(Continued from the previous issue)
जगद्-योनिः अयोनिस्त्वं जगदन्तो निरन्तकः ।
जगदादिः अनादिस्त्वं जगदीशो निरीश्वरः ॥ २।९॥
Translation : You are the source of this world, (but) you have no other source. You cause the end of the world, (yet) you have no end. You are the beginning of the world, (despite) being one with no beginning. You are the lord of the world, with no other lord over you.
This verse has an Alankara (figure of speech) called Virodhabhasa, which means stating seemingly contradictory facts. All contradictions exist and end in the Lord, since he is beyond the intellect.
आत्मानम् आत्मना वेत्सि सृजसि आत्मानम् आत्मना।
आत्मना कृतिना च त्वम् आत्मन्येव प्रलीयसे ॥ २।१०॥
Translation : You know yourself, by yourself. You create yourself with yourself (as the substratum). With yourself being the doer (protector), you then retract within yourself.
This is a rather cryptic verse, dense with the concepts of Advaita found in the Vedas and Upanishads. Mallinatha, the learned commentator, quotes the Vedas “sve mahimni pratishthitam”, to explain the second quarter of the verse. In the Kumarasambhava published by LIFCO books, the commentator Sri Venkata Raghavacharya quotes another beautiful verse from the Mundakopanishad “yathaa Urnanabhih…”(1.1.8) which means that just as a spider spins a web from itself, just as trees and herbs spring forth from the earth and hair grows from one’s person, the universe emerges from the Supreme.
द्रवः सङ्घातकठिनः स्थूलः सूक्ष्मो लघुर्गुरुः ।
व्यक्तो व्यक्तेतरश्चासि प्राकाम्यं ते विभूतिषु ॥ २।११॥
Translation : You are fluid and condensed solid. You are the gross and the subtle, the light and the heavy. You are that which is manifest and that which is not. You have absolute freedom of will.
Mallinatha says that the Supreme lord has become rivers and oceans which are fluid, and mountains which are hard. He is those objects which are gross, i.e. accessible to the five senses, and also those not perceptible to the senses, like the atom. He is light objects like cotton,and heavy ones like the mountain Meru, that are stationary. What is manifest are effects (Karyas) and the unmanifest are causes (Kaaranas), and he is both of these. Thus he has no limitations. This verse too, like the ninth one, tells us that all opposites co-exist in the Lord who has created them from himself.
उद्घातः प्रणवो यासां न्यायैः त्रिभिः उदीरणम् ।
कर्म यज्ञः फलं स्वर्गः तासां त्वं प्रभवो गिराम् ॥ २।१२॥
Translation : You are the source of those words (Vedas), whose commencement is the Pranava, the utterance of which are with the three intonations(Svaras), whose (prescribed) action is Yagna, whose fruit is heaven.
The three Svaras or intonations of the Vedas are Udaatta, Anudaatta and Svarita. The commentator says that here the words Karma and Svarga (which are specific to the Karma Kanda of the Vedas), also indicate Brahman (meditation on Brahman) and Apavarga (Moksha) (which are found in the Jnana Kanda )
त्वाम् आमनन्ति प्रकृतिं पुरुषार्थ-प्रवर्तिनीम् ।
तद्दर्शिनम् उदासीनं त्वामेव पुरुषं विदुः ॥ २।१३॥
Translation: They (the scriptures) declare you to be Prakrti, which promotes the purposes of human life. They also know you to be Purusha, who is the uninvolved observer of Prakrti.
Sankhya Shastra talks about Prakrti which encompasses the three Gunas, and Purusha which is Atma. Prakrti endeavours to provide Purusha with enjoyment and liberation. Kalidasa states that it is the Lord who is both, and hence they are one. Although the terms of Sankhya are used, this view is aligned to Vedanta, according to Sri Venkata Raghavacharya.
त्वं पितॄणामपि पिता देवानामपि देवता ।
परतोऽपि परश्चासि विधाता वेधसामपि ॥ २।१४॥
Translation: You are the father of the Pitrs, and the deity worshipped by (us) the Devas. You are greater than the great and the creator of other creators (Prajapatis).
Brahma is worshipped by the Pitru devatas, by the Devas and he has created the Prajapatis entrusted with creation, such as Daksha. About him being greater than the great, i.e. being the greatest, Mallinatha quotes two mantras from the Kathopanishad which are:
इन्द्रियेभ्यः परा ह्यर्था अर्थेभ्यश्च परं मनः।
मनसस्तु परा बुद्धिर्बुद्धेरात्मा महान्परः ॥ 1.3.10
महतः परमव्यक्तमव्यक्तात्पुरुषः परः।
पुरुषान्न परं किंचित्सा काष्ठा सा परा गतिः ॥ 1.3.11
(Translation : Than the senses the objects of sense are higher; and higher than the objects of sense is the Mind; and higher than the Mind is the faculty of intellect; and than that is the Great Self higher.
And higher than the Great Self is the Unmanifest and higher than the Unmanifest is the Purusha: than the Purusha there is none higher: He is the culmination, He is the highest goal of the journey.)
त्वमेव हव्यं होता च भोज्यं भोक्ता च शाश्वतः ।
वेद्यं च वेदिता चासि ध्याता ध्येयं च यत्परम् ॥ २।१५॥
Translation: You are the eternal one, becoming the sacrificial offering as well as the offerer (who performs the Yagna). You are the object of enjoyment as well as the enjoyer. You are that which is worth knowing and the knower. You are the contemplator and the supreme object of contemplation.
Here the first half talks of the Karma Kanda and the second of Jnana Kanda. Like the Vishnu Sahasranama describes him to be “annam” (food) and “annaadah”(the consumer of food), the Advaitic conception of everything being the one supreme being, is stated unambiguously by the poet.
इति तेभ्यः स्तुतीः श्रुत्वा यथार्था हृदयङ्गमाः ।
प्रसादाभिमुखो वेधाः…. ॥ २।१६॥
Translation : Hearing the Devas’ hymns, which were factual and charming, Brahma the Creator, was pleased.
The phrase “यथार्था हृदयङ्गमाः” indicates that because the words were truthful, they were pleasing. The narrative continues with Brahma asking the Devas why they seemed downhearted, hearing about the troubles caused by Tarakasura, and advising them on what they should do further.