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[The first forty seconds or so of the authors voice are almost inaudible on the tape.]
In “Bhárata”(1) there are two root verbs, Sanskrit root verbs. One is bhar [bhr], and the other is tan. In Sanskrit bhar means “to feed”. Bhara means “feeder”.(2) Parama Puruśa is called saḿbhara, which means “the Supreme Feeder”.(3) So this verb is bhar, and the suffix is al: bhara. Bhara means “he who feeds”. Bhar means “to feed”, bhara means “he who feeds”. And the root verb tan means “to expand”.
Now, a childs body may be called tanu in Sanskrit, because it is expanding at each and every moment. But the body of an [older] man is not tanu, it is shariira; shariira means “fast-decaying”, “waning”, becoming shiirńa.
Tan means “to expand”. And tan plus the(4) suffix d́a becomes ta. Ta means “he who helps you in your physical, mental and spiritual expansion”; that is, he who helps you in your all-round expansion is ta. So bhárata means “he who feeds you and helps you in your all-round expansion, all-round development”.
In Sanskrit the word varśa has three meanings, three imports. One meaning is “year”; another meaning is “rainy season”; and another meaning is “country”. For “country” in Sanskrit there are three popular words – desha, viśaya and varśa. This country, this land where we are living, is called Mahiśa Viśaya in Sanskrit [Mysore]. Mahiśa Viśaya.(5) So the varśa that helps you by feeding you and in your all-round development, physical, spiritual and mental, is “Bháratavarśa”. We shouldnt say “Bhárata”. The name of this country is “Bháratavarśa”. In this great and ancient country of ours, it is a tradition to use meaningful(6) words.(7) Everywhere you will find words with certain meanings. Each and every word(8) has got its peculiar significance.
For the Supreme Father, for God, we use so many words, and each and every word has got its proper meaning. One name is Náráyańa. Whats the meaning of Náráyańa? Nára + ayana. Whats the meaning of nára? In Sanskrit, the word nára has got three meanings. One meaning is niira, that is, “water”. Another meaning of nára is “devotion”, bhakti. He who distributes bhakti is “Nárada” – Maharshi Narada. And the third meaning of nára is the Supreme Operative Principle, the Causal Matrix, the Supreme Creative Principle, the Mahámáyá.(9) And ayana means “shelter”. So Náráyańa means “Shelter of the Supreme Operative Principle”, “Shelter of Mahámáyá”. Now who is the shelter of Mahámáyá, who is the shelter of Paramá Prakrti, who is the shelter of the Supreme Creative Principle? Parama Puruśa, Puruśottama. Hence Náráyańa means Puruśottama.(10) So each and every word is meaningful.
Another popular word is “Mádhava” – do you use that word in this portion of India? Yes, you do. Má means Paramá Prakrti, the Creative Faculty, the Guiding Faculty, the Operative Principle. And dhava – the word dhava has got two meanings in Sanskrit.(11) And another meaning is “husband”. A lady who has lost her husband is vidhavá. So dhava means “husband”. So “Mádhava” means “husband of Paramá Prakrti”. Má means Paramá Prakrti, so “husband of Paramá Prakrti”, “controller of Paramá Prakrti”, “the ideal of Paramá Prakrti”. So “Mádhava” means Paramá Puruśa.
Then Iishvara – do you use this word Iishvara? In Sanskrit iish means “to control”, “to regulate”. He who controls everything, everything on earth, is Iishvara. That is, “the Supreme Controller”. Another meaning of Iishvara is “he who has aeshvarya” – ańimá [to become small (small enough to enter any physical particle or any crevice of anothers mind)], laghimá [to become light (a light body can fly through air, a light mind can study the minds of others)], mahimá [to become large (an expanded mind is omniscient, and feels love for the universe)], iishitva [to control (this supreme control may be used to guide others minds)], vashitva [to psychically dominate others], kámavasáyitá [or prakámya, to materialize the desired outcome of events], vyapti [or antaryámitva, to know the inner thought-wave and the inner need of any entity], prápti [to obtain any desired object] – these are all aeshvaryas. He who has developed all(12) the aeshvaryas – aeshvarya means “occult power” – is Iishvara. That is, the Lord having so many aeshvaryas is Iishvara. Maharshi Patanjali says: Kleshakarmavipákáshayaeraparámrśt́ah Puruśavisheśa Iishvarah – “The Puruśa, the Cognitive Faculty, who remains unassailed by the waves of actions and reactions, physical and mental, and who does never require any physical or mental or spiritual pabulum for His maintenance, is Iishvara.” Kleshakarmavipákáshayaeraparámrśt́ah Puruśavisheśa Iishvarah. So the word Iishvara is also meaningful.
In the “Savitr Rk”, for the divine effulgence, we use the word bharga. Why do we use the word bharga?
Can any boy stand up and say the entire mantra, the incantation of Savitá, the “Savitr Rk”?(13)
[Voice from the audience: Oṋḿ bhúr bhuvah svah / Tat – ]
No, no, no.(14) Another oṋm. After Bhúr bhuvah svah another oṋm. Oṋḿ bhúr bhuvah svah oṋḿ / Tat savitur…
[Voice: … vareńyam / Bhargo devasya dhiimahi / Dhiyo yo nah pracodayát.]
Here also we have used the word bharga for the divine effulgence. Why do we use bharga for the supreme effulgence?
I said, each and every word is meaningful. What is the meaning of this mantra? You boy, you say.(15) What is the meaning of this particular incantation? Oṋm – whats the meaning of oṋm?
[The member of the audience replies in terms of a – u – ma, and a short dialogue with the author follows, which is not clearly audible.]
Very good. Whenever we do something, a sound is created. [Author utters a sound. His next sentence, not clearly audible, ends “is a sound, is a colour, is of so many inferences.”] Now, the Supreme Progenitor, when He created the universe,(16) the first sound, the first created sound, was a. The first syllable a was present in the creation. And thats why a is the first letter of the Tántrika varńamálá [Tantric alphabet]. A is the first letter of the Indo-Aryan varńamálá. [Here the author discusses the Aryans who “came here from Central Asia,” and the rśis (sages) and munis (saintly intellectuals) “who created the Vedas.” He says that at that time “There was no alphabetical knowledge.”] That is, our Indo-Aryan alphabet is a Tantric alphabet. It is not of Aryan origin, it is of Indian origin.(17) The first letter is a, first letter is alpha, first letter is aliph, first letter is “a”.
A represents creation, u represents maintenance,(18) ma represents destruction: oṋm. Oṋm represents the entire creative faculty of the Supreme Progenitor. A-u-m. Bhú bhuvah svah mahah janah tapah satya – during the phase of creation, the creation started from subtle to crude, and the return phase is from crude to subtle. So Bhú bhuvah svah mahah janah tapah satya – these are the seven strata created by the Supreme Father. [Your] body is in the stratum bhú. Your mind remains in the stratum bhuvah. These are the seven strata; they are called loka in Sanskrit. So these seven lokas have been created by the Supreme Progenitor.
Tat savitur vareńyam. Savitur means “[of the] Creator”, “[of the] Father”. Vareńyam means “venerable”. Bhargo means “divine effulgence”. Dhiimahi means “[we] meditate on”. “We meditate on the divine effulgence of the Supreme Father who created these seven strata.” For “divine effulgence” the word bharga is used.
Why has the word bharga been created? In bharga there are three letters – bha, ra and ga.
Bha – Bhásayate lokán iti – “Because of His presence, because of His effulgence, the entire universe has become effulgent.” Bhásayate lokán iti [“that which illumines all the strata”]. And what is the first letter of bhásayate? Bha.
Raiṋjayati. Raiṋjayati means “to charm”, “to colour”.(19) It starts with ra. So he who charms the Supreme is raiṋjayati, and the first letter of raiṋjayati is ra.
And the last one is Gacchati yasmin ágacchati yasmád.(20) Gacchati yasmin – “goeth back to whom”. Ágacchati yasmád – “cometh from whom”. You see, everything is coming from Him and going back to Him, coming from Him, going back to Him. So Gacchati yasmin ágacchati yasmád. Whats the first letter? Ga. Gacchati yasmin – the first letter is ga.
So bha – ra – ga. Bha – ra – ga bharga ucyate [Bha, ra and ga compose bharga]. Thats why His divine effulgence is called bharga. Sah bhásayate, sah raiṋjayati and gacchati yasmin. Thats why bha – ra – ga. In the “Gáyattrii Mantra” [a popular name for the “Savitr Rk”] we use the word bharga for “His effulgence”.
So now I think you have understood the meaning of “Bháratavarśa”? So each and every word in this ancient land of ours is meaningful.
Footnotes
(1) A popular, but not precise, name for India; also a name of Krśńa, as a king of India. –Eds.
(2) Several words here were inaudible on the tape. –Eds.
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(9) A Sanskrit phrase here was inaudible on the tape. –Eds.
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(11) The first meaning was not clearly audible on the tape. –Eds.
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(19) Another equivalent here is inaudible on the tape. –Eds.
(20) A few words here were inaudible on the tape. –Eds.