Verse 3

18. Yogah

Yoga does not simply mean the physical postures that we perform , the yogasanas. It is a union of Kaya, Vacha and Manasa – the body, the mind and the breath. The physical postures are performed for the health and well-being of the body. Meditation is performed for the well-being of the mind. And pranayama is performed for breath control. All these three together help us to be in sync with our existence.

 Yoga therefore means “union”. This essentially means the union of the atma to the paramatma.

The Bhagwad Gita talks about the Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga and Bhakthi Yoga. So Yoga is a tool that helps you reach the pure consciousness.

 

19. Yogavidaam neta –

Yogavitt – Yoga + Vitt

Vitt means a Jnani or a knowledgeable person. A yogavitt is therefore, a person who has the complete knowledge about achieving pure consciousness and the path to reach there, through the path of Yoga.

Neta essentially means a person who leads.

Nayati iti neta.

The one leads the Yogavitt is the Yogavidam neta. 

If Yoga is a tool to reach the supreme, the vitt is the one who has the complete knowledge of this tool and are motivated to walk on the path, neta means the one who leads us to that path.

 

20. Pradhana Purusheshwara –

Pradhana + Purusha + Eshwara

The one who is the lord of the prakruti and purusha.

Energies can be either manifested (vyakta- prakruti) or unmanisfested (avyakta - purusha). The one who brings out the unmanifested energies using his kriya shakti and helps us manifest it is the Pradhana purusheshwara.

Pradhana also refers to goddess Saraswati and Purusha refers to Brahma, both signify creation. The kriya shakti is essential for creation. He is the lord (controller) of creation too.

  

21. Naarsimha vapu

Nara + simha = Human and lion , vapu- body The one has the body that is half human and half lion.

Narasimha is one of the dashavatara of Lord Vishnu. He took this avatara for the samhara of  Hiranyakashyapu.

Of all living creatures, the human form is considered to have the highest capability to think. Likewise, the lion is considered to have the most strength among all. So Narasimha is the one who is the strongest and the most knowledgeable.

Naara – Na+ Ara , ara means dosha or impurities. Naara means the one with no dosha or the one who is extremely pure.

Simha – himsati iti simha - means the one who destroys.

Hence Naarasimha also means the one who destroys the doshas or impurities within us.

Nara also means Ajnana or ignorance. So, Narasimha is also the one who destroys ignorance and fills us with knowledge.

Vapu – va+pu . va meaning knowledge and pu meaning bestows.

So Narasimha Vapu also means the one who destroys the ignorance within us and bestows us with knowledge.  He takes you from ignorance to knowledge.

If we look at the name Hiranyakasyapu, it means Hiranya (gold) + kasyapu ( cushion) . it means someone who is fond of wealth , here meaning ignorance. (ignorant about the greater wealth that is god) Narasimha destroys that ignorance by killing Hiranyakasyapu.

Hence our puranas always have a deeper meaning hidden in every story.

Nara – Na riyate / na liyate. ( ra and la are sometimes used interchangeably.) Liyate means destroyed. Na liyate means cannot be destroyed. The one cannot be destroyed is the jeeveshwara, because the soul is immortal. It is born again and again.

Simha – means destroys.

Hence the one who takes the jeeveshwara to moksha , preventing the cycle of birth and death, is also Narasimha vapu.

The meaning remains the same, no matter which way you want to look at it.

 

 

22. Srimaan –

Sri – refers to the goddess Lakshmi

Srimaan is the one who resides in the mind of the Goddess.

Yasya vakshasi nityam vasati sri

Sri also refers to the wealth of the indriyas. Maan means lord. Hence he is Srimaan, the lord of the indriyas.

We invoke him as Srimaan, so that our indriyas remain pure and active all our life.   

 

23. Keshava

Kesha means hair. So the one who has captivating hair is called keshava. Keshava is another name for Krishna. Krishna could mean many things – one who is attractive (akarshana), the one is dark in colour (neelamegha shyama – the colour of the rain cloud)

It is mentioned in the Vishnu purana by Narada Muni that a demon names Keshi (who had the form of a horse) was sent by Kamsa to kill Krishna but he is instead killed by Krishna. Hence he is also called Keshava.

Does this story have a deeper meaning? It does!

The horse represents our mind. Like the horse, our mind also runs unbridled.

That is why Ashva (horse) is described as Asho Vyapthau , ashvaha.

When the mind is in Asuri bhava (is consumed by demonic thoughts) , the one who destroys the adharmic thoughts and rids us of them is Keshava.

If we delve even deeper, Kesha can be written as

Kaashcha + Aashcha + Eeshascha

Ka: Brahma , Aa: Vishnu, Ee: Eshwara – the trinity or the trimurthy as we know them.

The creator, the protector and the destroyer.

Yad vashane vartate iti keshava

The one who controls all the three (creation, sustenance and destruction) is Keshava.

 

24. Purushottama

There are two kinds of purushas in the world – kshara (the one that can be destroyed) and Akshara (the one that cannot be destroyed)

The one who is above both purushas is Purushottama.

Kshara refers to samsara or this world that is full of bondage. Since we are bound, we are called baddha (bound)

Akshara means the one who is free of bondage, or buddha (muktha or free) Lakshmi is Akshara, she is free of all bondage.

Yasmat ksharam atitoham aksharadapi atiuttamah

Atah asmi loke vedeta pratitah purushottamah

The one who is above both akshara and kshara purusha, beyond bondage and freedom is Purushottama. 

To sum it up, this verse tells us that He is the one who destroys the ignorance in our mind and takes us towards knowledge. He is the lord of creation, sustenance and destruction.

 

Jai Shri Krishna!