Bhashya
तस्मादुच्यते भीषणमिति ।अथ क- स्मादुच्यते भद्रमिति ।यस्मात्स्वयं भद्रो भूत्वा सर्वदा भद्रं ददाति रोचनो रोच- मानः शोभनः शोभमानः कल्याणः ।भद्रं कर्णेभिः शृणुयाम देवा भद्रं पश्ये- माक्षभिर्यजत्राः ।स्थिरैरङ्गैस्तुष्टुवांसस्त- नूभिर्व्यशेम देवहितं यदायुः ।तस्मादु- च्यते भद्रमिति ।अथ कस्मादुच्यते मृ- त्युमृत्युमिति ।यस्मात्स्वभक्तानां स्मृत एव मृत्युमपमृत्युं च मारयति ।य आत्मदा बलदा यस्य विश्व उपासते प्रशिषं यस्य देवाः ।यस्य च्छाया- मृतं यो मृत्युमृत्युः कस्मै देवाय हवि- षा विधेम ।तस्मादुच्यते मृत्युमृत्युमि- ति ।अथ कस्मादुच्यते नमामीति य- स्माद्यं सर्वे देवा नमन्ति मुमुक्षवो ब्रह्म- वादिनश्च ।प्र नूनं ब्रह्मणस्पतिरभिवक्तुं बह्तृतीयपादाद्यं च पदमपि द्वितयमपि अधस्तनेषूपरितनेषु च तृतीयपादाद्यपदादन्यत्रानुषज्यते, तृतीयपादाद्यपदे द्वितयमनुषज्यते, एवं क्रियाकारकाद्यन्वयसम्बन्धशुद्धिः ।तत्र पञ्चाङ्गन्यासानन्तरं पठितत्वात्पदोद्धारतदर्थकथनस्य सर्वेष्वेव पादेषु साङ्गेष्वर्थः कथनीय इत्याद्ये पादे पदत्रयात्मके साङ्गे लोकाद्यग्न्यादिना सामोपनिषद्युपास्ये सामाङ्गप्रणवेन च मूलमन्त्रहृदयाङ्गव्याख्याने प्राप्ते तत्रैकैकं पदं बहुतरेष्वर्थेषु व्याख्येयम् ।तथोपरितनऋचः एकादशपदसम्बन्धिन्यः प्रश्नोत्तरान्तरालवर्तिब्राह्मणवर्तिन्यः 'तदेषाभ्युक्ता' इत्येवं ब्राह्मणोक्तार्थे साक्षित्वेनोद्भाविता महाचक्रे न्यम्ने द्वात्रिंशदृचूहनृसिंहात्मके ब्रह्मणि एकैकमूलमन्त्रपदव्याख्यानपरत्वेन वर्णनीयाः ।तथा ब्राह्मणमेकैकमूलमन्त्रपदव्याख्यानपरत्वेन महाचक्रनाभिवर्तिक्षीरोदार्णवसम्बन्धिमूलनृसिंहव्यूहे ब्रह्मणि प्रागुक्तगुणविशिष्टे व्याख्येयम् ।अत एव तत्र साक्षित्वेनोद्भावनम् ऋग्ब्राह्मणयोः तत्तत्पदव्याख्यानावसरे विभागक्रमं च स्पष्टं दर्शयिष्यामः ।तत्र तावदेकैकं पदं धातूपसर्गादियोगेन बहुतरमर्थजातं कथं वदिष्यति प्रजापतिः, कथं च व्याख्यास्यत्यस्मान्व्युत्पन्नान्प्रति - इत्येवं देवाः विस्मयेन ह हर्षिताः वै प्रजापतिमब्रुवन्निति सर्वपदसाधारणं व्याख्यानं प्रष्टुं अथ अन-सृजतेरुपसंहारार्थत्वेन तदर्थत्वं विमोचनार्थत्वं वा अव-स्थितिकारयितृत्वमनुग्रहे प्रयोजकत्वमिति मूलनृसिंहव्यू-हहृदयान्तर्वर्तित्वेन उपास्यम् ।एवं मूलनृसिंहव्यूहहृदयो-पासापरत्वेन उग्रपदं व्याख्याय अथेदानीं तदेव पदं द्वात्रिंश-द्व्यूहोपासनापरत्वेन व्याख्यातुम् ऋचमाह ।स्तुहीति स्तोतारंप्रत्यक्षीकृत्याह परोक्षीकृत्य स्तुत्यम् ।श्रुतम् 'यो वै नृसिंहः'इत्यादिमन्त्रवर्णैरेव श्रुतं द्वात्रिंशन्नृसिंहव्यूहम् ।गर्तसदं गर्तेमहाचक्रे, गृणातेः स्तुतिकर्मणो गीयते स्तूयते इति व्युत्पत्त्यागीतम्, सीदतीति गर्तसदम् ।युवानं प्रसिद्धम् ।मृगं सिंहरूप-म् ।नभीमम् अभयंकरम् ।उपहत्नुम् अनुग्रहार्थं सर्वत्रोपगम-शीलम् ।उग्रं द्वात्रिंशन्नृसिंहव्यूहरूपम् ।अत्रापि सशक्तिकन्-सिंहपदस्यानुषङ्गः ।स्तुहीत्येवं संबन्धः ।एवं परोक्षतः स्तुतेद्वात्रिंशन्नृसिंहव्यूहे तत्सामर्थ्यादक्षरश्रवणयुक्तत्वाच्च तच्छ्रुत्वाप्रत्यक्षो हि अभूत् स व्यूहः उपासकायेति प्रत्यक्षीकृत्वा आहउत्तरार्धेन- हे सिंह द्वात्रिंशद्व्यूह स्तवानः स्तूयमानः त्वं मृडसुखय जरित्रे स्तोत्रकर्त्रे ।यद्वा चतुर्थी द्वितीयार्थे ।ते तवसेनाः अस्मन् अस्मत्तः अन्यं निवपन्तु विनाशयन्तु ।यद्वास्वानुग्रहं लब्ध्वा परानुग्रहं प्रार्थयते- ते तव सेनाः तद्व्यू-रूपाः अस्मदन्यं निपूर्वको वपतिरनुग्रहार्थे वर्तते अनुगृ-वान्ये चाष्टौ वसवः' इत्यादिषु च पदेषु ।एवं देवकामो जायतेयतो वीरः शूरः, यद्वा वीरः विविधावताररूपेण रमणीयसंसार-शीलो वीरः, कर्मण्यः तत्तदवतरणरूपकर्मशीलः उपासकानु-ग्रहणे ।सुदक्षः पूजितबलः, यद्वा पूजितः ।युक्तग्रावा युक्तोग्रावभिर्युक्तग्रावा, सोमे अध्वर्य्यादिरूपः, 'यो वै नृसिंहो देवोभगवान्यश्च सर्वम्' इत्यादिमन्त्रवर्णात् ।यस्मादुक्तप्रकारेणउभयोपास्ये वीरपदं क्षमम्, तस्मादुच्यते वीरमिति ।इति-शब्दः उत्तरसमाप्तिं द्योतयति ।अथेदानीं तृतीयपदं व्या-ख्यातुं देवप्रश्नः ; स च उक्तार्थः ।सर्वत्र प्रश्नवाक्येषु अथ-शब्दः तत्तदानन्तर्यार्थः ।अथ कस्मादुच्यते महाविष्णुम् ।इति-शब्दः अनुषक्तप्रश्नसमाप्तिं द्योतयति ।स होवाच प्रजा-पतिः इत्यनुषज्योत्तरम् ।य इत्यत्रापि स्वमहिम्नेत्यनुषङ्गा-च्छक्तिमन्नृसिंहपदस्यानुषङ्गः ।सर्वाँल्लोकान्व्याप्नोति व्याप-यतीत्यत्र सर्वलोकपदाद्देहात्मभूतानां संग्रहः प्राग्वद्धक्रम-त्वेनावगतानां तदादिन्यायेन ।विष्णुरिति विष्ऌ व्याप्ता-विति धातोः रूपम् ।तच्च व्यापकत्वं निरुपपदत्वेनमहत्त्वं प्राप्तमिति महच्छब्देन तदेव दृढीकृतम् ।यद्वा महइति तेजोनाम महो व्यापकम् ।व्यापकत्वे दृष्टान्तमाह—स्नेहः तैलादिः यथा पललपिण्डं मांसपिण्डम् ओतम् अनु-
In plain words
That is why he is called the Terrifying One. Now — why the Auspicious One? Because, having become auspicious himself, he is always giving what is good: the radiant one, the one who shines, the splendid one, the resplendent one, the gracious one. 'May our ears hear only what is good, O gods; may our eyes see only what is good, we who are worthy of worship. Praising you with steady limbs and steady bodies, may we live out the whole span of life the gods have given us.' That is why he is called the Auspicious One. Now — why Death of Death? Because merely being remembered, he kills death itself for his devotees, and kills untimely death too. 'He who gives the self, who gives strength, whose command every being obeys, whose command the gods obey; whose very shadow is immortality, who is death to death itself — to which god shall we bring our offering?' That is why he is called Death of Death. Now — why 'I bow'? Because every god bows to him, and so do those who long for freedom, and so do those who speak of Brahman. 'Now indeed shall the Lord of sacred speech proclaim much...' — and there the quotation breaks off, at the edge of what this record preserves. [Here the text turns to method.] The word that opens the third line, and the pair of words after it, attach elsewhere than at that opening word — both in what comes before and what comes after — while at the opening word of the third line itself, the pair attaches directly. That is how the grammar, the logic of action, and the connections all come out correct. Because the work of pulling out each word and stating its meaning is taken up right after the five limbs have been installed, every single line, together with its limb, needs its meaning spelled out. So in the very first line — three words, with its limb — once we reach the point of explaining the heart-limb of the root mantra (meditated on, in the Sāma's own Upaniṣad, through the worlds and fire and so on, and through the Sāma's version of Om), each single word there has to be unpacked into many meanings at once. In the same way, the verses that go with the text — tied to the eleven words, sitting between question and answer in the Brāhmaṇa — get cited as supporting witnesses by the phrase 'this has already been said', and belong inside the great wheel, at its lowest point, made of the thirty-two hymn-forms of Narasiṃha, there to explain each word of the root mantra one by one. And the Brāhmaṇa prose itself gets explained the same way, inside the Narasiṃha at the very centre of that wheel, resting on the ocean of milk, carrying all the qualities already described. That is exactly why we will lay out clearly, word by word, how the Ṛg-vedic verse and the Brāhmaṇa prose divide the work of witnessing each other. First, though: how is Prajāpati even going to explain, through root and prefix and all the rest, the sheer abundance of meaning packed into a single word — and how will he make it clear to gods who already know their grammar? Wondering this, astonished and delighted all at once, the gods went and asked him — wanting one explanation that would work for every word alike. Now: the root 'sṛj' doesn't just mean 'create' — it can mean 'withdraw' just as easily, or 'release'; and it can mean holding something steady, or, where grace is concerned, setting something in motion. Read that way, 'ugra' belongs inside the heart of the root Narasiṃha-array. Having explained 'ugra' that way — for meditating on the heart — the text now turns to explain the very same word again, this time for meditating on the thirty-two-fold array, and speaks a verse. 'Praise' — that word turns and speaks straight to the singer, after everything before it had spoken of the god only from a distance, in the third person. 'Renowned' — the thirty-two-fold array earns that title simply by the syllables of the mantra that begins 'he who is truly Narasiṃha'. 'Sitting in the hollow' — the hollow is the great wheel itself; one root gives 'is sung, is praised', so 'the sung one'; another root gives 'sits', so together: 'the one who sits in the hollow'. 'The youth' needs no explanation. 'The beast' means specifically the lion. 'Fearsome' really means 'the one who makes you fearless'. 'The striker' means one whose habit is to come close, everywhere, purely to bless. 'Fierce' is simply the thirty-two-fold array itself — and here too the word 'lion', with all its power, still echoes through. All of it hangs on that one word, 'praise'. So: having praised the array indirectly like this, and because of its own power, and because its syllables are made to be heard, the singer hears it — and the array stands right there in front of him. Having made it that present, he speaks the second half of the verse: 'O Lion, thirty-two-fold array, praised and now being praised, be gracious — give happiness to the one who sings for you, the maker of this hymn.' Or, read another way: the dative here is doing the work of an accusative. 'Let your armies strike down, let them destroy, someone other than us.' Or, read yet another way: having already received grace himself, the singer now begs grace for others too — 'let your armies, all forms of that same array, spare everyone but us' — with the prefix 'down', the root 'sow' here means 'to favor'... or think of 'and the eight Vasus' and other phrases like it. That is how 'longing for the gods' comes to be — and from it, 'the Hero', meaning simply 'the brave one'; or, read more deeply, 'the Hero' whose whole nature is to delight the world through his many incarnations. 'Skilled in action' — whose nature is precisely that action of descending again and again, for the sake of his devotees. 'Highly capable' means 'of honored strength', or simply 'honored'. 'Equipped with the pressing-stones' means just that — in the form of the priest at the soma rite — as the mantra itself says: 'he who is truly Narasiṃha, the god, the Blessed One, who is also everything'. Since, read this way, the word 'Hero' fits both kinds of meditation equally well, that is why he is called the Hero. The word 'thus' marks the end of this whole section. Now, to explain the third word, comes the gods' question again — and it carries the same sense as before. Everywhere in these questions, 'now' simply means 'next in order'. 'Now why is he called the Great Viṣṇu?' — the word 'thus' closes that question. 'Prajāpati answered' — that is the answer attached to it. And here too, 'who' still carries the force of 'by his own greatness' from before, so it still means the powerful Narasiṃha. 'He pervades all worlds' — 'all worlds' here means every embodied being and every self there is, understood in the same graded way as before, by the same rule. 'Viṣṇu' comes straight from the root meaning 'to pervade'. And that pervading, with nothing to limit it, rises to greatness — which is exactly what the word 'great' confirms. Or, read another way, 'mah' is simply another name for radiance, so 'mahaḥ' means 'the one who pervades' in that sense. To show what that pervading looks like, an example follows: oil — sesame oil and its kind — the way it soaks all through a lump of sesame paste, or a lump of flesh, woven right through it...
Close to the Sanskrit
Therefore is he called 'bhīṣaṇam'. Now why is he called 'bhadram' (auspicious)? Because, himself having become auspicious, he always bestows what is auspicious: the radiant one, the one who shines, the splendid one, the one who is resplendent, the gracious one. 'May we hear what is auspicious with our ears, O gods; may we, worthy of worship, see what is auspicious with our eyes. Praising [you] with steady limbs and bodies, may we enjoy the life allotted by the gods.' Therefore is he called 'bhadram'. Now why is he called 'mṛtyumṛtyum' (death of death)? Because, merely remembered, he slays death and untimely death for his own devotees. 'He who is the giver of the self, the giver of strength, whose command all the gods serve, whose command the gods [serve]; whose shadow is immortality, who is the death of death — to which god shall we offer with oblation?' Therefore is he called 'mṛtyumṛtyum'. Now why is it said 'namāmi' (I bow)? Because him all the gods bow to, [as do] those seeking liberation and the knowers of Brahman. 'Now indeed shall Brahmaṇaspati proclaim much...' [the citation breaks off at this record's boundary]. [Turning to method:] And the word that opens the third foot, as well as the pair [that follows it], is connected elsewhere than at the opening-word of the third foot, both in the passages below and above; whereas at the opening-word of the third foot the pair is directly connected — thus is achieved the correctness of the connection of syntax, of action, of the factors of action, and so on. There, since [the topic of] extracting each word and stating its meaning is read immediately after the installation of the five limbs, the meaning together with its limb must be stated in absolutely every foot. Thus in the first foot, consisting of three words, together with its limb, when the occasion of explaining the heart-limb of the root-mantra is reached — [an occasion] to be meditated upon in the Sāma-Upaniṣad by means of the worlds and so forth beginning with fire, and by the praṇava of the Sāma-limb — there each single word is to be explained in reference to many meanings. Likewise the verses that follow, connected to the eleven words, occurring in the Brāhmaṇa-portion lying between question and answer, brought forward as witness-testimony by [the phrase] 'this has been declared' in the sense stated by the Brāhmaṇa — these are to be described within the great wheel, set at the nadir, consisting of the thirty-two hymn-transformations of Narasiṃha, in the Brahman, with a view to explaining each single word of the root-mantra. Likewise the Brāhmaṇa-portion, with the same purpose, is to be explained in the Brahman that is the root-Narasiṃha-array connected with the ocean of milk residing at the navel of the great wheel, endowed with the qualities already stated. For this very reason we shall clearly show, on the occasion of explaining each respective word, the order of division between the Ṛc and the Brāhmaṇa, adduced there as witness-testimony. There, first: how will Prajāpati state, by combination of root, prefix and so on, the manifold aggregate of meaning of each single word, and how will he explain it to us who are grammatically trained? — thinking thus, the gods, astonished, indeed delighted, said to Prajāpati [this], to ask for an explanation common to every word. Now — the root √sṛj, by virtue of also meaning withdrawal, carries that sense, or the sense of release; [and, in respect of] causing a being to abide, [it carries] the sense of impelling, with a view to grace — thus [is 'ugra'] to be meditated upon as situated within the heart of the root-Narasiṃha-array. Having thus explained the word 'ugra' with a view to meditation on the heart of the root-Narasiṃha-array, now, in order to explain that same word with a view to meditation on the thirty-two-fold array, he speaks a verse. 'Stuhi' ('praise!') — he says this addressing the praiser directly, having [earlier] spoken of the one-to-be-praised indirectly. 'Renowned': the thirty-two-fold Narasiṃha-array is renowned precisely by the syllables of the mantra beginning 'he who is indeed Narasiṃha' and so forth. 'Gartasadam' ('sitting in the pit'): in the pit, [that is] in the great wheel — by the derivation from √gṝ, [the root] of praising, [meaning] 'is sung, is praised', hence 'the sung one'; and from √sad, 'sits' — thus, 'the one sitting in the hollow'. 'Yuvānam' ('the youth'): well-known. 'Mṛgam' ('the beast'): in the form of a lion. 'Na bhīmam' ('fearsome'): the maker of fearlessness. 'Upahatnum' ('the striker'): whose nature is to approach everywhere for the sake of grace. 'Ugram' ('fierce'): in the form of the thirty-two-fold Narasiṃha-array. Here too the connection of the word 'siṃha', which carries power, applies. The construction is with 'stuhi'. Thus, the thirty-two-fold array having been praised indirectly, because of its potency and because of the syllables being fit to be heard, upon hearing that, that array indeed became directly manifest to the worshipper — so, having made it thus manifest, he speaks by the second half [of the verse]: 'O Lion, thirty-two-fold array, being praised, [now] praised, be gracious [and] give happiness to the singer, the maker of the hymn.' Or alternatively: the fourth [case] is used in the sense of the second [case]. 'Your armies, let them strike down someone other than us, let them destroy [him].' Or alternatively: having obtained grace for himself, [the singer] prays for grace for others — 'your armies, in the forms of that array, [let them strike down] one other than us' — with the prefix 'ni', the root 'vap' functions in the sense of grace, [meaning] 'let them favor'... or [as in] 'and the eight Vasus' and similar words. Thus is 'devakāmaḥ' born, from which [comes] 'vīraḥ', [meaning] the brave one; or alternatively, 'vīraḥ' [means] the one whose nature is to delight beings in saṃsāra through the form of manifold incarnations. 'Karmaṇyaḥ': whose nature is action in the form of those various descents, for the sake of favoring devotees. 'Sudakṣaḥ': of honored might, or alternatively, [simply] 'honored'. 'Yuktagrāvā': joined with the pressing-stones — in the form of the officiating priest and so on at the soma-rite, according to the mantra-text 'he who is indeed Narasiṃha, the god, the Blessed One, who is also everything'. Since, in the manner stated, the word 'vīram' is fit for both [modes of] meditation, therefore is he called 'vīram'. The word 'iti' indicates the conclusion of this section. Now, in order to explain the third word, [there is] the gods' question; and that has the meaning already stated. Everywhere in the question-sentences, the word 'atha' has the sense of immediate sequence. 'Now why is he called Mahāviṣṇu?' — the word 'iti' indicates the conclusion of that attached question. 'He, Prajāpati, said' — this is the attached answer. Here too, in 'yaḥ', by the connection carried over from 'by his own greatness', there is a connection with the word 'Narasiṃha', which possesses [that] power. 'He pervades all worlds' — here, by the word 'all worlds' is meant the totality of things having the nature of bodies and selves, understood in graded order as before, by that same rule. 'Viṣṇu': this is a form derived from the root [meaning] 'to pervade'. And that pervasiveness, being unqualified, attains greatness — and that very point is confirmed by the word 'mahat'. Or alternatively, 'mah' is a name for splendor; [so] 'mahaḥ' means the pervasive one [in that sense]. To illustrate that pervasiveness, he gives an example: oil — sesame-oil and the like — just as [it pervades] a lump of sesame-paste, a lump of flesh, woven crosswise, further...