अमृतांशूद्भवो भानुः शशबिंदुः सुरेश्वरः ।
औषधं जगतः सेतुः सत्य-धर्म-पराक्रमः ।।
284. Amṛtāṁśūdbhavaḥ:
Amrutha means nectar or something that is life-giving
Amshu means rays
Udbhava means created or be born
Mathyamaane payonidhau amritaamshoh chandrasya udbhava yasmaat saha
amrutamshudhbhavoh
The one who has created the life-giving moon
Just like the Sun’s rays give life during the day, the moon’s rays are life
giving at night.
pushnaami chaushadhih sarvah somo bhootva rasaatmakah
He himself becomes the rays of the moon and helps all life forms and
plants grow and flourish.
Prana or breath consists of two processes – exhalation and inhalation.
Breathing through the left nostril is called Ida and signifies the moon
while breathing through the right nostril is called pingala signifies the Sun.
The left nostril takes in cool air and the right nostril gives out warm air.
We might have observed that when we are angry or stressed, we tend to breathe
through the right nostril. An effective remedy is to breathe through the left
nostril which helps us to cool down.
Ida breathing controls the thoughts of the mind. As we have seen in the previous shloka, the moon helps to calm and cool the mind.
A third interpretation is taken from the Garbhopanishad, where Amrutha equated
with jala or the life-giving liquid. And amshu means to be distributed.
The baby in the mother’s womb develops in the jala or amritha. The Lord creates
life by distributing the jala.
And lastly, when we refer to Pauranic stories, we come across a story of Atri maharishi who is one of the sapta rishis. He performed a penance along with his wife Anusuya and obtained a boon to become parents to the Trimurthi’s – Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Narayana as Datta, Shiva as Durvasa, and Brahma as Soma are born to them, and the trinity is revered as Dattatraya. Soma or Moon is Brahma’s form and thus signifies creation.
285. Bhānuḥ:
Bhanu means the Sun.
Bhati iti bhanuh means he who shines is Bhanu
The sun gets its light from the Lord. Everything is illuminated by Him.
The Mundakopanishad says,
tameva bhaantamanubhaati sarvam, tasya bhasa sarvamidam vibhati,
which means, He illuminates everything in the universe, including the Sun
Bhanu not only means light but it also denotes heat. It is agni and hence
has the ability to burn. Anything that is burnt in fire becomes pure as all
impurities are reduced to ashes and only the pure substance remains.
Agni also signifies laya, it destroys and gives moksha.
In us, agni is present as jnanagni (the fire of wisdom), vaisvanara (the
fire of digestion) etc.
Bha means jnana; hence Bhanu also
represents knowledge.
He is the one who lights the fire of knowledge in us.
286. Śaśabinduḥ:
This derived from Sasha Pluta Gatau, meaning deviating from the path of
righteousness.
We must give up the evil thoughts that come to our mind and walk on the
right path.
Shasha eve bindu laanchanam asya asti iti shashabindu Chandra tadvat
prajah pushnaati iti shashabindu
The moon is called shashabindu because it has the mark of a rabbit. The
lord is the Moon because he gives life like the rays of the moon like we have
seen earlier.
We have also seen that the moon is compared to the mind. If the mind is in
control, the effects are beneficial otherwise it leads to our downfall and
takes us to adhogathi. The way to control the mind is to surrender it to our
intellect or buddhi.
287. Sureśvaraḥ:
We have seen earlier, Sura means devata; ishwara means the controller
One who is the Lord of all Devas and those who do good.
Suranaam devanaam shobhanadaatrunaam cha ishwarah.
Means, he is the lord of the suras who bless us with good things.
Here, it means – su + ra means mangala kara (su) + giver (ra)
If our mind is under control, it gives us good things or it benefits us.
288. Auṣadham:
We have seen that keeping the mind in control brings us benefits. But
sometimes despite our efforts, we may lose control of it. Then we need a cure
or aushadi for it. He is the aushadi for roga or disease caused by the mind.
Chanting or japa is an aushadi for all illnesses. Therefore it is said,
Govindeti sada snanam, Govindeti sada japam, Govindeti sada dhyanam, sada
Govinda keerthanam.
Samsara or this worldly existence is also equated with a roga called
bandhana, the disease of attachment. He is the only one who offers a cure or
medicine for this disease.
Samsaara roga bheshajatvaat aushadham
Ekagrataa moolya balena labhyam bhavaushaham tvam bhagwan.
One who is the Aushadha or medicine for the great disease of Samsara.
The word Aushadha means - Ausha ( heat of body) + daha (give)
As long as he gives warmth to the body, it is alive. When the heat is
gone, the body becomes cold and is said to be dead.
289. Jagataḥ setuḥ:
Setu means a bridge that is constructed over a river or ocean.
Earlier we have seen that the world we live in is called avara and the
world of the Lord is called Para. Parayana is the journey from one side of the
bank to another. In order to cross over to the other side, we need a setu or
bridge. He is that setu who helps us cross over to Him. He is the aid to go
across the ocean of Samsara
Also, the bridge helps to act as a barrier between good and evil thoughts. When
we surrender to Him, He doesn’t allow the evil thoughts to come in.
290. Satya-dharma-parākramaḥ:
He is truth, he is dharma or righteousness, he is valour or powress.
Satya + dharma + para + kramah
Satyam vada – speak the truth
Dharmam chara – through the knowledge of satya, walk on the path of
righteousness.
In the previous shloka, we have seen that He is in para. If we have to go
to the other side, he will build the bridge for us to cross over. This name
tells us that he will not only build the bridge but also give us the kramah
that is the path to reach there.
This entire verse talks about the mind. We must keep the mind in the control - keep it calm, like the moon. If we cannot control the mind and the mind is muddled he gives us the aushadi to cure us. He also builds the bridge so that we can cross over to Him and also shows the path.
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