Third Adhyaya, Fifteenth Khanda (7 mantras)

Mantra 3.15.1.

1. The Lord Joy-Will lias the Intermediate regions in His stomach; the Earth under the soles of His feet; and His body never grows old. The four quarters are contained within His four arms, the heavens in the cavity of His head. This Joy-Will is the receptacle of all the devas, and the whole universe is refused in him.—203.

[Note.—Antarikṣa-udaraḥ—he in whose belly (udara) is contained the whole Intermediate (antarikṣa) region or the astral plane.]

[Note.—Kośaḥ (Kośa)—treasure-chest: but it here means the Lord, because he is ka or ‘all-joy’; and uśa or ‘Will’ or the Bliss-and-Will.]

[Note.—Sraktayaḥ (Srakti)—branches or arms, hands; that is, the four quarters are contained in his four arms. The word sraktayaḥ is the nominative plural of srakti, but it is to be construed here as locative plural, “sraktiṣu”, i e., in His arms. Similarly, other words also in this verse which are in the nominative case are to be construed in the locative.]

Mantra 3.15.2.

2. His upper right arm is called the Destroyer (discus); the lower right arm is called the Wisdom-accompanied (conch); the upper left arm is called the Effulgent (gadā or club); the lower left arm is called the Very-graceful (lotus). Vāyu is their child. He who knows thus Vāyu to be the child of quarters, (is not reborn and) weeps not again as a child; verily, I (Lakṣmī) knew Vāyu to be thus the child of the quarters and have never wept again as a child of any one.—204.

[Note.—Sahamāna nāma—called “sahamānā”. Mānam means the Vedic knowledge, symbolised by the conch shell, saha means holding.]

[Note.—Rājñī, nāma, called Rājñī. The club is so called, because it is red, or is refulgent with glory.]

[Note.—Pratīcī, west, the upper left arm, as it contains the western quarter, it is called the west.]

[Note.—Subhūtā nama, called Subhūtā or exceedingly (su) gracefull (bhūti=kānti or grace). It means the lotus also.]

[Note.—Udīcī, the north, i.e., the lower left arm. As it holds the northern quarters, it is called the north. The four hands of the Lord hold the four quarters, they also hold dharma or virtue, jñāna or wisdom, vairāgya or world-weariness, and aiśvarya or lordliness. In fact, the four ornaments, (the discus, the conch, the club, and the lotus,) symbolise these four virtues also. They are the father of Vāyu who possesses these four attributes.]

[Note.—Vatsaḥ (Vatsa)—the calf, the Child. Vāyu is the child of these four arms of the Lord, and has dharma, That is, from the arm called Juhā is born dharma, from Sahamāna is born Jñāna, from Rājñī is born Vairāgya; from Subhūtā is born aiśvarya. He who knows this gets the following reward.]

[Note.—Diśām vatsam—the child of the quarters, namely, of the four arms of the Lord. The hands are called diś because they teach (deśana) virtue, wisdom, world-weariness, lordliness.]

[Note.—Roditi—weeps, i.e., he is not reborn again, but gets mukti.]

[Note.—Rudam—I wept. This is the speech of the goddess Ramā.]

Mantra 3.15.3.

3. I adore the Imperishable Lord of joy and will, yea I have attained Him, merely through His grace, verily through His grace, through His grace. I adore the Lord Prāṇa (Vāsudeva), yea I have attained Him, through His grace, through His grace, through His grace. I adore the Lord Bhūḥ (Saṅkarṣaṇa) and have attained Him, through His grace, through His grace, through His grace. I adore and have attained the Lord Bhuvaḥ (Pradyumna), through His grace, through His grace, through His grace. I adore and have attained the Lord Svar (Animddha), through His grace, through His grace, through His grace.—205.

[Note.—Prapadye, I adore, I turn to, I take refuge in. I have attained Him also; not through any merit of my own, but through his grace alone.]

Mantra 3.15.4.

4. When 1 said “I adore Prāṇa” 1 meant all that which is full is verily Prāṇa alone, (and because it is so, therefore) worship (0 men) this Prāṇa and you will obtain Him.—206.

Mantra 3.15.5.

5. When 1 said “I adore Bhū” I meant 1 adore the Lord who is in the earth, who is in the intermediate region, who is in heaven. This alone is what 1 meant.—207.

Note:—Therefore you also adore the Lord who pervades the three worlds, who bears also the names of those worlds, and is called Saṅkarṣaṇa. Pṛthivī when applied to the Lord means the Expanse. Antarikṣa similarly applied means ‘the seer within,’ “the Looker into the hearts of men.” Dyu similarly means the Sportful One. By thus worshipping Him you will get Him.

Mantra 3.15.6

6. When I said “I adore Bhuva” what I said is, I adore the Lord who is in the fire, air, and the sun, and who is designated as Agni, Vāyu and Āditya.—208.

Note:—The words Agni, Vāyu, Āditya are also the names of the Lord. Agni means lie who eats or accepts all offerings, Vāyu means he who blows (vā—to blow) and who gives life (āyus=life, va+āyu=Vāyu, the Mover and Life-giver). Āditya means the taker away of life. Worship the Lord Pradyumna in agni, vāyu and āditya and you will get Him.

Mantra 3.15.7.

7. When I said I adore Svar, what I said is, I adore the Lord pervading the Ṛg Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Sāma Veda. Verily this is what I said.—209.

Note:—The word Ṛg means knowledge, and Veda means giver. Ṛg Veda means the giver of knowledge. Yajus means sacrifice, Veda means teacher. He who teaches men, by His acts, how to sacrifice their petty selves for the higher good is Yajur Veda. Sāma means equality, and Veda means teacher. He who teaches men the great lesson of equality is the Lord called Sāma-Veda. Worship the Lord Aniruddha thus and you will reach Him.

Madhva’s commentary called the Bhāṣya:

In the last chapter it was mentioned that the Lord is greater than all the worlds, best one should think that He is indefinite like the space and has no organised body, the present chapter shows that He has an organised body, and is Infinite, in spite of such body. and his arms give birth to the mighty being like Vāyu, and he should be meditated upon as possessing such a body.

It must not he said that the Lord is really formless, and figureless, and a form is given or attributed to him merely for the sake of meditation alone. The Commentator proves by quoting an authority that the Lord has a real body, and not a metaphorical body. The first word that offers any difficulty to the readers is the word koṣa, which literally means a treasure-chest. But it has not that meaning here, and so it is first taken up.

The word ka means bliss; and the word usa means wish or will. Viṣṇu is called Koṣa, because his nature is joy and will. The intermediate regions are contained in his belly, and the earth within the two soles of his feet. The heaven is within the cavity of his head, and the quarters are contained within bis arms. This great Viṣṇu is Undecaying. The Vasus are the hosts of devas, the Lord is the receptacle of all the devas, and therefore be is called Vasudhāna [Vasudhānam]. In Him is refuge the whole universe. His right upper arm contains the eastern quarters and is called Juhu, because it offers sacrifice (hu = to offer sacrifice) and because the Lord Keśava eats with this hand (hu = to eat). The lower right arm of the Lord contains the southern quarters. It is called Sahamāna, because māna means that which is essentially knowledge, and śaṅkha or conch is essentially a symbol of knowledge, and it is held in the lower left arm of the Lord. Or the hand is called juhu, because it destroys the Daityas with the discus held in it. (Hu = to kill). His upper left arm contains the western quarters. It is called Rājñī, because it holds the raji or the club or mace. The lower left arm of the Lord holds the northern quarters and as it holds the lotus, it is the holder of the symbol of prosperity, and hence it is called Subhuta or very prosperous. These arms are called Diś, because they teach (diś = to teach) virtue, wisdom, world-weariness, and lordliness. From these arms is born the Great Vāyu and therefore he is called the child of the diś or quarters or teaching. From the four arms of Viṣṇu representing virtue, wisdom, world-weariness and lordliness is born Vāyu. He who knows this does not get rebirth, and consequently does not weep as the child of anybody. In other words, he transcends birth and death. But being released is eternally happy. Knowing Vāyu the Son of God I have become emancipated from the pangs of rebirths. I have not wept again as the child of any one. I am undying and undecaying through the grace of God alone. Thus I am from beginningless time an eternal free. Thus said Ramā of yore. I always adore the lord Viṣṇu, the Undecaying, the Supreme bliss, the heart’s desire of all. I have attained this through His grace alone, and not through any power of my own. I always worship Keśava as the Leader of all and called Prāṇa (praṇetar = leader). All this appearance or avatāra such as the Fish, etc., is the manifestation of the Lord Hari. All this avatāra is Viṣṇu undoubtedly. Therefore, worship Viṣṇu in all these forms of Fish, etc., for every one of them is Viṣṇu and nothing but Viṣṇu. Adore Him, O men! thus said Lakṣmī to all creatures.

(The four words prāṇa, bhūḥ, bhuvaḥ, svar, mean Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. Similarly, the words pṛthivī, etc., are the mames of the Lord here. This the Commentator now explains:

Vāsudeva is called prāṇa, because he leads (praṇayeta) his devotees to release, Saṅkarṣaṇa is called bhū, because he adorns (bhūṣayeta) them with wisdom. He is called pṛthivī, because he dwells in the earth and because he expands his self (pratha = expansion). He is called antarikṣa, because he is in the Intermediate regions, and because he looks into (ikṣan) the hearts (antar) of all. The Lord is in heaven and so he is called dyu; and because he is all-sporting (div = to play). Pradyumna is called bhuvaḥ, because by creating he brings the world into existence (bhwāvayeta [bhāvayeta?]). He is called agni, because as the Supreme he really eats everything that is offered to the fire. He is called vāyu, because he dwells within Vāyu and because he moves (vāti = blows) and he is the life (āyus, life) of this universe. He is called āditya, because he resides within the sun and because he withdraws (adadāti, takes up) all life within Himself at the time of great latency. He is called svar, because he is the giver of the highest (su, highest) happiness (var, happiness) and because he is the unrivalled giver of the highest happiness. He is called ṛgveda, because he teaches (veda, to teach) wisdom (ṛk, knowledge). He is called yajurveda, because he teaches self-sacrifice (yajus = sacrifice) to all. He is called sāmaveda, because he teaches equality (sāman = equality) to all. Thus have I described the four-fold essence of Hari. So said Devi Indirā, while praising the Supreme Hari as above. A female also is spoken of in the masculine gender, if she is as competent as a male person (therefore Lakṣmī is referred to by the masculine sa and not sā in thṇ Śruti: “sa ya etam evam vāyum diśam vatsam veda” and “soham etam evam vāyum diśam vatsam veda mā putra rodam rudam”).