Mantra Pushpam -- Part 2

[Guest guest]

FOURTH DAY OF NAVARATHRI--1996

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Dear Sri Vijay Srinivasan and fellow members

of the Prapatthi/Bhakthi group :

 

It gives me great pleasure to attempt a translation of

the majestic and marvellous mantras of Mantra Pushpam .

The effort to translate this extraordinary conception of

the centrality of "Aapaa: " is equivalent to describing the

wind-blown fragrance of a divine flower.May this meager

attempt be blessed by the Veda Purushan invoked by the

Rks of Purusha ,NarayaNa and VishNu Sookthams !

 

An introduction to Manra Pushpam was covered in the earlier

posting ( May 14, 1996 ). Sri Vijay Srinivasan kindlly recovered

that for me and forwarded it .For the sake of continuity , I will

summarize what I referred to in that posting and

add a few more points here to serve as a prelude to

the observations onnthe individual rks of Mantra Pushpam ..

 

INTRODUCTION

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The mantras of Mantra Pushpam are part of the Surya Namaskara

Prasnam (SNP) of the Taittiriya Aaranyakam . There are 32 anuvaakaas

(sections ) in Surya Namaskara Prasnam. The eighth anuvaakam

is a prelude to the concepts enshrined in the text of Mantra

Pushpam that we find as the twenty second anuvaakam of SNP .

The twenty ninth anuvaakam of Maha NarayanOpanishad of

KrishNa Yajur Vedam is another excellent reference to the

subject matter of Mantra Pushpam .

 

The anuvaakams preceding the eighth of SNP deal with the

measures of TIME . The eighth anuvaakam starts off by staing

that all of the units of TIME enter in to WATER , which in turn

enters into AGNI , which ultimately merges with the energy of

Surya Murthy at whose center is Sriman Narayana . The eight

forms of Agni merging as one with Surya Murthy is also covered

in this anuvaakam .

 

The 22nd anuvaakam celebrated in Bhagavad AarAdhanam

daily deals with WATER as the most fundamental of " ELEMENTS ".

The relationship between WATER and MOON , AGNI , SURYA ,

VAYU , STARS and TIME are described and celebrated here .

The Mantra Drishtaa visulaizes the entire world as floating in the

immensity of WATER . The Mantra Pushpa Rks are linked with the

most sacred AruNa Kehukam rites . There are 12 panchasats

( individual mantrAs) in this anuvAkam .

 

Mahaa NaarayaNOpanishad : Twenty Ninth Anuvaakam

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

*

The above anuvaakam summarizes the thoughts that are

elaborated in the Mantra Pushpam . Hence we will study this

anuvaakam first . The text of the AnuvAkam is as follows :

 

aapOHO vaa idhagum sarvam viswaa bhuthaanyApa: prANaa

vaa aapa: pasava aapOannamApOamrutamApa ; samradApO

viradApa: svarAdApaschandhAgum syApO jyothigumshApO

yajugumshyApa: satyamApa: sarvA devathA aapO bhur bhuva:

suvarApa Om II

 

Swami Vimalanndha's excellent translation following

that of SayanA and BhattabhAskara is provided below :

 

" VERILY ALL THIS IS WATER . ALL THE CREATED BEINGS

ARE WATER .THE VITAL BREATHS IN THE BODY ARE WATER.

QUADRUPEDS ARE WATER. EDIBLE CROPS ARE WATER .

AMBROSIA IS WATER. SAMRAAT IS WATER . VIRAAT IS WATER.

SVARAAT IS WATER . THE METRES ARE WATER. THE LUMINARIES

ARE WATER. VEDIC FORMULAS ARE WATER. TRUTH IS WATER .

ALL DEITIES ARE WATER . THE THREE WORLDS DENOTED BY

BHUH : BHUVAHA: AND SUVAHA : ARE WATER. THE SOURCE OF

ALL THESE IS THE SUPREME DENOTED BY THE SYLLABLE OM ."

 

Swami Vimalanda points out here that the Para Brahman is eulogized as

WATER ( aapa: ).His resplendent and multifaceted effulgence is

referred to in this rk as Samraat( perpetually shining ) ,

Viraat ( manifoldly shining ) and Svaraat ( self-luminous)

according to Bhattabhaskara .

 

Sayana intreprets Saamrat as " SuthrAtmA HiraNyagarbha:" .

Viraat as the "BrahmANda dEha Purusha :" visualized

by the Purusha Sooktham . . Svaraat is intreprepreted

by Sayana as " avyAkruthAbhimAni Iswara: ". Sayana

concludes with a reference to the revelatory statement

of this rk as " apAm mula KaaraNam PraNava Prathipadhyam

Brahmaiva " . The source of all these (described in this rk

such as vital breaths, the three worlds et al ) is the Supreme ,

denoted by the syllable OM . This then is an apt introduction

to the thoughts elaborated in the Mantra Pushpam rks.

 

Sequel to Mantra Pushpam: the 7th anuvAkam of SNP

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *