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JUNE, 1928)
VEDIC STUDIES
97
VEDIC STUDIES. By A, VENKATASUBBIAH, M.A., Ph.D.
(Continued from page 64.) The fortress of the gods is, as Sayaņa (on TA. 1, 27, 114) explains, the human body; the nine doors are the nine apertures of the body, namely, the two ears, the two eyes, the two nostrils (or according to others, the nose and the brahma-randhra), the mouth, the upastha and payu : and the eight wheels are the eight dhálaval or elements of the body-tvac (skin). asri (blood), medas (fat), asthin (bone), majjan (marrow), sukra (semen), mdmsa (flesh), and ojas. The sheath of gold within it is the heart which is the abode of the atman: compare TA. 10, 11, 2: pad makosa-prati kasan hrdáyam câpyadhómukham 1 ádho nishtya' vitastyante nábhya'm upari tishthati II jválamála' kulam bhati visvásydyatanám mahat || .... tásmin sarvím prátishthitam.... tásya midhye maha'n agnih .... tásya madhye váhniśikha.... tásyah sikhaya' madhye pará málma vyavasthitaḥ sá bráhmd sá hárih sandraḥ sóksharah paramih svara't II "Like to a lotus-bud, the heart facing downwards, is (situated) one span below the neck (that is, below the top of the windpipe), and above the navel. This great abode of all of the world) is shining, being full of rings of Aames ... in it is established everything . ... in its midst is a great fire. ...in it is a flame. ...in the midst of this flame is established the supreme atman; he is Brahma, he Hari (Vishnu), he Indra, he the imperishable supreme lord." Compare also Yogatattvopanishat, 1, 9: hrdi sthåne sthitam padmam tac ca padmam adhomukham ; Dhyanabindû panishat, 12: ûrdhvandlam adhomukham | kallalipushpasamkasam sarvadeva mayâmbujam ; Ch. Up. 8, 1, 1: asmin brahmapure daharam pundarikam vesma " In this abode of Brahman (i.e., the body) is a small lotus chamber."
The epithets tryara and tripratisk!hita are not very clear. In Ch. Up. 8, 1, 339 we read that the akaśa of the heart contains everything, heaven, earth, agni, vdyu, etc. The word tryara may therefore perhaps refer to the three worlds and all other similar triplicities as being contained in the heart ; compare Yogatattvopanishat, 1, 6: Crayo lokis trayo vedds travah sandhyás trayah surah | truyognayo gunås trini sthitaḥ sarve trayakshare. The trayakshara or pranava is thus said to contain within itself the three worlds, the three Vedas, the three san. dhyas, etc.; and as the heart is, like the pranova, a seat, adhishthana, of the Supreme these triplicities may all be regarded as being contained in the heart and as forming the ardh or spokes thereof referred to by the epithet tryara.
The epithet tripratishthila refers perhaps to the three states of the heart spoken of in Yogatattvopanishat, 1, 1: akáre socitam padmam ukarena iva bhidyate makdre labhate nadam ardhamatra tu niscale which seems to mean : "When a is pronounced, the lotus (of the heart) brightens (becomes ready to open ?); it opens when u is pronounced ; and begins to hum when ma is pronounced ; it is immobile when the ardhamatra is pronounced." Nowa, u, and ma are said in the Mândukyopanishat, Gauda pada-kârika, and elsewhere) to be the padas or feet of the pranava which thus rests or is supported on them. Similarly, the heart when it brightens, the heart when it opens, and the heart when it is humming, may be considered the feet or supports of the heart.
The word svarga in the fourth pada of v. 31 is usually interpreted as 'heavenly,' svarga. tulya, etc. There is however no necessity for abandoning the usual meaning of the word, namely, 'heaven'; for this word is often used to denote the supreme heaven or Brahmaloka where the Brabmart dwells (compare Bphed. Up. 4, 4, 8: dhird apiyanti, brahmavidah svargam lokam and Sankara's comment : svargaloka-labdas trivishtapa-vdcy api vann iha prakaranan mokshabhidhayakah; Ch. Up. 8, 3, 2-3: imah prajd ahar-ahar gacchantya etam brahmalokam
39 esho War hrlaya lokasah | ubhe asmin dydvdprthivi un'ar eva samahitewbhdv agnis ca vdyus ca súryasandramasiv ubhau !
