विक्षरो रोहितो मार्गो हेतु: दामोदरः सहः ।
महीधरो महाभागो वेगवान-अमिताशनः ।।
365. Vikṣaraḥ:
Kshara means decay and destruction
One who is without Kshara or destruction.
Vigatah kshara nashyo yasyasau viksharah
He does not decay and undergo destruction, but our body is temporary. We
are time bound, and the time we have on earth is limited. Hence before we
complete our time we must make the best use of it and take steps to reach our
goal ie towards Him.
366. Rōhitaḥ:
Rohita means rohana or arohana means to climb. We must begin our ascent
towards Him.
Rohita also means red hued fish. This also refers to the matsya avatara
of the Lord where he took avatara as a red hued fish called Rohitha.
Svacchandatya rohitaam murthi matsyamurthi va vahana rohitah
This red colour also refers to the red colour inside the lotus, the
colour of dawn.
Kamala garbhatvaat rohitah
Rohita is obtained from the root ‘ruh’.
Blja janmani pradurbhave cha
That which grows, increases, rises, reaches and gives.
Pradurbhavati iti rohitah
He who causes all beings to express themselves.
We also find the word rohita when describing the three colours
corresponding to the three phases of creation.
ajam
ekam lohita-sukla-krishnam bahvih prajah srijamanam
sarupah
ajam ekam means the one who is unborn
rohita/ lohita
means red signifying srishti
Krishna means black signifying laya
Shuklam means white signifying sthithi
We prefer to be in white ie. in stithi.
But we must not forget that creation is cyclical. White changes to black
then it changes to red.
Hence we must work towards completing our karma before the stage
changes.
367. Mārgaḥ:
We realise that we have to start our climb towards Him, but we need a
path and the direction to walk on that path. Margah means that He himself is
our path and he shows us that path himself.
Hence we can say,
Mumukshavah tam devam maargayanti iti margah.
Or, He is sought after by those seeking Moksha or Liberation. He leads
us to the path of bliss.
Paramandah yena prapyate sa margah iti vaa
We can also say,
Maargayate iti maargah
He shows the path hence he is margah.
Just like if someone wants to know the path to our house, we are best
suited to show the way, similarly, He shows the path to reach Him because it is
the path to his abode.
368. Hetuḥ:
He is called Hetuh because he is the karana or cause for everything.
Upadaanam nimittam cha kaaranam sa eva iti hetuh.
The Taraka Shastra tells us about
two kinds of causes or karanas:
Upadana karana and nimitta karana
For eg. To make a pot we need two causes – the
material (clay) – upadana karana and the maker (potter) – nimitta karana
He is both the causes, he is the material and
he is the maker. He is one who is both the instrumental and the material cause
of the universe.
He is the purusha and the prakruthi, he is the cause and effect.
369. Damodaraḥ:
Damodhara means Dama + udara
Dama means rope and Udara means stomach
We are instantly reminded of the story of bala
Krishna. Mother Yahsodha binds the mischievous Krishna with a rope tied around
his stomach to punish him for troubling her.
Daamnaa udare baddha iti damodhara.
But if we understand the story properly, we
realise that it was not Krishna who was tied up but he tied up everyone with
his love.
Also, Udare daamaani asya iti damodara.
The entire universe is in his belly or He has
kept us in his stomach. He shows the entire universe in his mouth when his
mother chides him for eating mud.
There is yet another meaning which would be
very apt.
Damadi sadhanena udaraa uthkrishta matih ya
tayaa gamyata iti damodharah.
It means that the one who can keep his mind in
control, allows his buddhi to guide him in the right direction and train it to
reach the Lord.
Dama if read in reverse is mada. Mada means ego
or false pride. To keep our mind in control, we have to control our
jnanendriyas. This destroys aham or ego.
Udara means uth (to lift up or elevate) + ara
(darkness or dosha)
When we control our mind by controlling our
indriyas, we are able to elevate ourselves above all doshas.
370. Sahaḥ:
Sarvaan abhibhavati kshamate iti vaa sahah.
Sahah means he withstands or bears whatever we
do. It also means he forgives all our sins.
When we surrender to him, he forgives the dosha
due to our indriyas and due to our karmas.
371. Mahīdharaḥ:
We have seen earlier, that he is called dharanidhara because he bears
the earth on his snout.
Mahi also means bhumi. But here the meaning is a bit different. He props
up the earth in the form of mountain.
Maheem giri rupena dharati iti mahidhara.
Why the mountains have been chosen to describe this name is because
mountains sustain the earth in more ways can we can imagine. Destroying
mountains can cause large scale destruction of the earth.
Maha can be split as ma (signifies aham or ‘I’) + ha (means hanti or
destroy)
He destroys our aham. When there is no aham, we realise that we don’t
have any identity of our own and we are a part of him.
372. Mahābhāgaḥ:
Maha means great ; Bhaga means part
He is poorna swaroopi. He is complete.
We are just part of the full. All
the small parts of the universe together make the mahabhaga which is him and he
cannot be broken into parts.
He is Poorna.
Shad gunas – he is complete with all the six
gunas hence he’s mahabhaga.
373. Vegavān:
Vega means speed. One who acts at lightning speed
is Vegavan.
Whenever we need Him and call out to him for
help, he responds to it at lightning speed and comes to our rescue. The puranas
tell us many such incidents- Gajendra moksham, Draupadi vastraharan, etc where he came at lightning speed to help his
devotees.
Therefore he is, Vego javah tadvaan vegavaan
Anajadekam manso javeeyah
He remains rooted yet his speed is faster than
our mind. Hence we find it so difficult to understand him.
As mortals we have seen that our time here is
limited, so we must not waste any opportunity to realise him.
374. Amitāśanaḥ:
A (not)+ mita (extinguishable) ; amita means unextinguishable
Ashana means food
If taken
literally we could say, he who has an unextinguishable or enormous appetite.
Amitam ashnati iti amitashana.
But if we pause to reflect, we realise that it
means, He has given us sufficient ashana or ahara which means food for all the
indriyas to see, hear, consume etc. This ahara is unlimited. We must be
thoughtful about what we should partake, we must consume only that which helps
us attain him.
Another interpretation is,
Samhaara samaya vishvam ashnati iti amitashana
He consumes the entire universe at the time of
laya or dissolution.
A third way to look at it is, Amita + asha + na
Unlimited + desires + give away
We have lot of/ unlimited desires. We must give
away or do away with undesirable wants - those desires that take us away from
Him.
Jai Shri Krishna!
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