Verse 56

 

अजो महार्हः स्वाभाव्यो जितामित्रः प्रमोदनः ।

आनंदो नंदनो नंदः सत्यधर्मा त्रिविक्रमः ।।

 ajō mahārhaḥ svābhāvyō jitāmitraḥ pramōdanaḥ |

ānandō nandanō nandaḥ satyadharmā trivikramaḥ ||

 

524. Ajaḥ:

A +ja means no birth. He is ajah because he has no birth or death

Na jayate iti ajah

Akaara vachyataya jatah

The sound 'A' signifies Mahavishnu. The first letter of the primordial pranava mantra AUM stands for Vishnu.

Ajati iti ajah

He is responsible for destroying the enemies hence he is ajah.

 

525. Mahārhaḥ:

He who is fit for worship for any occasion is Maharhav.

Maham pujanam arhati iti maharhah

There is no one else who is fit for worship or maha puja except him.

Hence our surrender is also unto him.

 

526. Svābhāvyaḥ:

Being eternally perfect He is naturally without a beginning.

Svabhavena eva abhavyah nitya nish

He has permanent glory or nitya nishpanna.

He is eternal and thus he has no beginning. He is omnipresent.

 

527. Jitāmitraḥ:

Jita + amitra

One who has conquered the inner enemies like attachment, anger, etc. as also external enemies too.

Avidya, kama, and karma are the three enemies. And they are present in three different roopas in our body.

Avidya is seated in karana sharira

Kama is seated in sookhsma sharira

Karma is seated in sthoola sharira

First avidya or ignorance must be destroyed through knowledge or jnana, then it destroys kama or desires then the karma will be destroyed.

 

528. Pramōdanaḥ:

Modanah means pleasure

He is always joyous as He is absorbed in immortal Bliss.

Pramodam karoti iti pramodnah

He fills the minds of the jivatma who has conquered these 3 amitras with joy and bliss. The lord gives supreme bliss or brahma anandam to the liberated souls and gives them moksha.

Dhyayinaam dhyanamatrena pramodam kaorti iti

He bestows pleasure to those who meditate on him through the act of meditation hence he is pramodanah.

 

529. Ānandaḥ:

His nature or form is Ananda or Bliss. He himself is pure joy.

Ananda svaroopam asya iti anandah

The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says that other beings enjoy only a part of the total happiness. 

Aanam (ana refers to mukhya prana; aanam refers to that which comes from mukhya prana ie. granthas) + dah (to give)

He gives us the wisdom to understand the knowledge of the Vedas and sashtras hence he is  anandah.

 

530. Nandanaḥ:

He is the one who gives delight to everyone around him.

Nandayati iti nandanah

His devotees experience bliss by meditating on him.

He gives us the pure bliss which is free of the accompanying grief.

 

531. Anandaḥ:

Aa +nandah (reduce or diminish) the pleasure does not diminish.

He observes us enjoying and that itself it brings him joy without actually enjoying anything himself.

It teaches us that if we are a witness only, the joy last forever. If we are the enjoyer, the happiness does not last for ever and is also followed by grief. It also tells us that pleasure arising from sense organs is not the permanent happiness.

Sukham vaishayikam naasya vidyate iti anandah

 

532. Satyadharmā:

Sat + tyat + dharma

He guides this body made of panch butas – sat (that which is visible – earth, water and fire) and tyat(that which is not visible – aakasha and vayu) to the path of dharma

He is an embodiment of qualities such as truth and righteousness.

In the Bhagavad Gita 18.66, the lord says,

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraja
ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi mā śhuchaḥ

Abandon all varieties of dharmas and simply surrender unto me alone. I shall liberate you from all sinful reactions; do not fear.

Satya (nirakaara nirguna) + dharma ( saguna)

 

533. Trivikramaḥ:

We have already seen this name of the Lord which tells us how he conquered the entire universe in three strides.

Here it refers to conquering the three gunas and become nistraigunya, as the Lord says in the Bhagavad Gita 2.45,

trai-gunya-visaya veda nistraigunyo bhavarjuna 

nirdvandvo nitya-sattva-stho niryoga-ksema atmavan

He stands above everything, having conquered all the triads – the three vedas (rig, yajur and sama), the three gunas (rajo, tamas, sattva), the three states (childhood, youth and old age) , three kalas(bhuta, bhavishya, vartamana) hence he is trivikramah.  

It also refers to the avasthatraya or the three states or three fields of experience ( jagruta, sushukta, svapna). Only when one goes beyond this one can attain the turiya state of infinite consciousness and helps to realise the Lord within.

Jai Shri Krishna!

Verse 55

 

जीवो विनयिता-साक्षी मुकुंदो-अमितविक्रमः ।

अम्भोनिधिरनंतात्मा महोदधिशयो-अंतकः ।। 

 jīvō vinayitāsākṣī mukundōmitavikramaḥ |

ambhōnidhiranantātmā mahōdadhiśayōntakaḥ || 

515. Jīvaḥ:

Jivati iti jiva.

The one who exists independently is jiva.  

He sustains us and lives in us jiva. We need this body to achieve our goal of reaching Him.

Pranaan kshetra rupena dharayan jiva uchyate

He as the prana, supports the body (kshetra) by giving it life hence he is called Jiva.

In the Bhagavad Gita 13.2 the lord says,

Idam shariram kauteya kshetram ity abdidhiate

Etad yo vetti tam prahuh kshetrajna iti tad vidah

The body is referred to as the field or kshetra and the one who knows this body well is called as knower of this field.

 

516. Vinayitā. 517. Sākṣhī:

We have seen that both the atma resides in us. The Kartratma performs the actions while the Pratyagatma simply observes.

The lord resides in us as sakshi and observes us and guides us as to what is right and wrong. When we surrender to him he vi naya ti (he specially leads us) in the right direction. He protects us and nourishes us and ensures that no harm comes to us.

518. Mukundaḥ:

He bestows Mukti or Liberation to his devotees.

Muktim dadati iti mukundah

When we surrender to him, he leads us to the path of liberation.

 

519. Amitavikramaḥ:

Krama means strides, vikrama means huge strides, amitavikrama means unmeasurable long strides, this name refers to the vama avatar or trivikrama avatar of lord Vishnu.

Amita means unmeasurable

The strides are so powerful that we are unable to understand it. Every stride of his is purposeful and leads us to moksha.  

His strength, power and might is unmeasurable hence he is amitavikrama.  

Amitam vikramanam shauryam asya iti vaa

He gives us liberation that is endless meaning that we are forever released from the cycle of birth and death. He helps us move from antha to anantha.

 

520. Ambhōnidhiḥ:

Ambho means water ; Ambhonidhi means ocean.

The Bhagavad Gita 10.24 says, sarasaam asmi sagarah

Among the reservoirs of water he is the ocean. Hence he is called ambhonidhi.

Ambhas means pancha bhuta

The five elements come from him and go back to him and he is ambhonidhi

He is the one in whom the Ambhas or all beings including Devas dwell.

Ambhaamsi devaadayah asmin nidhiyante iti ambhonidhi

Just like water is one of the most important element for sustaining life, he too sustains life and hence is ambhonidhi

Bhibharti iti ambhas. He resides in and bears the seven heavens above earth in his actual form hence he is ambhonidhi.

Similarly he also resides in our hrudaya and bears us hence he is ambhonidhi.

 

521. Anantātmā:

The pure consciousness that is spread everywhere and has no beginning or end.

He cannot be determined by space, time and matter and is present everywhere.

Deshatah kaalo vasutah cha aparicchannatvat anantha atma

All objects in this universe can be at only one place at one time ,but since the lord is not bound by time constraints and hence he can be omnipresent. He has no limitations of space, time or matter. Hence he is anantha atma.

He has taken uncountable roopas as innumerable atmas and hence he is ananthatma.

  

522. Mahōdadhi-śayaḥ:

Udhadhi means ocean, Mahodadhi a big milky ocean which refers to samasara sagara

Sayah means reclines

He reclines in this vast ocean of life. It does not imply that the lord sleeps. It means that he is in yoga nidra. After pralaya, he reclines on the waters in yoga nidra till it is time for creation of another universe.

Samhritya sarva bhutani ekaar navam jagat kritva adhishete mahodadhim iti

With reference to us too, He simply reclines in us and observes us with sakshi bhava. He does not participate in the karmas or activities of the universe.

He is also the one who pervades the ocean of knowledge hence also he is called Mahodadhishaya.

 

523. Antakaḥ:

He brings about the end of all beings.

Antam karoti bhutanaam iti antakah

He brings his creation to an end during pralaya just so that he can restart the creation all over again.

Unless we surrender to him, he will destroy only our body and we will have to go through the repeated cycle of life and death, and if we do then he liberates us.

 

In the Chandogya Upanishad, Svetaketu asks 9 question to his father-

One question he asks is, ‘’Everyone dies- both jnani and ajnani, so what is the difference?”

The answer to that was, ‘Both die but the process of dying and their destination after death is what differentiate jnani and ajnani’

 Jnani is liberated and ajnani is born again.

Antaka also means nirnayaka means one who gives a proper solution to our problems. Hence too he is called antaka.

 

Jai Shri Krishna!