Bhashya
भद्रमिति ।स होवाच प्रजापतिरित्यनुषज्योत्तरम् ।यस्मा-त्पदोपादानात् स्वमहिम्नेत्यनुषङ्गः ।स्वयं भद्रो भूत्वा भज-नीयो माङ्गलिको भूत्वा सर्वदा भद्रं माङ्गलिकं ददातिभद्रदातृस्वरूपं च मूलव्यूहे उपास्यमिति दर्शयति ।रोचनोदीप्तियुक्तः ।रोचमानः शिखाङ्गेन रुचिं दीप्तिं कुर्वन् ,शानच्प्रत्ययान्तत्वात् ।तदङ्गं द्वितीयतेजोरूपादङ्गादधिकत-रतेजोरूपम् ।अतश्च नानाभरणयुक्तमौलिगतं तेजः तद्-न्तर्गतानां देवानां च स्वतेजसा अभिभवतीत्येवमुपास्यम् ।अत एवोक्तमस्माभिः शिखामन्त्रं व्याचक्षाणैः प्रपञ्चा-गमशास्त्रे— 'शिखा तेजः समुद्दिष्टं वषडित्यङ्गमुच्यते ।तत्तेजोऽस्य ततः प्रोक्ता शिखा मन्त्रेण मन्त्रिणः' इति ।निरतिशयतेजोऽवयवः शिखेत्यर्थः, 'यस्य ज्ञानमयी शिखा'इति श्रुतेः ।शोभनः स्वरूपेण, शोभमानः शिखाङ्गतेजसा,अत एव कल्याणः माङ्गलिकमूलनृसिंहव्यूहः ।एवमुक्तो-पास्ये अष्टमं पदं व्याख्याय अथेदानीं तेनैव पदेन द्वात्रिं-शद्व्यूहम् ऋचा व्याचष्टे—भद्रं कर्णेभिरिति ।इयमृक् प्रा-रम्भे शान्तिपाठे व्याख्याता ।तनूभिरेव एभिस्तनूमन्त्रैरेवस्थिरैरङ्गैरिति विशेषः ।पञ्चमाङ्गान्तर्भावात्स्तुतिमन्त्राणा-मेव उभयोपाङ्गे व्याख्यानं तस्मादित्युपसंहरति— तस्मा-ददातीत्यर्थः ।यस्य प्रशिषं मूलनृसिंहव्यूहस्य अङ्गचतुष्टय-प्रशिषं प्रकर्षेण शिष्यत इति प्रशिषं प्रोर्वरितं द्वात्रिंशद्व्यूहंविश्वे देवाः सर्वे देवा. उपासते उपास्ति कुर्वन्तीत्यर्थः ।यस्य च्छायामृतम्, छायेति गृह्नाम, छायैवामृतं छाया-मृतं महाचक्रम्, बदन्तर्भावादस्य व्यूहस्य ; यो व्यूहो मृत्यु-मृत्युः मृत्योरपि मृत्युः, 'मृत्युर्यस्योपसेचनम्' इति श्रुतेः ।कं प्रजापतिं ब्रह्मणो व्यूहम्, तदादिन्यायेन बद्धक्रमकत्वात्सर्वं संगृह्णाति ; देवम्, 'देवो दानाद्वा द्योतनाद्वा दीपनाद्वा'इति यास्कवचनात् ।हविषा हविष्प्रदानेन होमेन नैवेद्येन वाअर्चनेन ।अत एव वक्ष्यति महाचक्रप्रकरणे—'अनुष्टुभाहोमें कुर्यात् अनुष्टुभा अर्चनम्' इति ।विधेम परिचरेम ।य-द्वा 'विधतिर्दानकर्म' इति यास्कवचनात् ब्राह्मव्यूहप्रभृति-व्यूहाय हविर्दद्यः—इति विभक्तिव्यत्ययः क-शब्दे देव-शब्देच ।तस्मिन्पक्षे विधतिः परिचरणकर्मेति तत्त्वार्थः ।एवं प्रा-गुक्तोपास्ये मृत्युमृत्युपदं व्याख्यातं तस्मादित्युपसंहरति—
In plain words
Here is 'bhadram'. 'He said' — the subject is Prajāpati, understood from context. Because the word 'term' was just used, the phrase 'by his own greatness' carries over from elsewhere. Having become auspicious himself — someone worth turning to, someone propitious — he constantly gives out the auspicious and the propitious. And that is exactly what the text is pointing to: this very quality of giving out blessing is what you meditate on in the root array. 'Shining' means full of splendor. 'Blazing' means using the crest-flame to produce brightness and light — that follows from its grammatical form. That flame-limb outshines the second splendor-limb. And so this light on the crown, hung with every kind of ornament, outshines by its own brilliance even the gods held within it — and that is exactly why it is worshipped. That is why we ourselves, when explaining the crest-flame mantra in our own Prapañcāgama treatise, wrote: 'The crest-flame is splendor itself; its limb is named by the syllable vaṣaṭ. That splendor belongs to it alone; that is why mantra-knowers proclaim the crest-flame through the mantra.' 'Crest-flame' simply means the seat of unmatched splendor, as scripture says: 'his crest-flame is made of knowledge itself.' He is beautiful by his own nature, and radiant with the crest-flame's own light — and that is exactly why he, the propitious root-Nṛsiṃha array, is called blessed. Having now explained the eighth term of this meditation, the text turns, using that same term, to explain the thirty-two-fold array through a Vedic verse: 'with the ears...' This verse was already explained at the very start, in the peace-chant. Here the only difference is that 'by these bodies' now means 'by these very body-mantras, by these steady limbs.' Because the fifth limb falls under this heading, the explanation covers only the praise-mantras on both sides; the text closes with 'therefore' — meaning, 'he gives.' 'Whose command' means the authority over the four limbs of the root Nṛsiṃha array — called 'command' because it is taught with such force; the remaining thirty-two-fold array is what all the gods, every one of them, wait on — that is, they render service to it. 'Whose shadow is immortality': by shadow we mean that the shadow itself is immortality — 'shadow-immortality' names the Great Wheel, since the syllable 'ba' belongs to it. And the array that is Death's own death, death even beyond death, is confirmed by scripture: 'Death is nothing more than a garnish to him.' 'Ka' means Prajāpati, Brahman's own array; and by the rule that 'the first name pulls in all that follows it,' since the sequence is fixed, it gathers up everything said before. 'God', according to Yāska, comes either from giving, from shining, or from lighting up. 'With oblation' means through the giving of an offering itself — whether fire, food, or worship of some other kind. That is exactly why, later, in the Great-Wheel section, it will say: 'Perform the fire-offering with the Anuṣṭubh, and worship with the Anuṣṭubh too.' 'Vidhema' means 'let us attend on him.' Or, read another way, following Yāska's 'vidhati means an act of giving,' it means 'give the oblation to the Brahmā-array and the arrays that begin with it' — with the grammatical case simply swapped in both 'ka' and 'deva.' On that reading, 'vidhati' just means the act of service — that is the real point. So, for this same object of meditation, the term 'death-of-death' has now been explained; the text closes with 'therefore'—
Close to the Sanskrit
'Bhadram' [is now explained] thus. 'He said' — [understand] 'Prajāpati' carried over as the subject of the reply. Because the word 'pada' (term) is invoked here, the phrase 'by [his] own greatness' is understood as carried over. Having himself become auspicious, worthy of resort, and propitious, he always bestows the auspicious and the propitious; and [the text] thereby shows that this very nature as bestower of the auspicious is what is to be meditated upon in the root-array. 'Rocanaḥ' [means] possessed of splendor. 'Rocamānaḥ' [means] one producing brightness and splendor by means of the crest-flame limb — because the word ends in the suffix 'śānac'. That limb [i.e. the crest-flame] has a greater splendor-form than the second splendor-form limb. And hence the splendor situated on the crown, adorned with various ornaments, overcomes, by its own splendor, even the gods contained within it — being so, it is to be meditated upon. For this very reason it has been stated by us, while explaining the crest-flame mantra, in [our] Prapañcāgama-śāstra: 'The crest-flame is declared to be splendor; [its] limb is called by the word vaṣaṭ. That splendor is its own; therefore the crest-flame is proclaimed, by the mantra, [as belonging] to those versed in mantra.' The meaning of 'crest-flame' is: the portion of unsurpassed splendor — as the scripture says, 'whose crest-flame is made of knowledge.' [He is] beautiful by his own nature, and resplendent by the splendor of the crest-flame's own limb; for this very reason he, the propitious root-Nṛsiṃha array, is 'kalyāṇa' [blessed]. Having thus explained the eighth term with respect to the object of meditation already described, now, by that same term, [the text] explains the thirty-two-fold array by means of a Vedic verse: [the verse beginning] 'bhadraṃ karṇebhiḥ'. This verse has [already] been explained at the outset, in the peace-recitation. The distinguishing point here is: 'by these very bodies' [is glossed as] 'by these very body-mantras, by the steady limbs.' Because the fifth limb is included [under it], the explanation applies only to the praise-mantras, for both [terms]; [the text] concludes with 'therefore' — meaning 'he gives'. 'Whose command' [is explained as]: the command over the four-limbed group of the root-Nṛsiṃha array — it is called 'command' (praśiṣa) because it is taught with pre-eminent authority; and the remaining thirty-two-fold array is what 'the Viśvedevas, all the gods, wait upon' — meaning, they render attendance. 'Whose shadow is immortality' — by 'shadow' we understand: the shadow itself is immortality; 'shadow-immortality' [names] the Great Wheel, because of the inclusion of the syllable 'ba' belonging to this array; the array which is 'death-of-death', death even of death — as the scripture says, 'Death is for him a mere seasoning.' 'Ka' [is explained as] Prajāpati, the array of Brahman; by the maxim of 'that and the rest', because [the sequence] is fixed, it gathers in every [preceding epithet]. '[To that] god' — according to Yāska's statement, 'deva [is so called] either from giving, or from shining, or from illumining.' 'With oblation' [means] by the giving of the oblation itself, by fire-offering, by food-offering, or by [other] worship. For this very reason [the text] will state, in the Great-Wheel section: 'One should perform the fire-offering with the Anuṣṭubh, and worship with the Anuṣṭubh.' 'Vidhema' [means] 'let us attend upon [him]'. Or, taking it another way, according to Yāska's statement 'vidhati is an act of giving', [it means] 'you should give the oblation to the Brahmā-array and the arrays beginning with it' — with a substitution of grammatical case in both the word 'ka' and the word 'deva'. On that alternative reading, 'vidhati' [means] the act of rendering service — that is the essential sense. Thus, with respect to the object of meditation already described, the term 'mṛtyu-mṛtyu' has been explained; [the text] concludes with 'therefore'—