Aum!
He that enters all things in the cosmos, besides Himself,
He that covers (pervades) all things,
He, unto whom sacrificial libations are poured,
He that is the lord of the past, the present and the future,
He that is the Creator (or Destroyer) of all existent things,
He that is the upholder of all existent things,
He that is the Existent,
He that is the Soul of all,
He that is the Originator of all things,
He that is of cleansed Soul,
The word putatman in the text means ‘of cleansed soul’. This implies that though He is the lord of all existent objects, yet He is dissociated from them.
He that is the Supreme Soul,
He that is the highest Refuge of all emancipated persons,
He that is the Immutable,
He that lies enclosed in a case,
The word purusha means one that lies in a pura or the nine-doored mansion, that is, the body.
He that is the Witness,
The word sakshi means ‘witness’ and implies that He sees all things directly, without any medium obstructing His vision.
He that knows the material case (body), in which He resides,
The word kshetrajna implies the chit lying within the body and it means one who knows the body. However, the body, being inert, is not cognizant of the chit it holds.
He that is the Indestructible,
He upon whom the mind rests during Yoga-abstraction,
He is called Yoga because of the mind resting upon Him while it is in yoga abstraction. Yoga, in other words, is union with the Divine in spirit.
He that is the guide or leader of all persons conversant with Yoga,
He that is the Lord of both Pradhana (Prakrti) and Purusa,
In Sankhya philosophy, Pradhana is another name for Prakrti, meaning Nature. All things have sprung from the union of Prakrti and Purusa. Visnu transcends Prakrti and
Purusa.
He that assumed a human form with a leonine head,
He assumed the human form with a lion’s head for slaying the asura Hiranyakasipu, the father of Prahlada.
He that is of handsome features and equipments,
He that is of beautiful hair,
He that is the foremost of Purusas,
He that is the embodiment of all things,
The word sarva implies the source of all existent and non-existent things and that in which all existent and non-existent things become merged at the universal dissolution.
He that is the Destroyer of all things,
He that transcends the three attributes of sattva, rajas and tamas, He that is the Motionless,
He that is the Beginning of all things,
He that is the Receptacle, into which all things sink at the universal dissolution,
He that is the Immutable,
He that takes birth at his own will,
The word sambhava signifies Him who takes birth at His own will. Acts cannot touch Him. The birth of all other things is determined by their acts in previous lives.
He that causes the acts of all living creatures to fructify (in the form of weal or woe),
The word bhavana signifies one who attaches to acts their respective fruits, that is, one in consequence of whom the weal and woe of all features flow as due to acts.
He that is the Upholder of all things,
He that is the Source, from which the primal elements have sprung,
He that is the Puissant One,
He in who is the unbounded Lordship over all things,
He that is the Self-born,
The word svayambhu implies one whose birth has not been determined by extraneous circumstances, or other influences than his one’s wish. On the other hand, the birth of
all other creatures is determined by forces extraneous to themselves.
He that gives happiness to His worshippers,
He that is the presiding Genius (of golden form) in the midst of the solar disc,
The word aditya may also mean the foremost one among the deities especially called the Adityas. They are twelve in number.
He that is the Lotus-eyed,
He that is the Loud-voiced,
He that is without beginning and without end,
He that upholds the universe (in the form of Ananta and others),
The word dhata may also imply One who upholds everything in the universe by multiplying Oneself infinitely.
He that ordains all acts and their fruits,
He that is superior to the Grandsire Brahma,
The word dhaturuttama may, besides, signify One who, as Chit, is superior to all elements like earth, water etc. which constitute all that is not-Chit.
He that is the Immeasurable,
The word aprameya literally means immeasurable. Shankara explains it thus: He has no such attributes such as sound, etc. In consequence, He is not an object of direct
perception by the senses. Nor can He be an object of inference, as a result of there being nothing to which belong the same attributes as His, etc. His inconceivability is the
foundation of His immeasurableness.
He that is the Lord of the senses, or
He that has curled locks,
The word hrishikesa implies the lord of the senses, meaning One who has One’s sense under complete control. It may also mean One who sways the senses of others, that is, causes them to exercise their functions.
