Sampoorna Mahabharata • సంపూర్ణ శ్రీమహాభారతము • Episode 739

Episode 739: BG Chap 10

anantaścāsmi nāgānāṁ varuṇo yādasāmahampitṝṇāmaryamā cāsmi yama ssanyamatāmaham‖29

Among nagas I am Ananta. Among deities for water bodies, I am Varuna. Among Pitrdevatas, I am Aryama. Among those who regulate beings, I am Yama.

Among naga-serpents, He should be meditated as Ananta/Shesha. Puranas state that he holds the earth on 1 of his hoods as effortlessly as one holds a mustard seed & that earthquakes occur when he moves it from 1 head to another. Meditating on him as Paramatma grants Anima, Garima siddhis.

Varuna is the Lord for the west, for waters & aquatic creatures. By meditating on him, stomach disorders vanish.

Among ancestors (pitris), Aryama must be worshipped as Paramatma. In death ceremonies, the bhokta should be considered as Paramatma & fed sumptuously. Pitris are happy when death ceremonies are completed with the belief, ‘Annam brahma, bhōktā ca brahma, aham ca brahma’- the food, the bhokta & I are Parabrahma.

Among those who regulate (samyama), He is Yama. Yama is partial only to dharma & not be beings. Based on one’s merits & sins, he blesses or punishes.

prahlādaścāsmi daityānāṁ kālaḥ kalayatāmahammṛgāṇāṁca mṛgendrohaṁ vainateyaśca pakṣiṇām‖30
Among daityas I am Prahlada. Among those who count, I am the Lord of time (Kāla). Among wild animals, I am the lion. Among birds, I am Garuda.

Diti’s sons are Daityas. Due to curse of Sanaka and other Maharshis, Jaya-Vijaya were born as Diti’s sons Hiranyakashipu & Hiranyaksha. Hiranyakashipu’s son Prahlada was the best among Srihari’s devotees.

Prahlāda nārada parāśarapunḍarīka
Vyasāmbarīṣa śukaśounaka bhīṣma dālbhyān
Rukmangadārjuna vasiṣṭa vibhīṣanādiṃ
Puṇyānimān paramabhāgavatānsmarāmi   
 
Prahlada’s name is first in this list of Srihari’s greatest devotees. He proved that to obtain Bhagavan’s grace, devotion is important, not birth in a particular species. Daityas are cruel & filled with tamas. To uplift them He incarnated amidst them as Prahlada.
Can Bhagavan & his devotee be the same? But to perceive His Universal form, it is essential to know that He pervades everywhere. Those who segregate as Lord & disciple cannot perceive the Universal form.

Among those who count, Bhagavan is time. Time is animesha (does not blink). He counts the lifespan of beings. Everyone is in its control.

Among animals he must be meditated as a lion (mrgendra).

Vinata’s son is Vainateya/Garuda. He fought with the Devatas, procured nectar & freed his mother from slavery. With intense austerities in Kashi he became Srihari’s vehicle. If Maha-vishnu is the space, Garuda is the wind due to which we hear sound.

Among the 5 elements, the first that is experienced is wind. Wind sustaining space implies wind exists almost in all places where space exists. There is some space without wind. That space is Paramatma.

Vinata means humble. Her son is Vainateya. Unless humility exists, we cannot obtain Paramatma’s grace.


pavanaḥ pavatāmasmi rāmaśśastrabhṛtāmahamjhaṣāṇāṁ makaraścāsmi srotasāmasmi jāhnavī‖31

Among those that purify I am the wind. Among those who held weapons I am Srirama. Among aquatic animals I am crocodile. Among flowing rivers I am Ganga.

Pranayama destroys all sin. Shastras say that there is no greater repentance than Pranayama done till the time the body trembles slightly. With pranayama, mind attains purity. Wicked thoughts are kept at bay. Ekagrata increases. Good health is obtained. Wind is the support for pranayama. Hence it must be considered as Paramatma’s form.

Vedas say- Namastē vāyō tvamēva pratyakṣam brahmāsmi- O Wind! Obeisance to you. You are Parabrahma’s form.

It can also be said that among those that move I am the wind. Vayu is also known as Sadāgati. In moving swiftly nothing surpasses it.

Shastra means weapon. Among those who held weapons, He is Srirama.

Some commentators say that Rama here refers to Parashurama. Bhagavan can be meditated in that form too. Yet, as he says- Rama who always holds weapons- it is Srirama. Parashurama, after encounter with Rama abandoned weapons. Hence interpreting Rama as Srirama is appropriate.

Among aquatic animals, He should be meditated as a crocodile. That which is difficult to catch & which cunningly catches its prey is makara. It was the cause for Shankara Bhagavadpada to take up Sanyasa. It was divine will that he should take sanyasa and uplift the world.

Among rivers (srotas), He must be meditated as Ganga. To liberate his great-grandfathers, Bhagiratha pleased Ganga with austerities. As he moved swiftly on his chariot, she rushed forcefully behind. Within a second, she submerged Maharshi Jahnu’s ashram on her path. The angered Jahnu gulped the waters. On Bhagiratha’s request he released her from his ears. As Jahnu’s daughter, Ganga became Jahnavi.

Those who have no opportunity to bathe in Ganga, should chant ‘Ganga Ganga’ & bathe to get the same merit.