॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Sunday, 18 September 2022 - The sixth chapter of the second Skandha- Lord Brahma describes the cosmic Virat Purusha.
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वाचां वह्नेर्मुखं क्षेत्रं छन्दसां सप्त धातवः। हव्यकव्यामृतान्नानां जिह्वा सर्वरसस्य च॥
T: “The Virat Purusha’s face is the source of speech, as well as fire. The seven Vedic metres (Gayatri, Ushnik, Anushtup, Brihati, Pankti, Trishtup and Jagati) also come from His face. His tongue gives rise to the sacrificial offerings made to the ancestors and gods (Havya and Kavya). The six varieties of taste (sweet, salt, sour, pungent, hot and astringent) as well as the organ of taste as well as the Lord of juices, Varuna, owe themselves to the same tongue.”
Lord Brahma continues in this vein, describing how in His nostrils originate the Pranas, Lord Vayu, the faculty of smell, the Ashwini twins, herbs and fragrances. His eyes cause all brilliance, His eyelids host the sun and moon, His ears contain the faculty of hearing, sound and the skies, His body being the entity that holds all the clues to every kind of beauty in this universe. His skin holds the secret of touch and all Yajnas, His hair is the origin of all trees and plants as well as clouds. His beard is lightning, His nails hold rocks and minerals. His three steps are nothing but the three Lokas- Bhuh, Bhuvah and Svah. His feet are the ultimate refuge as well as the key to liberation. His generative organs hold semen and rain and sexual pleasure. Yama and Mitra reside in His anus, also the source of excretion.
The Lord’s buttocks hold inauspiciousness, slaughter, death and hell. His back hold defeat, ignorance and unrighteousness. His blood vessels are rivers, His bones, mountains, His stomach holds the ocean and dissolution, His heart holds the minds of all creatures.
In the Virat Purusha’s Chitta originates Brahma, Narada, the Sanaka brothers, Rudra, Rishis, and a long list of devatas as well as Dharma. The Purusha holds all the past present and dissolved beings as well as matter and energy.
स्वधिष्ण्यं प्रतपन् प्राणो बहिश्च प्रतपत्यसौ। एवं विराजं प्रतपंस्तपत्यन्तर्बहिः पुमान्॥
T: “Thus, Oh, Narada, this Virat Purusha is the material cause of all, immanent, transcendent, just as the sun gives all heat and light by spreading them everywhere and is yet above them both.”
“He is immortal, self-sufficient, fearless, imperishable.”
पादेषु सर्वभूतानि पुंस: स्थितिपदो विदु: । अमृतं क्षेममभयं त्रिमूर्ध्नोऽधायि मूर्धसु ॥
T: “Know that just in His feet reside all men and creatures, which also hold the key to prosperity as well as liberation! He it is that grants welfare, immortality, protection, and yet transcends all the three Lokas mentioned.”
“The ordinary person dwells and enjoys in Bhuh, Bhuvah and Svah. On the other hand, the Brahmacharin, Vanaprasthin and Sannyasin go to higher lokas like Satyaloka, Tapoloka and so on, by practising continence (austerity and self-abnegation). That path also leads to Moksha. The first path, for the ordinary person, stems from Avidya. The second path is from Vidya. Both are His will indeed and from Avidya one graduates to Vidya.”
“When I was created out of His navel, only the yajna materials could be found. I later explored the Virat Purusha and procured all else (listed so far) from Virat Purusha Himself and then made a sacrificial offering back to Him. Then came all of you and made similar sacrifices.”
“All creation is in Narayana, who manifests Himself by combining with the three Gunas to create the variegated existence. Being directed by Narayana, I create all the forms and beings, and Rudra dissolves all. Narayana Himself protects and nurtures all in the middle as Maha Vishnu”.
“Oh, Narada, I hope I have answered your queries. I speak no untruth ever and never make a wrong move as I am totally surrendered to His will. Yet let me emphasise I know almost nothing of Maha Vishnu. This is despite my being the embodiment of all Vedas! I can only offer my obeisance to Him. Vishnu’s Maya is so vast! “
नाहं न यूयं यदृतां गतिं विदुः न वामदेवः किमुतापरे सुराः। तन्मायया मोहितबुद्धयसत्विदं विनिर्मितं चात्मसमं विचक्ष्महे॥
T: “Dear Narada, Not I, nor you, nor my other children, nor Rudra Shiva, can ever understand His true nature, what to speak of other gods! Deluded by His Maya, we can perhaps grasp only this created world, and even that as limited by our intellect.”
“All creation stems from Him, the Virat Purusha. He is transcendent. All we see are His expressions. I shall now take up Maha Vishnu’s Lilavataras.”
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॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
