Thursday 27 August 2020

Verse 22


अमृत्युः सर्व-दृक् सिंहः सन-धाता संधिमान स्थिरः ।

अजो दुर्मर्षणः शास्ता विश्रुतात्मा सुरारिहा ।।

amtyu sarvadk siha sandhātā sandhimān sthira |
ajō durmaraa śāstā viśrutātmā surārihā || 

198. Amtyu:

Mrutyu means death or to be destroyed. Amrutyu means one who is without death or its cause.

Mrutyuh yasya na asti iti amruthyuh.

We all go through 5 stages – birth, growth, decay, disease and death. Which means that everything that is born will die someday.

But He is amrutyuh, he is beyond decay or death. 

Also, we are made of two parts - Sharira and chaitanya – atma is not visible but sharira is perceptible. Sharira is destructible. Our atma is indestructible.

Since we take birth again and again, we (our atma) also is amrutyuh.

If we realise that we (our atma) are forever, we have some accountability, and responsibility towards the deeds we do for ourselves and for others.

In the Bhagavad Gita 2.20 and 2.21, Shri Krishna says,

na jāyate mriyate vā kadāchin
n
āya bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūya
ajo nitya
śhāśhvato ya purāṇo
na hanyate hanyam
āne śharīre

The soul is neither born, nor does it ever die; it has existed before, and it will continue to exist. The soul is without birth, eternal, immortal, and ageless. It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed.

vāsānsi jīrṇāni yathā vihāya
nav
āni gihṇāti naro ’parāṇi
tath
ā śharīrāṇi vihāya jīrṇānya
ny
āni sanyāti navāni dehī

As a person sheds worn-out garments and wears new ones, likewise, at the time of death, the soul casts off its worn-out body and enters a new one.

His ‘amsha’ or part in us is also amrutyuh.

 

199. Sarvadk:

Sarva means everywhere

Dru means drishya. He sees everything.

Whatever we do where it is right or wrong, He has an eye on everything that we do.

Our chitta also keeps recording everything.

Hence He is the one who sees the Karmas of all Jivas through His inherent wisdom and hence he is sarvadrik..

 

200. Simha:

Himsa indicates laya or destruction.

He is the one who brings about Himsa or destruction of the evil.

He also destroys the ‘asuri shakti’ or evilness in us.

The first three names amrutya, sarvadrik, simha, indicate that we as jivatmas possess some inherent knowledge within us. Like him we are indestructible, like him, our chitta sees everything and once we surrender to him, he destroys the evil in us.

 

201. Sandhātā and 202. Sandhimān:

These two names can be understood together.

Sandhana means unite, bring together

Those who trust him, he unites them with himself after their life is over. The jivatma merges with the soul after death. Hence he is sandhata.  

It is also true that those who trust him, he himself merges into them during their lifetime. the paramatma residing in the jiva. Hence he is sandhiman.

 

203. Sthira:

Sadaika rupatvat sthirhah

One who is constant without any change.

One who is always of the same nature.

 

204. Aja:

Ja- birth ; ajah – no birth

Here, the jivatatma in us has no birth.

Since there is no birth (ajah), there is no death (amuthyuh)

Aa + ja

Sound is the primordial thing to tell us if someone is alive or not. Vibrations create sound. Sound tells us if one is alive or not. Sounds are formed from letters.

Aa is the first of letters. We can consider it to be the birth of akshara.  (akshara itself means that which cannot be destroyed).

So we can understand aa+ja as birth of something that cannot be destroyed.  

 

205. Durmaraa:

Dushkaram marshanam asya iti durmarshanah

Du means evil. Hence the one who destroys is called Durga.

He is the one whose might the Asuras cannot bear, hence he is Durmarsanah.

He is also the one who destroys the asuri shakti within us.

 

206. Śasta:

Shasta denotes a teacher. He brings discipline, and by using his power keeps us in control.

He is the one who teaches the Vedas and governs the universe. He instructs and directs us through the scriptures.

We might also recall that Lord Ayyappa is also reverently called Shasta.


207. Vishrutatma:

Vi means vishesha ; shrut means shrunoti or to hear; atma is our soul.

We can attain him through the tri sadhanas of shravana, manana, and niribhyasana.

We glorify Him by singing and listening to songs or archana and through reciting of the Vedas which gives us jnana.

Also,

vishesena shrutha jnatah atma yena sa vistrutama

He is known to be different from his creations and is all-knowing. He knows everything.   

 

208. Surārihā:

Sura + ari + ha

Suras mean devatas

Ari means enemies

Ha means to destroy

He is the one who destroys the enemies of the suras who protect us. He not only destroys the asuras in the universe but also the asuras within us and anything that takes us towards ‘avonnati’ or away from the path of salvation.


Jai Shri Krishna!

No comments:

Post a Comment