2023-09-10 12:46:04 by ambuda-bot
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xlii
Bhaktimandakinī
The girdles around the waist The chain of the girdle adorning the hips
of Visnu, who pervaded the three worlds (in the incarnation of Vāmana),
makes his body shine like Mount Mandara in the middle of the sea (during
the churning of the milk ocean), with the huge body of Vasuki, the great
king of serpents, wound around it. May this attractive girdle, shining forth
with its golden splendour and the rays radiating from its precious jewels,
bestowing of prosperity, make my mind free from ignorance forever. [22]64
The abdomen
The navel The navel pond of Viṣṇu produced the upward-looking, beauti-
ful lotus abounding in different coloured petals, and sheltering the honey-bee
Brahma, worshipped by the Gods at the beginning (of creation). It is full of
emerald-blue waves of water of splendour. Let the swan of our mind desirous
of amusement dwell forever in this navel pond. [23]65
The divine lotus in the navel pond The Patāla is said to be the stalk of
the lotus grown in the navel pond of Visnu, lying on the bed of the serpent,
Sesa. The circle of directions is the row of petals, and the supreme mountains
are said to be its filaments. The sages say that the Golden Mountain Meru
is its pericarp; it is the resort of the humming bee, Brahma (reciting the
Veda-s), originated by himself (along with the lotus). Let this great lotus,
manifest in the form of the earth, be the bestower of our desires. [24]
The stomach Along with the intermediate creations (in the interim vi-
kalpas), mobile and immobile, this large Universe emerges at the beginning
64 The body of Visnu is compared to Mount Mandara at the time of the churning of
the ocean, with Väsuki, the king of serpents, wound around it as the rope for churning.
The word tridhaman has been interpreted in different ways in the commentary. Literally
translated, it would convey the idea of one who occupies the three abodes or who possesses
the three effulgent sources of light. First, philosophically and metaphysically, the three
states of being -jägrat, svapna and suṣupti, pervaded by the Supreme Being; secondly,
that which is manifest in three abodes: the trio of Vedas, i.e. Rk, Yajus and Saman.
Physically, the three abodes are the trio of worlds - bhūr, bhuvas and suvar (the earth,
the sky and the heaven); and the three sources of light are fire, the sun and the moon,
His manifest form:
65 Beautiful imagery has perhaps been borrowed from the Bhagavatapurāṇa and devel-
oped here. The navel of Visnu is conceived as a lotus pond with one unique lotus, the
abode of Brahma, in which the swan of our mind would swim. The blue complexion of
his body is conceived as the waters therein. That very lotus, in which the Creator re-
sides, is described ontologically as the earth, and the Lord Brahma chanting the Veda-s is
conceived as a bee inside it.
Bhaktimandakinī
The girdles around the waist The chain of the girdle adorning the hips
of Visnu, who pervaded the three worlds (in the incarnation of Vāmana),
makes his body shine like Mount Mandara in the middle of the sea (during
the churning of the milk ocean), with the huge body of Vasuki, the great
king of serpents, wound around it. May this attractive girdle, shining forth
with its golden splendour and the rays radiating from its precious jewels,
bestowing of prosperity, make my mind free from ignorance forever. [22]64
The abdomen
The navel The navel pond of Viṣṇu produced the upward-looking, beauti-
ful lotus abounding in different coloured petals, and sheltering the honey-bee
Brahma, worshipped by the Gods at the beginning (of creation). It is full of
emerald-blue waves of water of splendour. Let the swan of our mind desirous
of amusement dwell forever in this navel pond. [23]65
The divine lotus in the navel pond The Patāla is said to be the stalk of
the lotus grown in the navel pond of Visnu, lying on the bed of the serpent,
Sesa. The circle of directions is the row of petals, and the supreme mountains
are said to be its filaments. The sages say that the Golden Mountain Meru
is its pericarp; it is the resort of the humming bee, Brahma (reciting the
Veda-s), originated by himself (along with the lotus). Let this great lotus,
manifest in the form of the earth, be the bestower of our desires. [24]
The stomach Along with the intermediate creations (in the interim vi-
kalpas), mobile and immobile, this large Universe emerges at the beginning
64 The body of Visnu is compared to Mount Mandara at the time of the churning of
the ocean, with Väsuki, the king of serpents, wound around it as the rope for churning.
The word tridhaman has been interpreted in different ways in the commentary. Literally
translated, it would convey the idea of one who occupies the three abodes or who possesses
the three effulgent sources of light. First, philosophically and metaphysically, the three
states of being -jägrat, svapna and suṣupti, pervaded by the Supreme Being; secondly,
that which is manifest in three abodes: the trio of Vedas, i.e. Rk, Yajus and Saman.
Physically, the three abodes are the trio of worlds - bhūr, bhuvas and suvar (the earth,
the sky and the heaven); and the three sources of light are fire, the sun and the moon,
His manifest form:
65 Beautiful imagery has perhaps been borrowed from the Bhagavatapurāṇa and devel-
oped here. The navel of Visnu is conceived as a lotus pond with one unique lotus, the
abode of Brahma, in which the swan of our mind would swim. The blue complexion of
his body is conceived as the waters therein. That very lotus, in which the Creator re-
sides, is described ontologically as the earth, and the Lord Brahma chanting the Veda-s is
conceived as a bee inside it.