Verse 2

 

10. Putatma

Puta means pure

Puta + atma means the atma or consciousness (chetana) which is pure, without any impurities – it is “nishkalmashaha”.

The jivatma is bound to the fruits of his actions. But the Lord is devoid of Karma bandha – though he is the one who is the doer, he is not attached to the fruits of the karma, of his actions. Hence he is Putatma or a pure atma.

The Bhagavad Gita 4.14, emphasises this detachment to karma phala.

na māṁ karmāṇi limpanti na me karma-phale spṛihā

iti māṁ yo ’bhijānāti karmabhir na sa badhyate

Our activities bind us in karmic reactions when they are performed with the expectation of enjoying the results. However, God’s actions are not motivated by selfishness; his every act is driven by compassion for the souls and never by the expectations of results.

 

11.  Paramatma

Parama + atma.

Paramam meaning infinite, limitless, boundless. Hence he is one with limitless or infinite consciousness. He is the supreme soul and there is none superior to Him, hence he is Paramatma.

The Paramatma is defined by the Lord in verse 13.23 of the Bhagavad Gita,

upadraṣhṭānumantā cha bhartā bhoktā maheśhvaraḥ

paramātmeti chāpy ukto dehe ’smin puruṣhaḥ paraḥ

The Supreme Soul, who is located within everyone, manifests in the jivatma as Lord Vishnu.  The Supreme Lord in His form as Vishnu is responsible for maintaining this creation, nourishing it, supporting it, and controlling it.  

 

12. Muktanaam Paramagatihi

Mukta means freedom or liberation.

Parama means utimate , Gatihi means refuge.

He is the final or ultimate goal or refuge for the liberated souls.

The Bhagavad Gita reiterates this in verses 8.16 and 7.19

mām upetya tu kaunteya punar janma na vidyate (8.16)  

Whoever takes refuge in Krishna will be liberated from the cycle of birth and death.

bahunam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapdyate

vasudevah sarvam iti sa mahatma su-durlabha (7.19)

After several births, when one surrenders to Vasudeva with the complete knowledge that He is the cause of everything, he attains liberation.  

The Purusha Sukta also states,  Uta-Amrtatvasya ishaanah

He is the one who can lead us to attain liberation.

This does not mean that we become God. It means he can take us to the state that we call “aham brahmasmi.”

Adi Shankara describes this state through the three stages of consciousness. He says that every person experiences three stages of consciousness – “Jagruta” (wakefulness) and “Swapna and Sushupti” (sleep).

Jagruta is a state when all the senses including the mind are working.

Swapna is the stage of dreams or REM sleep when the physical organs are not working but the mind continues to work. All subconscious thoughts manifest as dreams.

Sushupti is a dreamless state or non-REM sleep hen the mind is also not working. But even though the body is completely at rest, it can be woken up by stimulation.

The fourth state is “Turiya” which is called the “brahma stithi”. In this deeply meditative state the body cannot be woken up even by stimulation and I attain brahmi stithi which is aham brahmasmi.

 

13. Avayaya

Vyaya means that which can be spent.

Aa+ Vyaya means that which cannot be spent or destroyed.

There are different ways one wanes or is destroyed.

Anitya, something that can be destroyed, like a clay pot that can be broken.  

Dukhapraptihi, sorrow

Dehahani, decay

Aswatantrayam, no freedom.   

The Lord is free of any kind of destruction. He is avayayah.

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says that the Lord is Ajaro Amaro Avayaya, means he does not grow old, or decay or undergo any change.

The Narayana sukta also says that lord is Anantam avyayam kavim, he is immortal, unchanging seer.

This indestructible form of the Lord is well described in the verse 2.23 of the Bhagavad Gita,

nainam chindanti sastrani nainam dahati pavakah

na chainam kledyanty apo na sosyati marutah 

The soul can never be cut into pieces by any weapon, nor can he be burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind.

 

14. Purusha

Pura means big. So Purusha means the biggest – he who is the biggest of all.

Pura (the biggest)+ sha (shat gunas)  

He has the ultimate Jnana (knowledge) , Aishwarya (wealth), Tejas (light), Shakti (mental strength), Bala (physical strength) and Veerya (courage)

Pura also means the place where one lives. The one who lives in that place is the Purusha. The place where one lives could also be understood as our body. And the one who resides in our body is the Purusha which is again the pure consciousness.

 

15. Sakshi

Sakshi means witness or evidence or knowledge of what happens.

He is therefore Sakshi, the one who has knowledge about everything that happens. In other words, nothing happens without his consent.

Sakshaat drustari saakshi, he witnesses everything that happens.

He is all-knowing.

 

16. Kshetrajna

The Bhagavad Gita describes the kshetrajna in the verse 13.2

idam sariram kaunteya kshetram ity abhidhiyate 

etad yo vetti tam prahuh kshetrajna iti tad vidah

This body, O son of Kunti, is called the field, and one who knows this body is called the knower of the field.

Kshetra + Jna

Kshetra also means place of living or working like a field. The place where a seed is planted and the crop is harvested is called kshetra.

Hence our body is the kshetra because the seed of faith is planted to harvest the crop of knowledge of the Lord.

Jna means Jnana or knowledge. (In fact, the English word diagnosis consist of two words dia+ gnosis which in Greek means knowledge. Gnosis is derived from the Sanskrit Jna which means to know)   

So Kshetrajna means the one who has complete knowledge about his kshetra. If we consider our body as the kshetra, do we have complete knowledge about it? If we do not then we become, “kshetrastha”.      

 

17. Akshara (eva cha)

Shara means that which can be destroyed.

So, Akshara means the one who is not destroyed. The lord is neither born nor can be destroyed.

Aksha – (indriyas- which cannot be destroyed) + ra (ramana)

He is present in our indriyas and enjoys making us perform our actions.

 

This verse taken as a whole means - He who is pure, limitless and boundless, he who has complete knowledge of what happens, he who controls everything, he without whose knowledge nothing can happen, and he who is neither born nor destroyed is the one who will lead us to realise the inner brahma within us and will give us freedom from the cycle of life and death.  

 

Jai Shri Krishna!