Could you please elucidate what He and they signify here, and how these states of active engagement (pravṛtta) versus detachment (nivṛtta) relate to the Divine as the impersonal Witness and as the Lord of activity (Yajna)?
The Lord is both pravritti and nivratti, as the Fire and the Sun are both pravritti and nivratti. As Light, they simply stand back and illumine the field but as energy, they impel all things into dynamic movement. So too, the Divine as knowledge illumines all things with His Intelligence even without entering into them. But as power, Shakti, He enters into them, impelling them to act. That is the essence of the phrase that even though He stands back from action, nivratti, yet all action is due to Him, impelled by Him, by His potency and power, pravritti.
Affectionately,
Alok da
