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1144
GITA-RAHASYA OR KARMA-YOGA
अहं वैश्वानरो भूत्वा प्राणिनां देहमाश्रितः। प्राणापानसमायुक्तः पचाम्यन्नं चतुर्विधम् ॥१४॥ सर्वस्य चाहं हृदि संनिविष्टो मत्तः स्मृतिनिमपोहनं च ।
वेदैश्च सर्वैरहमेव वेद्यो वेदान्तकृद्वेदविदेव चाहम् ॥ १५ ॥ brilliance; and, becoming the fluid Soma ( Moon), I maintain all auşadhi (that is, all vegetable life).
[The word ' soma' has the double meaning 'soma-vallı', and also "Moon'; and as the Moon is fluid, radiant (amśumān), and white, so also is the soma-zalli, according to the Vedas; and both have been called "the Lord of Vegetables". But, having regard to the anterior and posterior contexts, the Moon is clearly meant here. After having stated in this stanza, that He is the brilliance in the Moon, it is stated in this very stanza that He is also the property of the Moon to maintain vegetation. There are descriptions elsewhere also, that, as the Moon is fluid, it contains this quality, which causes the growth of vegeta
tion. ] (14) Becoming the Vaišvānara-formed Fire, I inhabit the the bodies of created beings; and being united with the prāna and the apāna * breaths, I digest the four kinds of food (namely, that which is to be eaten, to be sucked, to be licked, and to be drunk). (15) Similarly, I am installed in the heart of everybody; and Memory, Knowledge and their apohanaṁ † (that is, destruction) are My doing; and I am also That, Which is to be known by means of all the Vedas; I am the author of Vedānta; and I am also the Knower of the Vedas.
[The 2nd part of this stanza has appeared in the Kaivalyopanisad (Kai. 2. 3); and the only difference of reading there is “vedair anekaih" instead of "vedai ś ca sarvaih". Therefore, the inferences drawn by some critics,
* For meaning of prāna and apāna, see p. 939 supra-Trans.
t "apohanam" is also translated as “Roasoning faculty" (See Apte, Practical Sanskrit-English Dictionary, 1924, p. 109-Trans.).
