Mahabharata Anushasna Parva Chapter 17:3

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Mahabharata Anushasna Parva (Dana Dharma Parva) Chapter 17:3

Hear me recite those thousand and eight names of the great Sarva. Hearing those names, O foremost of all men, thou shalt be crowned with fruition in respect of all thy wishes,—Om! thou art Immobile, thou art Fixed, thou art Puissant, thou art Terrible, thou art Foremost, thou art boon-giving, and thou art Superior.[1] Thou art the Soul of all creatures, thou art celebrated over all creatures, thou art all things, thou art the Creator of all, and thou art Bhava.[2] Thou art the bearer of matted locks on thy head. Thou wearest animal skins for thy vestments. Thou wearest a crest of matted hair on thy head like the peacock. Thou art he who has the whole universe for thy limbs.[3] Thou art the Creator of all things.
Thou art Hara in consequence of thy being the destroyer of all things. Thou art he that has eyes resembling those of the gazelle. Thou art the destroyer of all creatures. Thou art the supreme enjoyer of all things. Thou art that Pravritti whence all actions flow. Thou art that Nivritti or abstention from acts. Thou art observant of fasts and vows, thou art Eternal, thou art Unchangeable. Thou art he that residest in crematoria, thou art the possessor of the six well-known attributes of Lordship and the rest, thou residest in the heart of every creature, thou art he that enjoys all things with the senses, thou art the grinder of all sinful creatures.[4] Thou art he that deserves the salutations of all, thou art of great feats, thou art he that has penances for his wealth, thou createst all the elements at thy will, thou concealest thy real nature by putting on the guise of a lunatic. Thou art the Master of all the worlds and of all living creatures. Thou art of immeasurable form, thou art of vast body, thou art of the form of Righteousness, thou art of great fame, thou art of high Soul, thou art the Soul of all creatures, thou hast the universe for thy form.[5] Thou art of vast jaws (for thou swallowest the universe when the time comes for the dissolution of all things). Thou art the protector of all the lokas (the worlds). Thou art the soul residing in the inner heart and as such devoid of ahamkara originating from ignorance[6] and is one and undivided; Thou art anandam (gladness). Thou art he whose car is borne by mules. Thou art he that protects Jiva from the thunderbolt of rebirth. Thou art adorable. Thou art obtained by purity and self-restraint and vows. Thou art again the refuge of all kinds of vows and observances including purity and self-restraint.[7] Thou art the celestial artificer that is conversant with every art. Thou art Self-create (for no one has created thee). Thou art the beginning of all creatures and things. Thou art Hiranyagarbha, the Creator of all things. Thou art inexhaustible puissance and felicity.[8] Thou hast a hundred eyes, thou hast eyes of vast power. Thou art Soma.

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References

  1. ↑ Both Sthira and Sthanu imply immutability or freedom from change.
  2. ↑ The commentator explains that Bhava is here used in the sense of that from which all things now and into which all things merge when the universal dissolution comes. Or, it may imply, mere existence, without reference, that is, to any attribute by which it is capable of being described or comprehended.
  3. ↑ i.e., Virat or vast or Infinite.
  4. ↑ The task of rendering these names is exceedingly difficult. In the original, many of these names are such that they are capable of more than one interpretation. The commentator often suggests more than one meaning.
    Each name would require a separate note for explaining all its bearings. Niyata is literally one who is observant of fasts and vows and who has restrained his senses. Hence it means an ascetic. Mahadeva is an ascetic. Smasanu is either a crematorium, the place where dead creatures lie down, or, it may mean Varanasi, the sacred city of Siva, where creatures dying have not to take rebirth. Siva is both a resident of crematoria and of Varanasi.
  5. ↑ Or, the universe is displayed in thee.
  6. ↑ . Probably, what is said here is that Mahadeva is the Pratyag Soul free from ignorance.
  7. ↑ By Niyama is meant purity both internal and external, contentedness, with whatever is got, penances, Vedic studies, meditation on the Deity, etc.
  8. ↑ Nidhi implies the largest number that can be named in Arithmetical notation. Hence, it implies, as the commentator correctly explains, the possessor of inexhaustible felicity and gladness.