अच्युतः प्रथितः प्राणः प्राणदो वासवानुजः ।
अपाम निधिरधिष्टानम् अप्रमत्तः प्रतिष्ठितः ।।
320. Acyutaḥ:
Aa + chuti. The one who never falls down from glory or never slips down
from his position. Which means he does not have any negative qualities. He is
devoid of kama, krodha, moha, etc. He also has no defects with respect to
space, time attributes, or anything else.
It also means that he is free of the shadbhaava or 6 stages of transformation (birth, existence, growth, change, decay, and death) that mortals undergo. Hence he is called Achyuta.
Shadbhaava vihara rahitatvaat Achyuta.
He takes avatara when he comes into the world and he attains niryaana
when he decides to leave the world.
320. Prathitaḥ:
Prathithah means prasiddhi or fame.
Jagat utpattyaadi karmabhih prakyaatah pratitah
One who is famous because of His works like creation of the universe.
321. Prāṇaḥ:
Prana means that which moves. He moves in us as Chaitanya and controls
us as prana. We cannot control prana, we are in control of it.
The lord however has the prana in his control and hence he can take
avatar and niryana as he wishes.
The Bhagavad Gita says, Pranova aham asmi. Meaning he is the Chaitanya
present in everyone. He is the life force in everyone.
Sutraatmana prajah pranayati iti pranah
Just like in a garland, the thread is not visible, only the flowers are
visible, yet without the thread binding the flowers together, we cannot have a garland,
we would just have a handful of flowers, similarly, he lives in us as prana and
though we cannot see him, if there is no prana we would cease to exist.
He is the life force present in all living creatures.
Pra + na also means full of bliss. He gives us complete bliss when we
immerse ourselves in Him.
322. Prāṇadaḥ:
Praanam dadati iti vaa, one who gives prana
Pranaan dyati iti , one who takes away prana
Suraanaam asuranaam cha praanam balam dadati dyati vaa iti pranadah
One who bestows Prana, that is, strength, on Devas and Asuras and also
destroys them by withdrawing it or taking it away when we have completed our
karmas.
He also lights the prana. He is agni and just like agni purifies
everything, he also purifies us.
323. Vāsavānujaḥ:
One who was born as younger brother of Indra (Vasava) and helped him get
the nectar which he desired.
Vasava comes from vasati which means to reside. And ja means to live.
He lives in us through our prana.
The lord takes avatar as the younger brother of Indra. Though he has
created Indra, he takes an avatar as his younger brother. He not only creates but also sustains
what he has created.
Similarly, even in the jivatatma, He gives prana and keeps the body
alive so that it can serve as a tool and perform the karma it is supposed to
perform.
He gives us prana and through this prana, we say that the paramatma also resides
in us. Hence both the atmas are in us.
Kartratma is the jivatma. It is the one which performs its karma and is
the karta.
Pratyagatma is the paramatma, which lives in us as our Chaitanya and
observes us.
This is better explained in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad which tells us
about two birds on a tree.
Dvau suparna sayuja sakhaya samanam vruksham parishvajaate,
Tayoranya pippalam svadvattyana snannanyo abhichakashiti.
Dvau suparna, the two birds, sit on the tree. One bird is attracted to
the fruits on the tree and enjoys the fruits. The other bird just observes the
other bird in sakshi bhava, without judgement.
The tree is our body. The two birds are jivatama and paramatma. The
jivatma and is attracted to and enjoys the fruits, and is the kartratma. The other
bird is paramatma, which just observes the jivatma and is the pratyagatma. The
fruits are karma phala which the jivatama is enjoying. Paramatma is watching
with Sakshi bhava. If the jivatma gives
up the karma and karma phala it becomes similar to paramatma.
It is possible to give up karma only through jnana. Jnana or knowledge destroys
kama or desires and that takes away the karma.
Hence he is called Vasavanuja because both the atma are present in us.
The paramtama resides in Vaikunta – vi (no) + kunta (dosha). The place
where Lord Vishnu resides, there is no dosha. If the body becomes vaikunta, is
free of dosha, paramatma will reside in us.
Also, Indra means idam dra, that is our karmedriyas and jnanendriyas.
The lord controls our indriyas and resides in us, leading to destroying
kama krodha etc.
This name tells us that we must do nidhidyasana, to search for the lord within
us.
Another interpretation is,
Vasati sarvatre vaaste sarvam iti va vasuh ishvarah
Vasoh idam vasavam sarvam jagat
Vasavam jagat anujato anupravishto vasavanujah
He is present in everything in this universe and is the controller of
everything that happens in the universe. The lord has entered everything that
is in this universe and hence he is Vasavanuja.
324. Apāṁ nidhiḥ:
Apo means water ; nidhi means wealth
Aapo yatra nidheeyante sah apaannidhih.
He is the source of all the water in the universe.
Water is life, without it, there is no life.
It tells us about the nature of water, which is to flow. This is reflective
of the mind which also keeps flowing with the thoughts. Just like water finally
flows into the ocean, the mind should also flow towards the Lord. That then
becomes the goal of parayana, to flow towards para.
The ocean is the source of water, through evaporation, condensation, and
rain, the water turns into rivers and then all rivers flow back into the ocean.
Similarly, we must not forget that our final destination is the ocean which is
the feet of the Lord.
325. Adhiṣṭhānam:
Adishtana means the base or foundation, the seat or support for
everything.
Just like the foundation is very important for a strong structure, he is
the foundation on which the entire creation rests.
Adhitishtani bhootani upaadaana kaarnatvena bramheti adhisthanam.
Brahma shakti of the Lord is the primary cause for creation. It is the
foundation of creation.
This name means that the mind keeps flowing, but we can train it to
become a foundation or base which gives it a direction to move towards God.
326. Apramattaḥ:
Apramatta means the one who does not lose consciousness or is always
vigilant.
Adhikaaribhyah karmaanuroopam phalam prayacchan na pramaadyati iti
apramattah.
One who is always vigilant in awarding the fruits of actions or karma to
those who deserve them.
We must also be vigilant about the thoughts that enter our mind. If we
stay aware, negative thoughts or undesirable thoughts will not enter the mind.
This can be achieved by surrendering to him and chanting his name.
327. Pratiṣṭhitaḥ:
Tishta means to stand steady in one place.
Sve mahimimni sthitah pratisthithah
One who is supported and established in His own greatness.
If we want to describe someone’s greatness, we could measure their wealth or fame. But if we have to describe the Lord’s greatness, it is not dependent on any such impermanent things. It is as expansive as the akasha which surrounds everything. We cannot calculate how big the Akasha is. He does not depend on anything external to measure his greatness. Hence we must learn that instead of depending on impermanent things to measure our worth, we must depend on the one who is permanent in this universe.
Mahi in the above shloka means great. Hence, he is the one who stands in his own greatness.
We have no identity of our own because we have to be measured against something else. We are not unique. If we have to be unique we must see the Lord in ourselves. When we identify ourselves as ‘Aham brahmasmi’ or I’m Brahma, then we also realise that everyone is brahma. Then we see ourselves in our own dimension.
That is when we can attain moksha.
Jai Shri Krishna!
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