Katha:2.2.2

Mantra 2.2.2

Original Text:

हँसः शुचिषद्वसुरान्तरिक्शसद्धोता वेदिषदतिथिर्दुरोणसत् ।
	नृषद्वरसदृतसद्व्योमसदब्जा गोजा ऋतजा अद्रिजा ऋतं बृहत् ॥ २ ॥

ham̐saḥ śuciṣadvasurāntarikśasaddhotā vediṣadatithirduroṇasat ।
	nṛṣadvarasadṛtasadvyomasadabjā gojā ṛtajā adrijā ṛtaṃ bṛhat ॥ 2 ॥

Word-by-Word Breakdown

Sanskrit Term	Transliteration	Hindi Meaning	English Word or Meaning	Comments
हंसः	haṃsaḥ	गति करने वाला – जो गति करता है	mover – that which moves		शुचिषद्	śuciṣad	स्वर्ग में स्थित – जो स्वर्ग में निवास करता है	dwelling in heaven – present in the luminous realm		वसुः	vasuḥ	सबको जीवन देने वाला – जो सबको प्राण देता है	pervader – giver of life to all		अन्तरिक्षसत्	antarikṣasat	अन्तरिक्ष में स्थित – जो अन्तरिक्ष में निवास करता है	dwelling in inter-space – present in the mid-region		होताः	hotā	यज्ञकर्ता – जो यज्ञ करता है	fire – the priest, the one who offers oblations		वेदिषद्	vediṣad	वेदी में स्थित – जो वेदी (यज्ञ स्थल) में निवास करता है	dwelling in the altar – present in the sacrificial altar		अतिथिः	atithiḥ	अतिथि – जो अतिथि के रूप में आता है	guest – one who comes as a guest		दुरोणसत्	duroṇasat	गृह में स्थित – जो घर में निवास करता है	dwelling in a house – present in the home		नृषत्	nṛṣat	मनुष्यों में स्थित – जो मनुष्यों में निवास करता है	dwelling in man – present among humans		वरसत्	varasat	श्रेष्ठों में स्थित – जो श्रेष्ठों (देवों) में निवास करता है	dwelling in betters – present among the devas		ऋतसत्	ṛtasat	सत्य में स्थित – जो सत्य या ऋत में निवास करता है	dwelling in ṛta – present in truth or cosmic order		व्योमसत्	vyomasat	आकाश में स्थित – जो आकाश में निवास करता है	dwelling in vyoma – present in space		अब्जाः	abjāḥ	जल में उत्पन्न – जो जल में उत्पन्न होते हैं	born in water – water-born beings		गोजाः	gojāḥ	पृथ्वी में उत्पन्न – जो पृथ्वी में उत्पन्न होते हैं	born of earth – earth-born beings		ऋतजाः	ṛtajāḥ	यज्ञ में उत्पन्न – जो यज्ञ में उत्पन्न होते हैं	born of sacrifice – sacrifice-born beings		अद्रिजाः	adrijāḥ	पर्वत में उत्पन्न – जो पर्वत में उत्पन्न होते हैं	born of mountains – mountain-born beings		ऋतम्	ṛtam	शाश्वत सत्य – अपरिवर्तनीय सत्य	ṛta – unchanging truth		बृहत्	bṛhat	महान – अत्यंत व्यापक	bṛhat – the great, the vast

Translation/Explanation

Hindi: जो गति करता है, वह स्वर्ग में निवास करता है; जो सबको प्राण देता है, वह अन्तरिक्ष में स्थित है; यज्ञकर्ता अग्नि के रूप में वेदी में स्थित है; अतिथि के रूप में घर में आता है; वह मनुष्यों में, श्रेष्ठों में, सत्य में और आकाश में निवास करता है। वह जल में उत्पन्न, पृथ्वी में उत्पन्न, यज्ञ में उत्पन्न और पर्वत में उत्पन्न सभी का आधार है; वह अपरिवर्तनीय सत्य और महान है।

English: As haṃsaḥ, the mover, he dwells in heaven; as vasuḥ, the pervader, in antarikṣa, the inter-space; as hotā, the fire, in the vedi, the altar; as atithiḥ, the guest, in the duroṇa, the house; he dwells in nṛṣat, man, varasat, betters (devas), ṛtasat, ṛta (truth), and vyomasat, vyoma (space). He is all that is abjāḥ, born in water, gojāḥ, born of earth, ṛtajāḥ, born of sacrifice, and adrijāḥ, born of mountains; he is ṛtam, the unchanging truth, and bṛhat, the great.

Commentary

And he, the ātman, does not reside in the city of one body alone; rather, he dwells in all cities (bodies). As haṃsaḥ, the one who moves, he is śuciṣad, dwelling in heaven as the sun. As vasuḥ, the animator of all, he is present in antarikṣa, the inter-space, as wind. As hotā, he is fire, as stated in the śruti: "fire indeed is hotā." As vediṣad, he resides in the vedi, the altar, which is the supreme nature of earth according to the śruti. As atithiḥ, he is soma. As duroṇasat, he dwells in the duroṇa, the vessel, or as a brāhmaṇa guest in the house. As nṛṣat, he dwells among men; as varasat, among the betters, i.e., the devas; as ṛtasat, in ṛta, the cosmic order or sacrifice; as vyomasat, in vyoma, space. Abjāḥ are those born in water, such as conch, mother-of-pearl, and whale; gojāḥ are those born of earth, like corn and grain; ṛtajāḥ are those born as appendages to sacrifice; adrijāḥ are those born of mountains, like rivers. Though he is the ātman of all, he is ṛtam, of unchanging nature, and bṛhat, great, being the cause of all. Even when the sun alone is described by the mantra, since the sun is accepted as ātman in his nature, there is no conflict in this commentary. The meaning of the mantra is that the ātman of the universe is one, all-pervading, and there is no difference in the ātman.

Concept List

haṃsaḥ
śuciṣad
vasuḥ
antarikṣasat
hotā
vediṣad
atithiḥ
duroṇasat
nṛṣat
varasat
ṛtasat
vyomasat
abjāḥ
gojāḥ
ṛtajāḥ
adrijāḥ
ṛtam
bṛhat