3. Exposition of the Mahānāmnī Verses (महानाम्नीनां व्याख्यानम्)
Know, O Maghavan, know the path; indicate the directions. Grant aid, O lord of many powers, O possessor of much wealth.
And those beginning with “Know, O Maghavan,” and so forth.
“O Maghavan”—“O wealthy one,” “O renowned one,” or “O lord of the sacrifice.”
“They indeed call this very one, who possesses sacrifice, ‘Maghavan,’ indirectly. For the gods are, as it were, fond of the indirect and averse to the direct.” “With those, impel Indra to give bounty.” — Ṛgveda Saṃhitā 9/75/5
“May that come to us for bounty. Renown indeed is bounty. You shall attain bounty in turn.”
May bounty come to me. You will then attain bounty. Wealth indeed is bounty.
From scriptural passages such as these.
“To sing” means “to praise you.” Vid means “cause me to know.” Having stated in general the knowledge of everything desired, he requests what is desired at that time, saying, “Cause me to know how to praise you.” (त्वमेव अनुशंसिषो दिशः मार्गान्। आत्मनः स्तुतिप्रकारांस्त्वमेवोपदिशेत्यर्थः। पूर्वीणां भगवत्सम्प्रदायागतानां परमविद्यानामर्थे शिक्ष। शचीनां विद्यानां पते वाचां पत इति वा। पुरूवसो बहुवित्त बहुज्ञानेति वा। बहुषु वसति बहूनामावास इति वा)
With these petitions, O highly conscious one, awaken us, O Indra, for knowledge and nourishment. For Śakra is indeed just so.
With these supplications—seekings after you and prayers to you of this kind—awaken someone such as me; rouse him to awareness. O supremely conscious, omniscient Supreme Self, awaken us for brilliance—whether knowledge, wealth, or fame—and for nourishment, namely food. For Śakra is indeed of such a kind. Or: “Śakra alone.” He is Śakra because power and delight are his nature. (2)
For wealth and for food, O mover of Vajrin, O strongest, O wielder of the thunderbolt, you impel. O greatest, O wielder of the thunderbolt, you impel. Come hither, drink, and be exhilarated.
Rāye: “for riches”; vājāya: “for food.” Vajrivaḥ: because he causes Vajrin—Indra—to act; or because he proceeds as controller. Śaviṣṭha: “the most powerful,” or “the most endowed with bliss.” Ṛñjase: “you impel everyone.” The repetition “O mightiest, O wielder of the thunderbolt, you impel” serves to convey the intended purport. Matsva: “produce exhilaration.” (3)
Procure wealth and excellent heroic power. You became lord of progeny in accordance with wishes. O most bountiful wielder of the thunderbolt, you, who are the strongest among heroes, impel all.
Cause us to acquire—that is, cause us to obtain—riches and excellent heroic power. You became the lord of the vājas, namely, of progeny.
“Progeny is indeed vigor.” — Aitareya Āraṇyaka 2/2/2
Thus, because of the scriptural statement.
In accordance with desires—according to will.
“The verbal root means ‘to desire.’”
From the root so stated: “as one wills, as one desires.” The strongest in comparison with the warriors. (4)
You who are greatest among the illustrious, O knowing one, lead us on every side. Indra discerned everything; him alone I praise, for Śakra is the master.
The greatest among the illustrious, the renowned. “Cikitvaḥ” means “known,” or is in the agentive sense. Lead us on every side, from all directions. Indra knew and discerned everything. Him alone I praise. (5)
We invoke him for protection—the conqueror, the unconquered. May he carry us beyond our enemies. He is knowledge, will, truth, the Great.
“For aid” means “for protection,” or “for the accomplishment of an intention.” May he convey us beyond the hostile ones, the enemies—or beyond sins or darknesses. Kratu is of the nature of knowledge. Chandas is of the nature of will, because of being desirable or because of covering. Ṛta is known from all scripture. (6)
We invoke Indra, the unconquered victor, for the acquisition of wealth. May he carry us beyond enemies; may he carry us beyond destructions.
“For acquisition” means “for attainment”; “destructions” means “annihilations.” (7)
O wielder of the thunderbolt, place us within whatever happiness comes from you, the primordial one, O bountiful one. Your fulfillment, O mightiest one, is praised; Śakra indeed has power.
Place us in that favor—happiness—which comes from you, the primordial, beginningless existent one. Your fulfillment is praised. (8)
Surely now, place that new praise firmly, O lord of the people, slayer of Vṛtra. May you and I speak together among your other forms—you, the hero who becomes the object of cognitions, the supremely blissful friend without equal or superior.
You should properly place in the heart that praiseworthy Brahman through a person’s instruction. Let the two of us—you and I—speak together concerning your essential forms. He enters cognitions; he becomes an object of cognition. He is most gracious and exceedingly blissful, devoid of an equal or superior, and without a second.
Thus indeed—precisely thus indeed—O Agni! (1) Thus indeed—precisely thus indeed—O Indra! (2) Thus indeed—precisely thus indeed—O Viṣṇu! (3) Thus indeed—precisely thus indeed—O Pūṣan! (4) Thus indeed—precisely thus indeed—O gods! (5) Thus indeed Śakra is sovereign; indeed Śakra, according to his wishes. (6)
“So indeed—precisely so indeed” definitively affirms, with exceptional emphasis, the meaning stated in the form of a dialogue among the deities beginning with Agni. For repetition serves to convey the intended purport. “So indeed” means “precisely so indeed.”
“But when a dialogue has been definitively established, there is division among the speakers and indeed dramatic presentation as well.”
Thus, in the Śabdanirṇaya.
Hence such forms as the prolated call, “O Agni!” Śakra is indeed exactly so: “following his wishes” means that he acts independently as he wills.
Come indeed to the venerable one, O Manyus; approach indeed the venerable Manyu. Approach in every way. “Do you know, O Maghavan?” “Yes, I know.”
The verbal roots ay and pay are used in the sense of going.
From the root thus cited, āya is the act of going. As in the expression upo, the vowel o signifies intensification.
“O” is used in the sense of intensification.
And this too is a sūtra. One who knows āyas is Āyomanya; one who knows even what is situated nearby is Upomanya. For, because the other senses are turned outward, they do not know what is internal. This one, however, perceives even what is internal with direct awareness. Or, āyas is a distant object that is to be reached by going.
The verbal root man is used in the sense of understanding.
From the verbal root thus defined, “manyu” means “knower.” The repetition—“to the knower of external things, to the knower; to the knower of internal things, to the knower”—is indeed the intended meaning. “Come near” is addressed precisely to you, who are of such a kind and present in me. “Viśvadha” means “supporter of the universe.” Alternatively: “For knowledge, approach me—for me who cognizes you from nearby and from afar.”
“Addressing you alone, who are fully cognizant nearby and from afar and abide in me: Come near me, O Viṣṇu, for I have no power to summon you.” Thus Brahmā, dwelling in the lotus arisen from Viṣṇu’s navel, praised Viṣṇu.
Thus in the Padma Purāṇa.
“O Lord, come to me, who always meditate upon you, both nearby and from afar, to bestow knowledge,” the son of Gādhi said to Hari.
Thus in the Skānda.
Because the world is woven in him, Hari is always called “Om.” Ascetics worship him alone as the support of the world.
“Thus.” — Mānya-saṃhitā
3.1. Substantiation of the meaning of the term Mahānāmnī.
“Indra, indeed, being great, fashioned himself by means of these.” — Aitareya Brāhmaṇa 5/7
The meaning of this statement too is precisely the one already stated.
What is called “production” is the making known of oneself through the exposition of that. For otherwise, their status as instruments does not obtain.
“He who knows that shall be the father of his father.”
Thus says the Śruti.
“Three divisions are lodged in secret places; whoever knows that shall be the father of his father.” — Mahānārāyaṇa Upaniṣad 2/4
“Though they are females, they tell me that those are males. The one possessing eyes saw; the blind man did not discern. The son who is a poet-seer has understood these. Whoever knows them distinctly shall be his father’s father.” — Taittirīya Āraṇyaka, Aruṇa Praśna 51-52
According to śruti passages such as these, cognition alone is the formation of that.
“Indra generated one, Sūrya one; from Vena they fashioned one by their inherent power.” — Ṛgveda Saṃhitā 4/58/4
or an elucidation of passages such as this.
3.2. The meaning of an adjunct
“O discerning one,” “bring to clear awareness,” “come hither, drink, and rejoice,” “resolve, desire, truth, the great,” and “O beneficent one, bestow favor upon us”—these are upasargas. Parts too become upasargas in relation to the whole. They are upasargas because they are attached.
A subordinate element may be of two kinds, internally included and externally situated, like a hand and like a weapon; and likewise, in the case of words, like a prefix.
Thus, in the Śabdanirṇaya.
“He placed another in the belly; he was released forth, O discerning one.” (1)
O giver, make manifest to the one who praises the bounty of desirable wealth.
Be our impeller; come hither, drink, and rejoice.
We embrace you, that one—resolve, delight, the great truth.
That bounty of yours which gives wealth—bestow it upon us as favor, O Vasu.
With these words, he adds it.
3.3. The Meaning of the Laudatory Statement
The Mahānāmnī is praised with this purport: the upasarga must be joined only after recollection and thorough understanding of the meaning of the entire Mahānāmnī. Otherwise, the praise of the entire Mahānāmnī would be purposeless apart from praise limited to that much. By division into triads of verses…
“Know, O Maghavan …”; “him for aid …”; “now …”
Alternatively, the three Mahānāmnī verses are as thus stated.
“Whichever is the first Mahānāmnī, the terrestrial Hari is denoted by it; by the second, the Lord associated with the intermediate region; and by the third, the heaven-going Lord.”
Thus, in the Ṛk Saṃhitā.
The Mahānāmnī units comprise three three-ṛc units: the first consists of five ṛcs, the next of a three-ṛc unit and a two-ṛc unit, and the third is joined with seven nigada formulas. Thus there should be a threefold division in practices such as recitation and meditation.
And thus.
“The Ṣoḷaśin sacrificial rite was instituted by Hari, who moves throughout the three worlds. Knowing that Hari in this way and performing ritual action, one is not born.”
When it has proceeded thus…
Even the meaning of “Precisely so indeed, precisely so indeed” cannot be remembered without a full understanding of the previously stated meaning, since it has the form of the stated restrictive emphasis. One who knows thus becomes prosperous through the Ṣoḷaśin constructed in this way.
