Sthitilayau स्थितिलयौ॥ (sūtra III.31)

sthiti – sustenance; layau – reabsorption.

The Divine act does not end up with creation alone. What is created is maintained by the Divine. Previous sūtra discussed about the power of the yogi to create. This sūtra says that such a yogi not only creates, but also sustains what is created by him for ultimate reabsorption.

This aphorism is an extension of the previous sūtra. Since the previous sūtra talked only about the power of a yogi to create, this sūtra elucidates the other two acts of God. The act of God can be compared to a lake. When the lake is filled with rain water, it is His act of creation. The Lord maintains the level of water in the lake at a prescribed level. When that level is crossed, the lake breaches, and water overflows. It is the act of destruction. When the water vaporises to rain again, it is recreation and this process continues forever. This is how the Lord carries out His cyclic acts of creation, sustenance and dissolution. Both evolution and dissolution happens continuously, thereby maintaining the equilibrium of the universe. Equilibration is disturbed only at the will of the Lord, leading to dissolution.

In the same way, the yogi not only attains the power to create, but also attains powers to sustain and dissolve, what is created by him. The yogi gets these powers because he has perpetually fixed his consciousness with Śiva as a result of which he attains the powers of Śiva. But, he has not become one with Śiva in terms of sūtra III.25. Typically, this sūtra says that the yogi continues to retain his consciousness with Śiva, irrespective of the stage in which he physically remains.