Verse 58

महावराहो गोविंदः सुषेणः कनकांगदी ।

गुह्यो गंभीरो गहनो गुप्तश्चक्र-गदाधरः ।।

 mahāvarāhō gōvindaḥ suṣeṇaḥ kanakāṅgadī |

guhyō gabhīrō gahanō guptaścakragadādharaḥ ||

 

542. Mahā-varāhaḥ:

Varaha refers to the great Cosmic Boar.

He incarnated as the great boar, Varaha hence he is mahavarahah.

Mahaan cha asau varahah cha mahavarahah

Maha + vara + aha  he bestows great blessings on his creations hence he is mahavarahah.

Just like the lord saved the earth from the greed of Hiranyaksha, we must also awaken from our materialistic desires and turn towards spiritual desire.

This name signifies our iccha shakti or sankalpa to rise above the ordinary.

 

543. Gōvindaḥ:

Gobhireva tato vedyah govindas samudahritah

'Go' means Words, that is the Vedic sentences. He who is known by them is Gōvindaḥ.

Though he is not fully describable using words yet these words of the scriptures enlighten us about his qualities and nature.

Go (gam-gacchati to move) + vid (labhate – to get)

Vedyat iti vedaanta vakyaih iti vaa govinda.

His qualities and nature are revealed by the sacred scripts such as Vedas and Upanishads.  

The name Govinda tells us that we can win over our desires and destroy ignorance only with knowledge.

This name signifies our jnana shakti.

Surya is also called ‘Go’. The Sun is the protector and nourisher of the universe. Worship the Lord through the Sun God.

 

544. Shuṣeṇaḥ:

He has a distinguished army or sena at his command and hence he is called as Shusena. The 9 ganas, 12 adityas, 10 vishvadevas, 8 vasus, 11 rudras, and other eternal army is always at his side.

An army is a resource to conquer the enemy. The deities which form his army also reside in our body. With the help of this army, we must also conquer the enemies like avidya, karma, kama etc through sravana, manana and nidhidyasana.

This name signifies our kriya shakti. When the jnana (knowledge) and iccha (sankalpa) shakti come together, then we can perform the actions that are fruitful.

Every atom in our body is our army. We have to prepare our army to reach our goal. The entire army in our body gets ready to realise the lord.

 

545. Kanakāṅgadī:

Kanaka means gold - that which shines. and angada means an armlet worn on the upper arm. It means that he has powerful arms and he uses them to protect his devotees and destroys evil.

When proper, fruitful actions are performed, the lord also bestows his blessings on us by protecting us which is the phala that we beget.

 

546. Guhyaḥ:

He is known as Guhya because he is hidden in the depths of our heart and not easily revealed.

Guhaayaam hridayaakaashe nihita iti vaa

There are two kinds of akasha – bhuta-akasha which is pervaded by Ganapathi and Avakrut-akasha or hrudaya-akasha is pervaded by Goddess Lakshmi.

The lord resides in the heart or hrudaya-akasha where Lakshmi lives.

The Bhagavad Gita 9.2 says,

Raja vidya raja guhyam pavitram idam uttamam.

It is not easy to understand the lord. The study of Vedas and their scriptures provide us a certain understand of the lord. The lord remains hidden from being directly perceived and this great secret can be realised only through meditation and contemplation.

 

547. Gabhīraḥ:

Gabhira means depth or unfathomable.

His characteristics or attributes like omniscience, knowledge, wealth, strength, valour, etc are unfathomable, hence he is gabhira.

Jnana Aishwarya bala veerya adbhi gambhirah gabhira

The name guhya tells us that he is hidden and the name gabhira tells us that the depth at which he stays hidden is unfathomable.

 

548. Gahanaḥ:

Gahana means impenetrable and difficult to access.

His realm is impenetrable and dense and hence it is difficult to get access to him, hence he is gahanah.

In the Bhagavad Gita 11.8 the lord says,

na tu mam sakyase drastum anenaiva sva-caksusa

means it is not possible to see him with our physical eyes. The only way to see him is through our spiritual eyes which is through meditation.

549. Guptaḥ

Gupta means secret or hidden.

The Lord stays hidden because he is not easily identified by everyone. It takes a lot of effort for the secret of the Lord to be revealed.

He cannot be gauged through words, thought, mind etc. hence he is Gupta.

All these four words guhya, gabhira, gahana and gupta describe that the Lord stays hidden in the depths of our heart and it is not easy to penetrate into the heart and find him. Through continuous shravana, manana and nidhidhyasana, we can realise him.

 

550. Chakra-gadā-dharaḥ:

He holds a discus and gadha in his hands. They are instrumental in helping him carry out his functions of creation, protection, destruction, punishment and blessing.

The chakra destroys the tamo guna in us and the gadha punishes the rajo guna in us. He then becomes an adhara or protector for us so that we become pure in sattva guna.

The chakra also represents our mind and the gadha represents our vac. His chakra destroys the unwanted thoughts in the mind and his gadha controls our vac. 

He holds the manas and buddhi in his hands represented by the chakra and gadha.

Finally, we need his grace to help us control our mind and buddhi and realise him.

To summarise,  it is not possible to know the lord completely through words as the knowledge is at the peak of our consciousness (mahavaraha). We can know him only through knowledge (govinda) and resources (sushena, kanakangadi) such as meditation and contemplation. Though this knowledge is secret, hidden, and difficult to access (guhya, gahana, gabheera gupta), we must know that all this knowledge is present in our mind (chakra) and the vac (gadha), when we surrender to him, all this knowledge becomes available to us.

Jai Shri Krishna!

Verse 57

 

महर्षिः कपिलाचार्यः कृतज्ञो मेदिनीपतिः ।

त्रिपदस्त्रिदशाध्यक्षो महाश्रृंगः कृतांतकृत ।। 

maharṣiḥ kapilācāryaḥ kṛtajñō medinīpatiḥ |

tripadastridaśādhyakṣō mahāśṛṅgaḥ kṛtāntakṛt || 

534 and 535. Maharṣiḥ Kapilācāryaḥ:

Kapila is called Maharshi because he was master of all the Vedas. He could recite all four Vedas in one breath.

Maha + Kapila + acharya

Mahan chasau rishischa maharishi, the one who is a great sage and has mastered the vedas

Swayam acharate astu

Acharya means a great teacher who follows what he teaches. He not only imparts the knowledge to his disciples but also observes the said dharma himself.

The lord appeared or manifested as the great rishi Kapilacharya with the sole purpose of spreading knowledge.    

 The Bhagavad Gita 10.26 also says,

Siddhaanaam Kapilo Muni

Among the enlightened sages he is Kapila Muni.

Kapilacharya is described as one having the lustre like that of a burning ember and was considered as an embodiment of jnana. He is credited with samvit prakaashanaaya – spreading the light of knowledge.

Kapila also means - Ka – happiness + pi (pibati) drinks – he drinks (enjoys) happiness always + la gives the happiness to others.

 

536. Kṛtajñaḥ:

Kritam kaaryam jagat, jnah aatma, kritam cha tat jnah cha iti kritajnah

Kritam means the world which he has created, jnah means he is the knower of the world. Hence he is kritajnah as he is the world as well as the knower of the world. He is the created and the creator.

Kritam janati kritajnah

He knows everything about his creation – why it has been created, when it has been created, how it has been created, where and what has been created and how long it will be in existence.

We perform all our work without knowledge. This name teaches us to be complete aware and do our work with knowledge of everything.

 

537.Medinīpatiḥ:

Medhini refers to shakti; patih is parameshwara. This is our kundalini shakti.

Also, Medhini means the earth.

Medinyah bhumya patih medinipatih

He is the Lord of the earth. He not only created the earth but also bears its responsibility to sustain and nurture it.

A story goes that, the demons madhu kaitabh came from the ear of the lord and were finally killed by Lord Hayagreeva. From their body, medhas was taken and the earth was formed, hence earth is called medhini.

It also means that he destroys the evil that falls into our ears.

 

538. Tripadaḥ:

While this is similar to his name Trivikrama and means the one who conquered the world with three strides, here it refers to the three tattvas in which the lord manifests - sthoola, sukshma and karana.

The jivatma must also take the three steps and overcome these tattvas to reach higher consciousness. This helps us conquer our avasthatrayas - jagruti, sushukta and svapna. 

He is present in the three states also known as eyes(jagruta), throat -kanta (tejas- svapna), hrudaya (pragnya - sushukti)

The three names of the lord, Achyuta, Anantha, Govinda, is the medicine for curing all illnesses, of the body and mind.  

 

539. Tridaśādhyakṣaḥ:

Tri + dasha + adhi + aksha

Dasha refers to the state of consciousness.

Gunaveshena sanjaatah tisro dashah avastah jagrat adayah tasaam adhyaksh iti tridashadhyaksha.

One who is the witness of the three states of waking, dream and sleep -jagruta, svapna and sushukti,  which spring from the influence of the Gunas.

A tamasic person spends a lot of time in sleep whereas a satvik person spends very little time sleeping.

The three states or dasha of the body - Balya, kaumara, yauvana, he is the chief (adhyaksha) of all the states.  

 

540. Mahāśṛuṅgaḥ:

Shrunga means peak or horn.

If we conquer the tridasha and tripada, it takes us to the highest peak of consciousness. 

Our spine is called as meru. The shrunga or peak is our head. The kundalini shakti lies in the muladhara chakra. It means that the shakti lies in us inherent form but we have to awaken it. When it rises to the shasarara chakra and rises above to the peak, to maha shrunga to turiya stithi, it causes complete awakening. 

Also, he is the one with a great horn.

It refers to the lord’s matsya avatar where the lord attached a big boat to his horn and carried it to safety during pralaya.

Matsya rupi mahati shringe pralayambhodau navam baddhva chikreeda iti maha shringa

Srunati iti shrunga – he breaks open and emerges, destroys/breaks open the obstacles and helps us emerge successful.

 

541. Kṛtānta-kṛt:

Jnanagni sarva karmani sat krute bhasmani

The jnangni obtained destroys all our karmas.

Kruta anta krit

Kritasya samsarasya antam samharam karoti iti kritantakrit.

One who brings about (krit) the destruction (antha or end) of the Kruta or the manifested condition of the universe. He is the destroyer of his own creations.

Jai Shri Krishna!

Verse 56

 

अजो महार्हः स्वाभाव्यो जितामित्रः प्रमोदनः ।

आनंदो नंदनो नंदः सत्यधर्मा त्रिविक्रमः ।।

 ajō mahārhaḥ svābhāvyō jitāmitraḥ pramōdanaḥ |

ānandō nandanō nandaḥ satyadharmā trivikramaḥ ||

 

524. Ajaḥ:

A +ja means no birth. He is ajah because he has no birth or death

Na jayate iti ajah

Akaara vachyataya jatah

The sound 'A' signifies Mahavishnu. The first letter of the primordial pranava mantra AUM stands for Vishnu.

Ajati iti ajah

He is responsible for destroying the enemies hence he is ajah.

 

525. Mahārhaḥ:

He who is fit for worship for any occasion is Maharhav.

Maham pujanam arhati iti maharhah

There is no one else who is fit for worship or maha puja except him.

Hence our surrender is also unto him.

 

526. Svābhāvyaḥ:

Being eternally perfect He is naturally without a beginning.

Svabhavena eva abhavyah nitya nish

He has permanent glory or nitya nishpanna.

He is eternal and thus he has no beginning. He is omnipresent.

 

527. Jitāmitraḥ:

Jita + amitra

One who has conquered the inner enemies like attachment, anger, etc. as also external enemies too.

Avidya, kama, and karma are the three enemies. And they are present in three different roopas in our body.

Avidya is seated in karana sharira

Kama is seated in sookhsma sharira

Karma is seated in sthoola sharira

First avidya or ignorance must be destroyed through knowledge or jnana, then it destroys kama or desires then the karma will be destroyed.

 

528. Pramōdanaḥ:

Modanah means pleasure

He is always joyous as He is absorbed in immortal Bliss.

Pramodam karoti iti pramodnah

He fills the minds of the jivatma who has conquered these 3 amitras with joy and bliss. The lord gives supreme bliss or brahma anandam to the liberated souls and gives them moksha.

Dhyayinaam dhyanamatrena pramodam kaorti iti

He bestows pleasure to those who meditate on him through the act of meditation hence he is pramodanah.

 

529. Ānandaḥ:

His nature or form is Ananda or Bliss. He himself is pure joy.

Ananda svaroopam asya iti anandah

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says that other beings enjoy only a part of the total happiness. 

Aanam (ana refers to mukhya prana; aanam refers to that which comes from mukhya prana ie. granthas) + dah (to give)

He gives us the wisdom to understand the knowledge of the Vedas and sashtras hence he is  anandah.

 

530. Nandanaḥ:

He is the one who gives delight to everyone around him.

Nandayati iti nandanah

His devotees experience bliss by meditating on him.

He gives us the pure bliss which is free of the accompanying grief.

 

531. Anandaḥ:

Aa +nandah (reduce or diminish) the pleasure does not diminish.

He observes us enjoying and that itself it brings him joy without actually enjoying anything himself.

It teaches us that if we are a witness only, the joy last forever. If we are the enjoyer, the happiness does not last for ever and is also followed by grief. It also tells us that pleasure arising from sense organs is not the permanent happiness.

Sukham vaishayikam naasya vidyate iti anandah

 

532. Satyadharmā:

Sat + tyat + dharma

He guides this body made of panch butas – sat (that which is visible – earth, water and fire) and tyat(that which is not visible – aakasha and vayu) to the path of dharma

He is an embodiment of qualities such as truth and righteousness.

In the Bhagavad Gita 18.66, the lord says,

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi mā śhuchaḥ

Abandon all varieties of dharmas and simply surrender unto me alone. I shall liberate you from all sinful reactions; do not fear.

Satya (nirakaara nirguna) + dharma ( saguna)

 

533. Trivikramaḥ:

We have already seen this name of the Lord which tells us how he conquered the entire universe in three strides.

Here it refers to conquering the three gunas and become nistraigunya, as the Lord says in the Bhagavad Gita 2.45,

trai-gunya-visaya veda nistraigunyo bhavarjuna 

nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho niryoga-ksema atmavan

He stands above everything, having conquered all the triads – the three vedas (rig, yajur and sama), the three gunas (rajo, tamas, sattva), the three states (childhood, youth and old age) , three kalas(bhuta, bhavishya, vartamana) hence he is trivikramah.  

It also refers to the avasthatraya or the three states or three fields of experience ( jagruta, sushukta, svapna). Only when one goes beyond this one can attain the turiya state of infinite consciousness and helps to realise the Lord within.

Jai Shri Krishna!