one. Here Parmenides is anticipating the Western preoccupation with good and evil. That good will prevail in the fight against evil. This arrangement he proclaims as plausible because he is now speaking in mortal terms, and thus no mortal shall overtake you.

SEEMING

But since all things have been named light and night,
And these (have been applied) according to their powers to these things and to those,
All is full of light and obscure night together,
Of both equally, since for neither (is it the case that) nothing shares in them.

This is the start of the section called SEEMING, as opposed to the first section called TRUTH. This reflects the division between mortal and immortal. Since all things have been named by these two primordial forms are energy, the light to these and the dark to those, everything is a combination of light and night together, equally, because nothing does not share in them. Now we see how Parmenides has descended to the realm of mortals to speak of the duality, the binary quality of “what-is,” the eternal activity has a balancing quality between light and night. And these are balanced together, but they do not share in nothing. “What-is-not” is still not part of this balance.

And you shall know both the nature of the aether and all
The signs in the aether, the destructive works of the splendid sun’s
Pure torch, and whence they came-to-be,
And you shall learn the wandering works of the round-eyed moon,
And its nature, and you shall also know the surrounding sky,
Whence it grew and how Necessity did guide and shackle it
To hold the limits of the stars.

Through understanding the proper proportional relationship between Truth and Seeming, between what is and what is not, between light and dark, between the unlimited and the limited, you will know the nature of the aether. The signs in the aether are a product of the relationship between these fundamental complements that permeate all phenomena. The signs themselves have their complement in the destructive works of the sun’s pure torch, which are the dark side of the duality, which comes-to-be, which is transitory and ephemeral. The sun’s pure torch is contrasted with the wandering works of the round-eyed moon. The pure reasoned architecture of the sun is contrasted with the wandering of the night. And then he speaks of the surrounding sky that encompasses light and night, sun and moon. You will learn how the sky grew and how Necessity shackled it to hold the limits of the stars. The Necessity is the balance between the two primordial energies, and the limits of the stars are the interpretation of their complementarity.

How earth and sun and moon
And the common aether and Milky Way and the outermost heaven
And the hot strength of the stars did thrust forward
To come-to-be

Parmenides is stating that through the mimetic absorption into the poem, one can attain the vision of God, how the whole of existence came to be.

For the narrower (rings) are filled with unmingled fire,
And those next upon them with night, and a portion of flame is sent forth;
In the midst of these is the goddess who steers all things;
For she rules over hateful birth and union of all things,
Sending female to mingle with male, and again conversely
Male with female…

The narrower rings refer to the rings closest to the inner fire of the sun or primordial cosmic center. This primordial center is the absolute perfection that is the source of existence. As the concentric rings radiate out from this perfect center they are descended along the gradients of degrees of perfection. This is why he says and next upon them with night. This his repeated duality of day and night. The primordial center is the ultimate light, ultimate day, and the concentric rings that radiate out from it are infused with varying degrees of night. A portion of the flame is sent forth. In the midst of these degrees and concentric rings is the goddess who mediates the interchange, thereby steering all things. The goddess mediates between the successive degrees and the primordial center, who is the Father. The goddess rules over the hateful birth and union of al thing, because she mediates the cosmic energies as they radiate from the center. Because she is a mediatrix she mingles male with female and male with female. She mediates between complements or opposites, and brings them to union and birth.

She devised Love first of all the gods…

Love is the primordial cosmic center, it is the center of pure perfection that governs all things absolutely. The goddess is only the mediation between this pure Love and the rest of existence. Even though the goddess devised Love first of all the gods, at the same time, Love devised her first. There is a reciprocity of complements here. The goddess and Love reciprocally generate one another.

Night-shiner, wandering around the earth, an alien light

The goddess and Love intermingled, in reciprocity is the light shining through the night. It is the mingling and reciprocity of complements, the balance of energies. It wanders about the earth because it is motion, it is the light of change. And so it is an alien or a strange light, that is never quite what it appears to be. One tries to grasp its essence, but it sifts through. One tries to understand it, but it dissipates and transforms. It is mutual reciprocity and balance that is always ascending and descending to new forms.

Always looking towards the rays of the sun

This motion is always tending towards the rays of the sun, towards the perfect cosmic center. The tumult of motion and change always inclines in a direction. It is not purposeless or amorphous, but has definition. That is, it yearns for the rays of the sun, of the pure light of perfection.

For as each man has a union of the much-wandering limbs,
So is mind present to men; for it is the same thing
Which the constitution of the limbs thinks,
Both in each and every man; for the full is thought

Each man has a union of the much-wandering limbs, which means he is a single body, a single individual, undivided. In the same way that the body has many limbs that go in every direction, the mind also has many aspects that go in different directions.  Body is the same thing as the mind. The mind is present to man for it is the same thing which the constitution of the limbs thinks, in each and every man. In other words, there is a unifying core of thought, that is universally shared among each and every man. Some aspect of one’s thought is unified with the inner content of every person’s thought, and this single thought is distributed among people. For the full is thought, this means that the fullness, the completion is comprehensible, it is understood. It is the basic union of internal and external, of thought and environment, which is a mediation of motion. This mediation balances all motion into its proper harmony. It also balances the relation of distribution of energy in the body, the distribution of energy between the center and the (much-wandering) limbs, and this union is also in thought, the union between the central core of thought and the much-wandering differentiations of thought in many directions.

<She placed> young males on the right side [of the womb], young females on the left.

This is the duality or complementarity of energies in birth. The right is male, the left is female.

When man and woman mingle the seeds of love
That spring from their veins, a formative power
Maintaining proper proportions moulds well-formed bodies from this diverse blood.
For if, when the seed is mingled, the forces therein clash
And do not fuse into one, then cruelly
Will they plague with double seed the sex of the offspring.

The mingling of the seeds of love again repeats the mingling between the goddess and Love, the first of the gods that she devised. This mediating modality has both the transcendent form, in which case it is the sacred science. And it also has the earthly form in which case it is biological intercourse and reproduction. The seeds of love spring from their veins has a formative power, and maintaining the proper proportions moulds well-formed bodies from the two complements. That is, if the man and woman are in harmony, if they are in Love, in the true sense, both transcendentally and materially, then the mingling of their seeds is harmonious and in proper proportion. But if the when the seed is mingled, the forces clash and do not fuse into one, then they plague the sex of the offspring with double seed. Again, there is a duality or complementarity between the harmonious mingling of the seeds and the clashing mingling of the seeds. This suggests that to some extent, all persons have an admixture of the harmonious and clashing. In some, the harmony is predominant and  in others the clashing is predominant. The overall advice of the sage is that the man and woman be in Love transcendentally and materially so that their seeds intermingle in proper proportion.

Thus according to belief, these things were born and are now
And hereafter, having grown from this, they will come to an end,
And for each of these did men establish a distinctive name.

According to belief, there is a harmony of complements, these things were born and are now. Meaning, they came from tradition and they subsist into the present. And having grown from this, they will come to an end. Meaning, they start from the present and end in the future. And for each of these men established a name, that is, they established with precision what denomination each of these phenomenal qualities corresponds to, and they use such denominations in order to exchange energy.

Such, changeless, is that for which as a whole the name is: ‘to be.’

The name of the whole is being itself. Thus, being itself is a kind of whole, the direct experience is some appearance of the whole, it is an unfolding phenomena of the changeless entirety. And thus motion itself is a symbolic decoding of the innate existence of this whole.