पवित्राणां पवित्रं यो
मङ्गलानां च मङ्गलम् ।
दैवतं दैवतानां च भूतानां
योऽव्ययः पिता ॥ १६॥
pavitrāṇāṁ
pavitraṁ yō maṁgalānāṁ ca maṁgalam,
daivataṃ
daivatānāṃ ca bhūtānāṃ yo’vyayaḥ pita. (16)
He who is the purest among the
pure, the most auspicious of all that is auspicious; the supreme Lord of all
devatās and the imperishable Father of all beings.
In this life, it is virtually
impossible to avoid causing injury to others, whether through acts of
commission or omission. Such actions, which result in hurting others,
inevitably earn us unfavorable results or pāpa. To neutralize these
effects, our scriptures prescribe various purificatory rituals. We are enjoined
to perform our nitya-naimittika karmas—the daily and occasional
obligatory duties—to neutralize the effect of those actions. There are also
specific means of purification, such as bathing in the sacred Gaṅgā,
observing diverse austerities (tapas) and vows, and the offering of
charity (dāna). While all these are considered pavitra or pure,
each is effective only in neutralizing a particular type of pāpa.
Among all the various means of
purification, the grace of Lord Nārāyaṇa is considered the most
efficacious. This divine grace is invoked through diverse sādhanas: by
meditating upon Him (dhyānam), visualizing Him in a specific form,
singing His infinite glories (kīrtanam), offering vocal praise (stuti),
performing worship (pūjanam), or through constant remembrance (smaraṇam)
and prostration (praṇāma). In whatever manner one relates to the Lord,
He blesses the devotee and neutralizes all pāpas. It is He alone who
empowers these purificatory karmas with their innate capacity to
cleanse. Thus, He is extolled as pavitrāṇāṁ pavitram, the purest among
the pure.
Furthermore, it is solely through
His divine grace that a seeker is led to the Guru, who provides the
means to dispel self-ignorance—the fundamental source of all impurities and the
very root of bondage. By the grace of both Īśvara and the Guru,
one recognizes that one’s essential nature is identical to that of the Lord.
This recognition neutralizes the effects of puṇya and pāpa,
thereby resolving the cycle of becoming. Once this self-ignorance is removed
through knowledge, and one recognizes that one’s true nature is non-doer, there
remains no further need for the performance of purificatory karmas.
To establish the absolute purity
and divine nature of Īśvara, Śaṅkara cites various verses from
the Purāṇas. A few pertinent examples are provided here:—
हरिर्हरति पापानि
दुष्टचितैरपि स्मृतः ।
अनिच्छयाऽपि संस्पृष्टो
दहत्येव हि पावकः ॥
Even if those with a wicked
mind happen to remember Hari, He neutralizes their pāpas; for, even when
touched inadvertently, fire will surely burn.
ज्ञानतोऽज्ञानतो वापि
वासुदेवस्य कीर्तनात् ।
तत्सर्वं विलयं याति
तोयस्थं लवणं यथा ॥
Knowingly or unknowingly, by
singing and understanding the glories of Vasudeva, all papas get dissolved,
just as the salt crystal put into water gets dissolved.
Maṅgalānāṁ ca maṅgalam
— Śaṅkara observes that maṅgala refers to happiness, the means to
attain it, or that which reveals it. Among all such auspicious things, the Lord
is the paramam maṅgalam, the most exalted auspiciousness, whose very
nature is Ānanda. The Śruti serves as the pramāṇa for
unfolding the diverse means to attain happiness; it reveals the nature of true sukha
and is therefore recognized as the most auspicious.
While the Śruti is indeed maṅgala,
that which is truly to be known through the Śruti and whose very nature
is paramānanda is the real Maṅgala, and that is Īśvara.
Ordinarily, we observe that every auspicious end merely serves as the beginning
of another episode, continuing as an endless serial. However, when one is with
the Lord and no longer separate from Him—that is, one with Īśvara—then
there is no further cycle of birth and death. The serial comes to an end;
therefore, He is Maṅgalānāṁ Maṅgalam.
daivataṃ devatānāṃ ca — He
is the Lord of all devas, the supreme deva, existing in absolute
excellence through His self-effulgent nature and other divine glories.
Seeking to understand the one
supreme deity, Yudhiṣṭhira posed his inquiry, to which Lord Nārāyaṇa
is revealed as the daivatam devatānām, the Sovereign of all gods. As the
antaryāmī Paramātmā and the very essence of sat-cit, He resides
within all devatās such as Indra and Varuṇa. Every devatā
functions under the inexorable divine Order that is Īśvara. It is
through His grace alone that they possess the capacity to fulfill their cosmic
roles; thus, as Parameśvara, He is indeed the Ruler of all rulers and
the God of all gods.
bhūtānāṃ yo’vyayaḥ pitā — He is the imperishable Father, the progenitor of all
beings, who remains ever-free from all change and decay. This identifies the
divine Being alone as the one supreme deity in the world. While all bhūtas
are subject to vyaya or loss, the entire jagat will eventually
resolve and dissolve into Parameśvara, who is avyaya. Being the
ultimate cause of everything, He does not undergo any vyaya, change, or
loss, nor is He subject to death. He is the Father and Mother as well—the
efficient cause (nimitta kāraṇa) and the material cause (upādana kāraṇa)
of all beings, elements, elementals, and various bodies. He is the eternal
Father of all; while we may lose a local, physical father, we can never lose Īśvara,
for He is changeless.
To reveal that Īśvara is
indeed one without a second, Śaṅkara cites from the Upaniṣads
एको देवः सर्वभूतेषु गूढः
सर्वव्यापी सर्वभूतान्तरात्मा।
कर्माध्यक्षः
सर्वभूताधिवासः साक्षी चेता केवलो निर्गुणश्च॥
He is eko devaḥ—there is
but one supreme Deity, Parameśvara, who is one without a second. Having
projected the entire universe, He resides within all beings, concealed as it
were—sarva-bhūteṣu gūḍhaḥ. While the word "hidden" might
suggest a specific location, the scriptures clarify that He is both immanent
and transcendental by saying He is sarva-vyāpī, the all-pervasive
reality, and sarva-bhūtāntarātmā, the inner Self of every being. He
resides in every form yet remains ever transcendent. He is the karmādhyakṣaḥ,
the one who presides over the divine laws of cause and effect and serves as the
Giver of the results of all actions. As the sarva-bhūtādhivāsaḥ, He is
the adhiṣṭhāna or basis of all existence. In His essential nature, He is
recognized as sākṣī cetā kevalaḥ—the non-dual Witness who is pure caitanya,
and nirguṇaḥ, free from all attributes. For if He were endowed with
attributes, He could not be truly non-dual. This indeed is the svarūpa
of Parameśvara.
To further establish the non-dual
nature of the Lord, Śaṅkara cites an additional verse from the Śvetāśvatara
Upaniṣad.
यो ब्रह्माणं विदधाति
पूर्वं यो वै वेदांश्च प्रहिणोति तस्मै।
तह देवंआत्मबुद्धिप्रकाशं
मुमुक्षुर्वै शरणमहं प्रपद्ये॥
He is the one who brought forth Brahmā-jī
at the dawn of creation and entrusted the Vedas unto him. While He
remains ever transcendent and unconditioned by location, He is that very deva
who is ātma-buddhi-prakāśa, seated within our buddhi and
illuminating it with His self-effulgence. Unto Him, as a mumukṣu, I
truly seek refuge and surrender.
To reveal that the Ātmā is
identical in all beings, Śaṅkara cites various verses from Upaniṣads
such as the Taittirīya, Kaṭha, and Īśāvāsya. He further
references the Bhagavad-Gītā to establish that no difference exists
between the jīva and Īśvara. Drawing from the Purāṇas as
well, he illustrates that the one Lord assumes diverse names and functions, and
that these sacred texts also proclaim advaita as the absolute
truth.
In the Harivaṁśa, Lord Mahādeva
declares:
अहं त्वं हि महादेवः त्वम्
एव अहं जनार्दन।
आवयोर् अन्तरं नास्ति
शब्दैः अर्थैः जगत्पते॥
नामानि तव गोविन्द यानि
लोके महान्ति च।
तान्येव मम नामानि नात्र
कार्या विचारणा॥
O Janārdana! I am indeed
you, and you, the all-pervasive sarvaga, are myself. Within these three
worlds, there exists no distinction between us, whether in name or in essential
meaning. Whatever exalted names you possess, Govinda, are mine as well;
in this truth, there is no room for doubt or further analysis. Adoration
offered unto you is truly sevā performed for me, and whoever harbors dveṣa
toward you, truly directs it toward me.
In his commentary, Śaṅkara
observes that one may perform a purificatory bath within the very lake of the
mind.
यस्मिन् देवाश्च वेदाश्च
पवित्रं कृत्स्नमेकताम् ।
व्रजेते तन्मानसं तीर्थं
तत्र स्नात्वाऽमृतो भवेत् ॥
The Ātmā as it obtains in
the buddhi is revealed as the mānasa-tīrtha. It is in this Ātmā
alone that the devatās, the Vedas, and the sacred Smr̥tis
attain absolute purity and oneness. By taking a bath in this sacred mānasa-tīrtha,
one becomes amr̥ta, thereby resolving all limitations and gaining
immortality.
ज्ञानहृदे ध्यानजले
रागद्वेषमलापहे ।
यः स्नाति मानसे तीर्थे स
याति परमां गतिम् ॥
The individual who immerses
himself in the tīrtha of the mind—that lake of jñāna whose waters
comprise meditation upon the Lord—neutralizes the deep-seated impurities of rāga
and dveṣa. Such a seeker attains the paramā gati, the supreme
goal from which there is no return.
ॐ अपवित्रः पवित्रो वा
सर्वावस्थां गतोऽपि वा।
यः स्मरेत् पुण्डरीकाक्षं स
बाह्याभ्यन्तरः शुचिः॥
Whether one is apavitraḥ
(impure) or pavitro (pure), and regardless of the state one has
attained—sarvāvasthāṃ gato’pi vā—the individual who simply remembers Puṇḍarīkākṣa,
the lotus-eyed Lord, becomes sanctified both within and without.
