धर्मगुब धर्मकृद धर्मी सदसत्क्षरं-अक्षरं ।
अविज्ञाता सहस्त्रांशु: विधाता कृतलक्षणः ।।
476. Dharmagub:
Dharma means dharana or to bear or embody.
One who protects Dharma and the people who follow Dharma.
Dharmam gopayati iti dharmagub
He hides dharma from falling into wrong hands and prevents it from being
misused. He protects the people who follow the path of righteousness. Hence he
is dharmagub or the guardian of dharma.
The Bhagavad Gita 4.8 says,
Dharma sanstapanaya sambhavami yuge yuge
He incarnates himself again and again to protect Dharma.
We come across a concept in the Bhagavad Gita called Ksheene punye. It means that we reap the fruits of our karma whether good or bad. But
as we keep enjoying the fruits of our punya, that punya keeps reducing. And
when all the punya is over we fall back into the cycle of life and death. Hence our goal is not accumulating punya but to simply perform our karma without attachment to its fruits. By giving up the fruits of our karma, we do not risk falling back into the ocean of samsara again.
The Bhagavad Gita also tells us not to get attached to the fruits of our
actions.
477. Dharmakṛd:
Though he is above Dharma and Adharma, He performs actions in accordance
with Dharma in order to keep up the traditions in respect of it.
Dharma adharma vihinopi dharma maryada sthapanartham dharmameva karoti
iti
He is the motivation for us to perform our actions. We are able to
follow dharma because of his grace. He sets an example for others to respect
the code of dharma.
Whatever actions we must perform must be within the confines of dharma.
478. Dharmī:
One who upholds Dharma.
Dharmah asya asti iti dharmi
He owns dharma
Dharmaan dharayati iti dharmi – he carries the dharma.
The phalastuti of the Vishnu sahasranaama says,
Achara prabhava dharma dharmasya prabhu achyuta
Dharma is born out of culture and Achyuta is the lord of dharma
That is why it is said, dharmo rakshati rakshataha
Dharma protects those who protect dharma by leading a life that is
guided by the principle of righteousness.
479. Sat:
Sat means that which exists.
The Bhagavad Gita, 17.23 says,
Om tat sad iti nirdeso brahmanas tri vidhah smrtah
Brahmanas tena vedas ca yajnas ca vihitah pura
The terms Om, tat, sat, which indicates that he is the absolute truth.
Sat means what is there, it is eternal and the all-pervading truth.
Sat is the Parabrahman who is of the nature of truth.
Sat or truth is akshara means indestructible.
Earth, fire and water can be perceived and hence called as sat.
482. Akṣharam:
He is never destroyed, he is changeless, hence he is aksharam.
Sarva bhutani ksharam kootasthah aksharam
All the beings are perishable but the soul is imperishable.
The Bhagavad Gita 15.16 also says,
dvav imau purusau loke ksaras caksara eva ca
ksarah sarvani bhutani kuta-stho 'ksara ucyate
There are two classes of beings,
the perishable and the imperishable. In the material world every entity is perishable,
and in the spiritual world every entity is imperishable.
The lord is sad aksharam because
he is indestructible.
Adhikam ksharati iti, he gives us
enough hence he is akshara
480. Asat:
Asat means that which does not exist.
Aparam brahma asat.
He is the Aparabrahma and has manifested as the world. He is called Asat
(not having reality). We see him through the vibhooti roopa. But his roopas are
destructible.
The Bhagavad Gita 9.19 says, sad asat cha ham arjuna
He is the being and the non- being, the one who exists and the one who
doesn’t. everything is Him.
Hence Asat is kshara and destructible.
Air and aakasha are not perceptible hence they are asat.
481. Kṣaram:
Ksha means that which can be destroyed.
Ra means ramana.
Though he resides in our body which is perishable yet he lives in us with
bliss. Hence he is ksharam.
Ksharam means destructible.
The vibhooti roopas of the lord
are perishable.
Hence he is both kshara and akshara.
483. Avijñātā:
Aatmani katritvaadi vikalpa vijinaanam kalpitamiti tad vasana
avagunthito jivo vijnaata advilakshano vishnuh
We must not think that we are responsible for our own actions. He is
above this kind of jnana, hence he is avijnata.
When we perform an action of
helping something, we must neither tell others about it nor the thought that I
helped be in our minds.
He does not differentiate between jivatma and paramatma.
One who is without the attributes of a Jiva or vigyata like sense of
agency, etc.
Avijnanatam vijanataam he is beyond our grasp, we cannot understand him
completely, we cannot know him completely (nakha- shikha)
484. Sahasrāṁśuḥ:
Amshu means rays. Sahasra means infinite
Aditya adigata amshavah asyeti ayameva mukhyah sahasramshu
He has numerous rays, that is he is with us like the rays of the Sun.
Light means jnana. He stays in us in the form of knowledge.
Bhagavad Gita 15.12 says, yadaditya gatam tejah , he is the one who has
bestowed the radiance on the sun.
It also means the infinite tasks we perform. Those karmas we do must be
guided by the light of knowledge.
Sra svarati -he is independent, he does not need help to go and come
from ‘Saha’ moola roopa to vibhooti roopa. His entire powers remain
intact when he changes form.
Amshu – divides into parts or groups- amshayati iti amshu
And yet in every part the entire guna of his moola roopa are existing in
his avatara roopa hence he is sahasramshu.
485. Vidhātā:
Vidhi means fate
He gives us phala as per our fate
The actions we have performed will be given fruits as per what we have
done.
Visheshena shisha diggaja bhoodharaan sarvabhootanaam dhatrun dadhati
iti vidhata
He supports those who bear the earth like Adishesha and Ananta.
Also, Dha – dharana – to bear and nourish
Vi -vilakshana
He takes care of us and nourishes us hence he is vidhata.
486. Kṛitalakṣaṇaḥ:
As per our karma he gives us lakshana or distinguishing characters.
Nitya nishpanna chaitanya rupatvaat kritalakshanah
He is the pure consciousness in all beings.
Bhinnaasha bhinna dharmascha padartha nikhilapi
No two things or beings are alike. That distinguishing feature is
kritalakshana. He gives that feature to his creations and hence he is known as
kritalakshanah.
Jai Shri Krishna!
