Bhashya
युक्तम् ।न तावद्विशिष्टामुपासनां ससागरशब्दस्तावदाह, किंतु बद्धक्रमके पदार्थजाते तदादिन्यायेन सूचयति ।तदन्यविशेषणत्वेनैकवाक्यत्वेऽपि समानम् ।तस्माद्वद्धक्रमकमुपासनं प्रथमत एव सागरशब्दोपादानात्क्षीरोदार्णवपूर्वकं विज्ञेयम् ।ततश्चायमर्थः ।तत्साम्नः तस्या न्यस्ताया अनुष्टुभो न्यस्तस्य च साम्नः प्रथमं पादं क्षीरोदार्णवशायिनः उपविष्टस्य वा नृकेसरिणः उक्तविशेषणविशिष्टं वसुंधरां हृदयमङ्गं हृदयान्तर्वर्तित्वेन जानीयादित्यर्थः ।एवमुत्तरेष्वपि त्रिषु पादेषु यक्षगन्धर्ववसुरुद्रब्रह्मस्वरूपं लोकसाहचर्याद्ब्रह्मलोकं तत्साम्नः तस्या न्यस्ताया अनुष्टुभो न्यस्तस्य च साम्नो द्वितीयं तृतीयं चतुर्थं पादं तस्य नृकेसरिणः शिरःशिखाकवचान्तर्वर्तित्वेन जानीयादिति योज्यम् ।एवं नृकेसरिणं यो जानीते सोऽमृतत्वं च गच्छतीति गमनोपादानात्कार्यममृतत्वम्, न कैवल्यम्, 'कार्यं बादरिरस्य गत्युपपत्तेः' इति न्यायात् ।अथवा देहान्ते देवः परं ब्रह्म निर्गुणं ब्रह्म तारकं तारकमात्राभिः प्रत्यग्ब्रह्मणोरेकत्वं व्याचष्टे इत्यन्ते श्रवणात् अमृतत्वं कैवल्यम् ।एवमुपरिष्टात् उभयथा अस्य अमृतत्वं श्रूयमाणं व्याख्येयम् ।ऋग्यजुःसामाथर्वाणश्चत्वारो वेदाः साङ्गाः सशाखाश्चत्वारः पादा भवन्तीति
In plain words
Yes, that is right. The verse that mentions the ocean does not come out and name the meditation directly -- but in a passage whose order is fixed, naming the first thing is enough to point to the rest. The same rule holds even when it is folded into a single sentence with something else. So this meditation, moving in a fixed order, begins -- from its very first word -- with the Ocean of Milk. Here is what it means: the first quarter of the chant, carrying the verse laid inside it, is the Earth -- and the Earth, with all its named qualities, is the heart of the Man-Lion who reclines, or sits, upon that ocean, because the heart is where the Earth lives. In the same way, the three quarters that follow are Brahmaloka, home to the Yakṣas, the Gandharvas, the Vasus, Rudra, and Brahmā -- and they live inside the Man-Lion's head, his crest, and his armour. Now, when it says 'whoever knows Nṛkesarin this way attains immortality,' the word 'attains' tells us something: this is immortality as a destination reached, not the immortality that was never in doubt to begin with -- Bādari says as much, because you cannot 'go' to what you already are. But read another way: since the text later has the Lord himself, using nothing but the syllable Om, teach that the innermost Self and Brahman are one, that immortality is the other kind -- the one where nothing remains to travel toward. Both readings are heard, and both are true in their place. And the four Vedas, each with its auxiliary sciences and its branches, make up the four quarters --
Close to the Sanskrit
It is correct. The passage containing the word 'ocean' does not at first directly state the specified worship; but, in a set of items whose sequence is fixed, it indicates it by the maxim that the first item [governs the rest]. The same holds even where it forms one sentence by being a qualifier of something else. Therefore this worship, whose sequence is fixed, is to be understood, from the very outset, as headed by the Ocean of Milk, because the word 'ocean' is used first. And so the meaning is this: one should know that the first quarter of that sāman -- of the Anuṣṭubh deposited in it and of the sāman itself -- namely the Earth, qualified by the aforesaid epithets, is the 'heart' limb of Nṛkesarin, who lies upon or is seated upon the Ocean of Milk, by virtue of being situated within his heart. This is the meaning. In the same way, for the remaining three quarters, it is to be construed that one should know the second, third, and fourth quarters of that sāman as Brahmaloka -- which has the nature of the Yakṣas, Gandharvas, Vasus, Rudra, and Brahmā by association with their worlds -- as situated within the head, the crest, and the armour of that Nṛkesarin. Thus, since it is said 'he who thus knows Nṛkesarin attains immortality,' because of the use of the word 'going,' the immortality here is a produced state, not absolute isolation, by the maxim: 'Bādari [holds it to be] a produced state, because of the fitness of going in its regard.' Or else, since it is heard at the end that the Lord, the Supreme Brahman, the qualityless Brahman, the syllable Om, explains by its mere morae the oneness of the inward Self with Brahman, the immortality there is absolute isolation. Thus, from what follows, this immortality of his, being spoken of in both ways, is to be explained accordingly. 'The Ṛk, Yajus, Sāman, and Atharvan -- the four Vedas, together with their limbs and their branches -- become the four quarters' -- thus [it continues].