Monday 31 August 2020

Verse 27

 

असंख्येयो-अप्रमेयात्मा विशिष्टः शिष्ट-कृत्-शुचिः ।

सिद्धार्थः सिद्धसंकल्पः सिद्धिदः सिद्धिसाधनः ।। 

 asakhyeyō prameyātmā viśiṣṭa śiṣṭakcchuci |
siddhārtha siddhasakalpa siddhida siddhisādhana || 

248. Asakhyeya:

Sankya means numbering or quantifying in terms of numeric values, Asankhya means he cannot be quantified or measured.

He is one who has no Sankhya or has uncountable names and forms (vibhootis)

Yasmin sankyaa naama rupa bheda adibhih na vidyate iti asankhyeyah.

His forms are infinite and his creations are infinite. Even stars, that are merely a small part of his creations, are uncountable. This gives us an idea of the infiniteness of his creations and his forms.   

Krishna showed his ‘Vishvaroopa darshana’ during the course of the Mahabharata. This defines how limitless and uncountable he is because he is everything!

We find 3 instances in the Mahabharata where we get to witness this quality of being countless.

The first instance occurs during Krishna’s childhood when he is caught by his mother Yashodha while playing in the mud. Yashodha suspects that Krishna has been eating mud and asks him to open his mouth. But she is shocked to see the entire universe in her son’s mouth.

The second instance occurs when Krishna meets Duryodhana for sandhana or compromise before the war. When Duryodhana refuses to budge, Krishna shows him his Vishwaroopa darshana so that Duryodhana might get a chance to surrender to the Lord, which unfortunately he does not understand.

The third instance is outlined in the Bhagavad Gita when The Lord shows his Vishwaroopa to Arjuna during the revealing of the Bhagavad Gita.

These instances reveal to us about the infiniteness of the Lord and his creation.

Also, Sankhya means jnana or knowledge, asankhya means limitless knowledge

 

249. Aprameyātmā:

Prameya means to measure

Aprameya atma swaroopa iti aprameya

Simply put, it means He is like that. His nature is thus. Unmeasurable, beyond our grasp.

One whose nature cannot be grasped by any of the means of knowledge.

 

250. Viśiṣṭa:

In every form he is vishesha, he is special and he excels in every form.

We cannot understand him. One who excels everything. He transcends all others.

Atishesha sarvamatah vishistah

Three quarters or tripardhva,  75%  of his forms are unmanifested. So we don’t know or cannot grasp Him.

 

251. Śiṣṭakt:

Sistanam sashanam tat karoti iti sistakrit

One who commands everyone with laws. One who governs.

Sistan karoti palayati iti sistakrt

One who knows the sastras and is well versed in Veda jnana, knows its intricacies, follows it, and ensures its spread by teaching is Sista. The Lord protects the sista, so he’s sistakrut.

If music has to be protected, it is not enough to protect the instruments, we must protect the musicians who are proficient in music. Similarly, if dharma and jnana has to be protected it is not enough to merely protect the books of knowledge, we must protect the sista or the one who is proficient in that knowledge.  

He is the one who protects shishtas.


252. Suci:

Suchi means pure, or Pavitra.

Here it means,

Niranjanah shuchih

He is free of all impurities.

We have seen that He is asankhya, aprameya, and vishista. These qualities are taught to the disciples by the sista. Hence the knowledge given by the sista should be suchi or pure, meaning they should give us perfect knowledge. If they possess purity, they can give us pure jnana. He is the one who bestows the sista with purity.

Purity is not just external. Internal purity is equally important.  Purity in kaya (body), vacha (speech), and manasa (mind).

Sista performs Lord’s chintana, archana, japa, and gets purified by the lord.    

 

253. Siddhārtha:

Siddha means the one who has achieved everything. The one who is in possession of all desirable things that are good for our Unnati is Siddhartha.

We have seen the difference between shreyas and preyas. The former referring to things that are actually beneficial to us and the latter referring to things that we think are beneficial to us. We have no idea what is good for us. So rather than asking for things it is better to leave things in his hands and trust him to do the best for us.

Siddho nirvrittah arthya maanah artha asya asti iti

He has already attained everything so he is siddartha. He helps the sista to achieve their goal.

The 4 purusharthas- Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha are the true wealth. He has already attained the 4 purusharthas. It should be our goal to attain these 4 purusharthas too.   

 

254. Siddhasakalpa:

Sankalpa or iccha shakti or intellectual wish.

His wishes are fulfilled the instance he wishes for them. Hence he is siddhasankalpah. The one who immediately gets what he wishes for.  

When we chant the sankalpa mantra before performing any ritual, we ask for Aishwarya, Arogya, etc. This shows our limited knowledge. 

He knows what we deserve. We should leave it to him. 

For the siddhi sadhana, sankalpa should be good.

Sidhartha signifies the goals that we set in the external world. Siddhasankalpa signifies the goals we set for ourselves by making a wish or sankalpa. The difference is very subtle.

 

255. Siddhida:

He is the one who gives us siddhi or fulfilment of wishes of all those who follow and practice his disciplines. The fruits are given in accordance with their eligibility.

Siddhim phalam kartribhyah svaadhikara roopatah dadati iti siddhidah.

He gives us fruits of our actions as per what we deserve. He is the phaladaata.

Some equate it with the asta siddhis. But we cannot limit ourselves to merely 8 siddhis, because his grace is much larger. The ultimate fruit or siddhi we could receive is that of moksha.

 

256. Siddhisādhana:

He gives us the means or sadhana to achieve the fruits of the siddhi. In other words, He shows us the path and gives us the fruits accordingly.

Siddheh kriyaayaah sadhakatvaat siddhisaadhanah

He becomes an instrument in our endeavour to attain moksha.

This verse tells us that we must cleanse our mind from worldly thoughts and concentrate the mind towards him.


Jai Shri Krishna!

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