Mādhavāya namah
The guardian deities of the world continued, “These senses perceive only the visible world, however they fail to see You, O Lord. This entire visible world, comprising of five elements, has emerged from Your illusory power and exists solely within You. Nevertheless, You have an existence that is separate from this world. Although You are beyond the five elements, You shine with Your body that is made up of the five elements”.
Here it should be understood that the five elements are the carriers that demonstrate the Lord’s real, eternal truth. To put it differently, the five elements jointly bring to light the unfathomable energies of the Lord.
Thereafter, all the eminent sages (Yogeeshwara) who were present there, prayed, “O Lord, You are the real form of this entire universe! Accomplished Self-realized saints consider that all living beings in the creation, including them, have merged into You. None in this world is more dear to You, than such highly knowledgeable saints! They have unflinching devotion towards You. O Lord, please shower Your mercy upon us.
Jagad-udbhava-sthiti-layeṣu daivato bahu-bhidyamāna-guṇayātma-māyayā
Racitātma-bheda-mataye sva-saṁsthayā vinivartita-bhrama-guṇātmane namaḥ
This world has originated from the Supreme Lord’s illusory power. It is being sustained and protected by Him. Into Him, it will merge. Based on the person’s prarabdha karma (destiny), traits of goodness, passion and ignorance (trigunas), which emerge from this illusory power, combine and appear differently in different people. Thus, all varied differences that are seen in the world actually belong to the Supreme Lord.
While remaining in His original form, the Supreme Lord is the support to the three attributes of goodness, passion and ignorance that emerge from His illusory power and to the differences that exist in their proportions. To such Supreme Lord, we offer our obeisance”.
Lord Brahma, the embodiment of Vedas, now prayed, “
Namas te śrita-sattvāya dharmādīnāṁ ca sūtaye
Nirguṇāya ca yat-kāṣṭhāṁ nāhaṁ vedāpare ’pi ca
O Lord, You, who are predominantly composed of the traits of goodness (sattva guna), bestow upon people accomplishment in the four-fold aims of life (purusārtha). Nevertheless, inherently You are devoid of traits. Even I, who am an embodiment of knowledge, cannot fathom Your real form. Likewise, none in this creation is able to understand Your true essence, O Lord”.
Agni, the Lord of fire prayed, “Only due to Your effulgence, O Lord, I have been able to burn brightly. I carry the offerings dipped in ghee and offered, with total dedication by the priests, in the Yagna fire to the respective deities. Lord Srihari shines in the form of the five Yagnas viz., the Agnihotra, Darśa, Poorṇamāsa, Chaturmāsya and Somayāga. I offer obeisance to this Lord Srihari”.
Devatas prayed, “At the end of the period prior to this creation, when there was total dissolution, You absorbed into Yourself and retained in Your womb the sum total of the creation. In those waters of dissolution, You slept on the snake-bed called Adishesha. O Adi-nārayana, in their heart, accomplished beings meditate upon You as the form of their Self! Today You have made Yourself visible to us and are protecting us”.
Gandharvas prayed, “O personification of the Supreme Essence! You are our Lord. Marichi and other Prajāpatis, Devatas headed by Rudra, Indra and Brahma are Your incarnations. This Brahmanda (universal egg) is your sporting arena. At all times, we offer obeisance to You, the Supreme Lord.”
Vidyādhāras prayed, “This human body is a tool for accomplishing the four-fold aims of life. It can be obtained purely on the strength of meritorious deeds. Even after obtaining such human body, the wicked, giving in to their sensory and material desires, permit the body to traverse on the wrong path.
Being totally under the sway of illusion, such fools mistakenly consider their body to be their real Self. They get entangled within the poisonous trap called sensory pleasures. Only true devotee discards these pleasures and instead focuses upon Your nectarous stories. Through this he shreds the veil of illusion that has clouded his intellect”.
Brahmins now prayed, “O Lord, You are the Yagna ritual. You are the ingredients offered during the Yagna. You are the process of making these offerings. You are the fire; You are the firewood; You are the God; You are the mantra; You are the soma rasa; You are the Yagna-vessels, You are the clarified butter (ghee); You are the spoon with which ghee is offered; You are the sacrificial animal. The priests performing the Yagna, the devotees who are participating in the Yagna, the Yajamana and his wife- all are Your forms, O Lord”.
Govindāya namah
