04 Atmasūktam

The hymn given below in the original and in translation is to be found in 51 of the ritual discussed above. Its function is to enlarge the worshipper’s consciousness into cosmic size, so that he may be able to identify himself with the Lord Whom he is going to worship. This is done by identifying the parts of his own body with aspects of Vișnu (vss. 2,3), physical phenomena (vss. 4-7) and Vedic deities (vss. 6-8). Also the role of the Vedic seers is of importance (Kapila in vs. 2, Bhrgu in vs. 6, others in vss. 6 and 9).

The language is of an archaizing character, sometimes rather obscure. Vaikhānasa formulas often purposely use obscure or archaic expressions, thus enhancing their sacred character. The Vaikhanasas accept this as a feature of the ärșa style used by their seers. The tendency is augmented by the fact that the hymn has been provided in the VMP with accent notation (the whole VMP is written with Vedic accent). The accent is not always correctly placed according to Vedic standards. Thus, in vs. 2, udāna has been left without an accent while syūr has one; in vs. 5, syur has an accent while ye has not. The accents have been omitted below.

The language itself has taken over some Vedic features (e.g. the sub- junctive asan “they be”) but the general impression is that of a post- Vedic poem. This is easily proved by post-Vedic words such as saratam (vs. 4), bhujaga (5) and śrutismrti (7), and further by the mention of some Incarnations of Vişnu.

The metre is fundamentally trişțubh, but sometimes it is difficult to recognize this, e.g. in vss. 6 and 7. Vs. 6a is apparently a half-śloka.

The source is in the first place VMP 5,49. The hymn is found also in KAV on KA 3, but in a less correct way and probably taken over directly from VMP.

हरिः ॐ /

आत्मा᳚त्मा॒ पर॑मान्तरा॒त्मा मह्य॑न्तरा॒त्मा ।
यश्चा॑तिरा॒त्मा स॒तनो᳚ऽन्तरा॒त्मा ।
व्यावे᳚ष्टि॒ विश्व॒ꣳ॒ सक॑लं बि॒भर्ति॒ ।
यो व्य॑क्तपु॒ण्यस्स तु॑ न: प्र॒धान॑: ॥१॥

yaścā॑tirā॒tmā sa॒tano᳚’ntarā॒tmā । \

प्रा॒णः प्रणी॑ति॒स्स उदान॑ आदि॒र् ।
वर॑दो वरा॒हो व्या॒नश्च॑ मे स्यात् ।
त॒पसां᳚ च मू॒र्तिः कपि॑लो मुनी॒न्द्रो ।
य॑श्चापा॒नो हय॑शीर्षो नः ॥ २॥

यथ्स॑र्वम॒श्ञ्चात्य॒जर॑स्सम॒ग्रम् ।
श्रिय॒मूर्ज॑युक्तां॒ स तु॑ मे स॒मान॑: ।
बलगं॑ आसु॒रं यथ्स॒ततं॑ नि॒हन्ता ।
ब्रह्म॑नाबुद्धि॒र्मे गोप॑ ई॒श्वर॑: ॥ ३॥

balaṃ॑ āsu॒raṃ yatsa॒tataṃ॑ niha॒ntā । \

स॒वि॒ता च॑ वी॒र्यमिन्दु॑श्च धा॒तु ।
रस॑भूतभू॒ता भू॒तास॑भूताः ।
द्यौर्मे॑ अस्तु मू॒र्धोद॑रं॒ नभो॑ वा ।
भूमि॑र्यथांघ्रिर्ववृधेऽहम् ईशः॑ ॥ ४॥

ra॒sabhū॑tabhū॒tā bhūtā᳚sabhū॒tā: । \

अस्थी॑नि मे॒ स्यु॒रथ॒ पर्व॑ता॒ख्या ।
भु॒ज॒गाश्च॒ केशा॒ दिवि॒ ये चर॑न्तः ॥
द्वौ नेत्र॑रू॒पौ विथु॑ पृश्च्नि॒ मुख्यौ॑ ।
रु॒धिरं᳚ च सा॒रꣳ सक॑लञ्च॒ तोयं᳚ ॥ ५॥

स्ना॒यवो॑ मे आ॒सन्ना॒द्यौर्भृगु॑र्मे॒ हृद॑यमस्तु ।
सर्वे॑ अ॒न्ये मुन॑यो॒ऽङ्गभू॑ता ।
वेदा॑ मे आ॒स्यं॑ जि॒ह्वा मे॒ सर॑स्वती ।
दन्ता॑ मरु॒त उ॒पजि॒ह्वा उ॑प॒श्रुति॑: ॥ ६॥

वृष॑णौ मि॒त्रावरु॑णौ उप॒स्थ: प्र॒जाप॑ति ।
रा॒न्त्रा मे॒ वेदा॒: श्रुतिस्स्मृ॒ती मे॒धा धार॑णे ।
स्वे॒दं मे॒ वर्षं॑ मूत्र॒कोश ꣳ॑ समु॒द्रम् ।
पुरी॑षं॒ काञ्च॑नम् ॥७॥

sve॒daṃ me॒ varṣaṃ॑ mūtra॒kośa ꣳ॑ samu॒dram । \

सा॒वि॒त्री गा॑य॒त्री मर्या॑दा॒ वेदि॒ ।
हृत्पु॑डरी॒के वि॒मले᳚ प्रवि॒ष्ट: ।
सक॑लस्सल॒क्ष्मी स॒विभू॑तिकां॒गो ।
य॑त्सर्वं॒ पुण्यं॒ मय्य॑धि॒ष्ठान॑मस्तु ॥८॥

*sā॒vi॒trī gā॑ya॒trī maryā॑dā॒ vedi॒ । \

सर्वे॑षां दे॒वानां आत्म॑क॒ ।
सर्वे॑षां मु॒निनां॒ मात्म॑कऽस्त्पो॒मूर्ति॑ रि॒ह पुण्य॒मूर्ति॒रासन्॑ ॥९॥ \

ना विष्णुर्विष्णुम् अर्चयेदिति ॥
*nā viṣṇurviṣṇum arcayediti *

आत्मनि नारायणं बुध्वा भगवन् पुण्डरीकाक्ष
हृदयागन्तु मयाकृतं आत्म सात्कुरु देवेश ॥

*ātmani nārāyaṇaṃ budhvā bhagavan puṇḍarīkākṣa
hṛdayāgantu mayākṛtaṃ ātma sātku ru deveśa *

बाह्ये त्वं सम्यगर्चये । इति सम्प्राद्य ध्यानम् ॥

*bāhye tvaṃ samyagarcaye । iti samprādya dhyānam *

[1] The Self of the self, the Highest and Inner Self, the Inner Self of the Earth; He, the Primeval Self, is our Inner Self; He envelopes everything, maintains the whole; He, Whose merit reveals itself, is our Chief.

[2] As the outward breath, He is guidance; as the upward breath, He is the Primeval Boar¹ Who grants boons; and as the circulating breath, He is the concrete accumulation of ascetic power, Kapila, prince of hermits; and our downward breath is Hayasirsa.

[3] Because He, the Imperishable, devours everything completely, [even] Śrt together with Her vigour, He is my digestive breath. Because He constantly smites the demoniacal power my intelligence is Brahmä, the Protector, the Ruler.²

[4] And my heroism is Savitar, the ingredients [of my body) in liquid state, the moon; the [live] elements [constitute] the living beings, the demons included;

my head should be the sky, my belly the intermediate space; my feet have grown [to a size] like the earth; I am the Ruler.

[5] And further, my bones should be called the mountains, and my hairs are the serpents who live in heaven; the two who have the form of the eyes are the foremost of Pṛthu and Prāņi (?); my blood is the liquid element: the complete quantity of water.

[6] Let the rivers be my sinews; my heart should be Bhṛgu; all the other hermits should be my limbs; my mouth is formed by the Vedas, Sarasvatī is my tongue; the Maruts are my teeth and oracular revelation is my epiglottis.

[7] Mitra and Varuṇa are my testicles, Prajāpati my sexual organ; the Vedas my entrails, my… are Revelation and Tradition; the rain is my sweat, the ocean is my bladder, the gold is my faeces.

[8] The Gāyatrī verse called Sāvitrī is the boundary, the sacrificial ground (?); He (Viṣṇu) has entered into the pure lotus of my heart, in His divisible aspect, accompanied by Lakṣmī, with His body full of splendour; everything that is meritorious in me should be His foundation. ³

[9] May I be the Self of all the gods, of all the hermits, the concretization of ascetical power and merit in this world.