वसु:वसुमनाः सत्यः समात्मा संमितः समः ।
अमोघः पुण्डरीकाक्षो वृषकर्मा वृषाकृतिः ।। 12 ।।
Vasu
rvasumana satyah samatma sammita samah |
Amoghah
pundaree-kaksho vrusha-karama vrusha-krutih ||
105. Vasuh
Vasudha means ‘bhoomi’ or mother earth.
The root word is ‘Vas’, the place where one resides. The word vasati comes from vas. We live on mother earth (Bhoomi)
If we take another meaning, it’s not just us who reside on God’s creation but God also resides in us –
Esham aham vasati iti vasuh
He is the one who stays in the heart of the devotees.
In fact we must also know that he resides not just in us, but in each one of his creations too. Then it becomes much easier to respect the other as we recognise the residence of God in them too.
Vasu also means wealth or ‘sampatti’.
What could be a bigger wealth than the fact that he himself resides in us?
The ‘Astha Vasu’ or eight Vasus are the Ganadevatas and are 'Brilliance' or 'Wealth Givers. They are the prakruti shakti or energies and all physical objects including our bodies are made of eight aspects.
Different puranas describe them by different names:
The Adi Parva, of the Mahabharata gives their names as : Dhara, Dhruva, Soma, Ahar, Anila , Anala , Pratyusa and Prabhasa
According to Visnu Purana they are : Apa, Dhruva, Soma, Dharma, Anila, Anala, Pratyusa and Prabhasa
In Bhagavata they are: Drona, Prana, Dhruva, Arka, Agni, Dosa, Vasu and Vibhavasu.
In Harivarhsa they are : Akha, Dhara, Dhruva, Soma, Anila, Anala, Pratyusa and Prabhasa.
But it is believed that they are the same and are simply known by a different name in different Puranas.
In the Bhagavad Gita - 10.23, the Lord says,
‘Vasunaam pavakaas casmi’
Among the Vasu, I’m the fire!
Pavaka means agni or fire and is considered to
purify everything it touches.
106. Vasumana
Broken into its root, Va + Su + manah
Special + good or pure + mind
He is the one who possesses a pure mind i.e. a mind free from attachments, anger and other evil qualities.
‘praShashtam manah’. It is pure and devoid of any
kalmasha or dvesha.
107. Satya
He is the absolute Truth and his nature is truth.
The Taittireya Aranyaka,
Sat + tya (tya meaning that which can be manifested as well as unmanifested)
We can also look at it in another way-
Sat means prana or life force
ti = anna or ahara or matter
yam means ravi or Sun
The Sun is ‘jeeva karaka’ or life giving. If there is no sun, there can be no life. Hence, He is Satya or the life force.
He is also the one who uplifts the Sadhus or the
ones on the path of dharma.
We might recollect the verse, ‘satyam jnanam
anantham brahma’
The truth is always the same. It is infinite and
eternal beyond time and space.
108. Samatma
Sama means equal or even
He is the one who looks at everyone equally. He
does not differentiate.
109. Sammitha
It means acceptance. Everyone i.e the learned
accept that He is ultimate truth.
110. Sama
We have established that He looks at everyone
equally and does not differentiate.
Let’s look at its root - Sa + ma ; Sa- together ,
Ma- Lakshmi (his consort)
The one who is always together with his consort
Lakshmi
Lakshmi also signifies jnana. He has the wealth of
knowledge with Him.
111. Amogha
Mogha means
‘vyartha’ or of no use
A + mogha means priceless
Whatever he has created is priceless.
112. Pundarikaksha
Pundarika means lotus ; Aksha means eyes
The one who has the eyes like the red lotus, the colour of dawn.
To take a deeper meaning, he is the one who resides in our ‘Hrudaya kamala’ and observes us and protects us.
Pundarikam also means ‘vaikuntam’ where he resides. He resides in vaikunta yet looks at us and protects and nourishes us.
We have earlier spoken about his Chatur bhuja roopa. He holds four instruments one in each hand- shankha, chakra, gadha, padma. These signify the four purusharthas – dharma, artha, kama and moksha.
While the Chakra signifies dharma, the Shankha signifies artha, the gadha signifies kama and the padma or Lotus signifies moksha.
Hence, he is the one who will lead us to Moksha.
113. Vrushakarma
Vrusha – Dharma
Karma – actions
Dharma lakshanam karmah iti vrushakarma
Any action of the lord is Dharma Yuktha.
114.Vrusha kruti
Kruti means to do, action.
In order to establish Dharma.
yada yada hi dharmasya glanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya tadatmanam srjamy aham
paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma-samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge
The most well-known shloka of the Bhagvad Gita tells us that he will manifest time and again in order to establish dharma.
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