Part 2:

As we looked at various sankhya pramEya in mangalacharane sandhi of HKS, let us investigate a few more of them that dAsArya has mentioned in the fourth chapter (bhOjanarasavibhAga or sarvavyAkhyAnasArasangraha sandhi) of HKS.  In this part of the article, we would attempt to decipher them (provide a method where possible).

Sri dAsarya in bhOjana rasa vibhaga sandhi has talked about, what is food? what are the different forms of lord Srihari we must remember in the food we eat?  What are the different rasas and its importance?  How eating food can become a yagna?  Why it should be had with the intention of acquiring Srihari’s love? To answer each of the above questions he provides numbers describing the forms and what Srihari does in each of those forms.  How to offer all the karma of eating to Srihari is the theme that dAsarya address when he sang the bhOjanarasavibhAga verses.

Types of food every chEtana consume and the rasas connected to those foods?

• The body of brahma is called brahmanda and all chEtanas in srushTHi need food to survive and grow (upachaya).  In this world, the food that all chEtanas eat are of four types.  In this verse:

vanajajAnDadoLuLLakhiLa chE
tanaru bhunjipa chaturavidha bhO
janapadARthadi chatura vidha rasarUpa tAnAgi
manake bandudanunDuNisi saM
hananakupachaya karaNakAnan
danimiSharigAtmapradaRshana sukhavanIva hari | 4-1

Sri dAsArya is answering the following: What are the rasas of the food items and how do they get distributed? 

The four types of food items are called as khAdya-chewable, pEya-drinkable, chOshya-sucked, and lEhya-lickable.

Although, the rasas are typically known as shadrasas (lavana-salt, katu-hot/pungent, amla-sour, madhura-sweet, tikta- tart/astringent, and Kashaya- bitter).  Srihari resides in these rasas with the same name as the rasa and when these rasas are mixed, they are called ruchi.

Srihari takes these jada rasas, converts them as nutrition, and provides to the gross body, indriyas, and the tattvAbhimanis get Srihari’s svarUpa darshana.  In summary, svAkhyarasa is accepted by paramAtma and the purpose is to provide taste, jaDarasa, is accepted by the gross body and the purpose is upachaya (growth), Ananda rasa is accepted by the indriyas and the purpose is a pleasure for the indriyas, and svarUpa darshana is accepted by the tattvAbhimanis and the get Srihari’s darshana Ananda.

Srihari takes four forms to distribute the food:

• Vishwa: stays in Eyes/awake (jagrat) state and distributes sthula rasa for jIvas growth (upachaya) and he is also called as Sthulabhuk
  • tEjas: stays in throat/dream (swapna) state and distributes pravivikta rasa and gives dreams
  • prAgna: stays in heart/deep sleep (sushupta) state and distributes temporary (anitya) Ananda rasa and gives moksha anubhava
  • turya: stays in Brahmarandra (Ananda) and distributes svarUpabhUt Ananda

How does Srihari divide the rasa of the food one eats?

• This mortal (gross) body is the nest where the chEtana (jIva) resides, and this body is made of triguna and has 16 kala (parts).  In this verse, dAsArya is narrating how Srihari distributes 16 rasas to 16 parts of the body.

nIDadandadalippa lingake
ShODashAtmaka rasavibhAgava
mADi ShODashakalegaLige upachayagaLane koDuta
krODa eppatteraDu sAviranADigatadEvategaLoLagi
ddADutAnandAtma charisuva lOkadoLu tAnu| 4-2

• ShODashAtmaka rasavibhAgavamADi….  Sri Hari divides the essence of the food we eat into 16 rasas (4 types of food x 4 types of sensory organs (rasEndriya-Tongue, nEtrEndriya-Eyes, ghrANEndriya-Nose, and tvagEndriya-Skin) that feels the food
• ShODashakalegaLige….  These get distributed to the body that is made up of 16 kala/parts (5 gnanendriya, 5 karnedriya, 5 panchabhUtas, and 1 manas).  Here panchabhUtas are the abode for panchatanmAtras (bhu-gandha-nose, apa-rasa-tongue, tEjas-rUpa-eyes, vAyu-sparsha-skin, and AkAsha-shabda-ears).
• eppatteraDu sAvira nADigatadEvategaLoLagi….and to the 72K naadis (which are made up of energy form) and divided into 36K purusha and 36k strI nAdis.

How does the gross body get its upachaya?

• Lord Srihari is called vAri and the shadrasas are dependent (supported by) on water.  Srihari is called with the same name as the rasas are and he distributes this rasa to the gross body through the water to rasEndriyas and in turn, they distribute to the 72K nAdis, which enables the upachaya of the gross body.

vArivAchyanu vAruyOLagi
ddAru rasavendenisi mUva
ttAru sAvira strI puruSha nADiyaLu tadrupa
dhArakanu tAnAgi sarvasha
rIragaLali ahaShcharAtri vi
hAramALpanu bruhatiyemba sunAmadim karesi | 4-3

• mUvattAru sAvira… ahaScharAtri… bruhatiyemba sunAmadim….  The human body has 72K nAdis (which are made up of energy form), which are divided into two, left of the body is called strI nAdi, and the right of the body is called purusha nAdi. This form of Lord in nAdi is called as Bruhati.  This 72K nAdis can be understood in relation to time.
  • One year has 360 days (moon cycle), which comprises 360 Days and 360 Nights
  • One human life is for 100 years (in general), which means 36000 Days and 36000 Nights which adds up to 72000.
  • When this bruhatisahasra rUpa of Lord can be further classified as:
• 16 swarAkshara x 1000 names of Vishnu sahasra rUpa = 16000 rUpas
• 35 vyanjanAkshara x 1000 names of Vishnu sahasra rUpa = 35000 rUpas
• 11 akshara of bruhati chandassu x 1000 names of Vishnu sahasra rUpa = 11000 rUpas
• 100 Deva ruks x 1000 names of Vishnu sahasra rUpa = 10000 rUpas

Which adds up to 72000

• Each of these shadrasas has an abhimAni dEvata and Srihari rUpa, and they are:
  • Salt-niruti-janArdhana
  • Sour-pArvati-dAmOdhara
  • Pungent/hot-dakshaprajApati-narasimha
  • Sweet-indra-vAsudEva
  • Bitter-yama-aniruddha
  • Astringent-bhAgirati(ganga)-Srihari

How does the nutrients get to the 16 kalas of the body?

• The shadrasas multiplied with satvAdiguNa becomes 18 and these further get classified into 8 types to provide nutrients/growth to the 16kalas.  dAsArya is providing details about them as:

Arurasa satvAdi bhEdadi
Aru mUrAgihavu sarA
sAra nItAprachura khanDAkhanDa chitprachura
Iradhika eppattusAvira
mAramaNana rasAkhyarUpa sha
rIradali bhOjya supadARthadi tiLidu bhuMjisuvudu | 4-4

• Arurasa sattvaadi bhedadi… Aru mUrAgihavu….  The Shadrasas gets multiplied due to the influence of trigunas and becomes 18 rupas (6 shad rasas x 3 gunas (satva, rajasa, tamasa)).  
• The shadrasas and Srihari’s rUpa in it are
  • madhura (sweet, resides in Indra as vAsudEva and is in the form of sAra)
  • lavaNa (salt, resides in niRUti as janArdhana, and is in the form of aSAra)
  • Amla (sour, resides in pArvati as dAmOdara, and is in the form of nIta)
  • tikta (astringent, resides in gangA as Srihari)
  • kaTu (pungent/hot, resides in dakshaprajApati as narasimha, and is in the form of khanda)
  • kashAya (bitter, resides in yama as Aniruddha, and in the form of akhanda)
• These 18 rasas get distributed to the body which is made of 16 kala (5 gnanendriya, 5 karnedriya, 5 panchabhUtas, and 1 manas) in these forms: sAra, asAra, nIta, aprachura, khanda, akhanda, chit, and prachura. These 18 rupas are grouped into 4 types (for the tongue – Suruchi, for the eyes – ruchira, for the nose – sugandha, and for the skin – shuchi), which essentially is 18 x 4 = 72 and when multiplied by 1000 names of vishNu sahasra nama it becomes 72K rUpas
• The word rasa can be again interpreted in numbers, where ra = 2, and sa = 7, which is nothing but 72 with the numbers go from the right rule and when multiplied by 1000 names of vishNu sahasra nama it becomes 72K rUpas.

Numerology Methods:

We have seen various numerology methods used in our shastras, jyotishya, etc., and some of them are katapayadi, aksharapali, bhutasankhya, aryabhatta, etc,.  However, Sri jagannatha dAsArya has used the akshara ankha paditi to decode the bhagavat rUpas in HKS.  

Here is a brief introduction about the akshara ankha methodology:

kAdichatur: ಕ ಖ ಗ ಘ 1- 4
chAdipancha: ಚ ಛ ಜ ಝ ಞ 1-5
ThAdipancha: ಟ ಠ ಡ ಢ ಣ 1-5
tAdipancha: ತ ಥ ದ ಧ ನ 1-5
pAdipancha: ಪ ಫ ಬ ಭ ಮ 1-5
yAdidasha: ಯ ರ ಲ ವ ಶ ಷ ಸ ಹ ಳ ಕ್ಷ (1-10)

If a word has a sanyuktA kshara like Pradyumna (ಪ್ರದ್ಯುಮ್ನ), when a number is allocated to it, the word has to be split, and a value is assigned to it (ಪ್ರ = ಪ – 1 + ರ – 2 =3). In addition, if the last letter of the word is sanyuktAkshara (ಮ – 5 + ನ – 5) then they have to be considered unique. The value assigned to Pradyumna (ಪ್ರದ್ಯುಮ್ನ) is 3455 and applying ankAnam vAmatO gati the final value is 5543.

A question may come to our minds, why should we consider the numeric value when understanding Lord’s rUpa?  The words are made up of aksharas (varNa), which are 51, and each varNa has a specific position and importance.  All varNas, svara shabdha propunds Srihari, and his rUpas are represented by these varNas, and counting them is very important.

Sri JagannathadAsArya has revealed the numerology behind each bhagavat rUpas extensively using the akshara ankha paditi.

Existence of Srihari’s various rUpas in food items:

• Sri JagannathadAsArya narrates about the numbers and lord’s rUpa in milk, ghee, jaggery, and fruits.  In general, when we taste the above items, we say they are sweet and do not differentiate them.  However, each of them (the sweetness of milk, ghee, jaggery, and fruits) have a specific name, and dAsArya is specifically mentioning them in these verses:

kshIragata rasarUpagaLu mu
nnUru myAlaivattu nAlaku
chAru ghrutagata rUpagaLu ippattarOmbhattu
sAra guDadoLagaidu sAvira
nUravondu surUpa dvisaha
srAreraDu shata paMchaviMshati rUpa phalagaLali | 4-5

vishada sthira tIkshaNavu nirahara
rasadoLu mUraidu sAvira
trishatanava rUpagaLa chintisi, bhunjipudu viShaya
shvasana tatvEsharoLagiddI
pesarinindali karesuvanu dhE
nisidarI pari manake poLevanu balla vibudharige |4-6

• The four states of food/fruit items are tender (eLekAyi), raw (balitu), ripe (mAgide), and fully ripe (phala), these states are comparable to kshIra (milk), ghruta (ghee), guda (jaggery), and phala (fruit).  Typically, the word phala is referred to any produce (agricultural) like rice, wheat, etc.,
• The sweetness of milk (kshIra) is called as vishada, and the number of rUpas Srihari manifests is 385
• The sweetness of ghee (ghruta) is called as sthira, and the number of rUpas Srihari manifests is 29
• The sweetness of jaggery (guda) is called as tikshNa, and the number of rUpas Srihari manifests is 5101
• The sweetness of fruit (phala) is called as nirahara, and the number of rUpas Srihari manifests is 2825
• In total, Srihari manifests in 8309 forms and those think him in these many forms with the respective names will have their mind manifested and filled by lord Srihari himself.
• Deriving value to vishada (kshIra) – ವಿಶದ (ವಿ – 4, ಶ – 5, ದ – 3) the value we get is 453 whne ankAnam vAmatO gati is applied to vishada then the form of Srihari manifested in it is 354.  On similar note, sthira (ghruta) – ಸ್ಥಿರ (ಸ್ಥಿ [ಸ – 7 + ಥ – 2 ] – 9, and ರ – 2 — 92) =  29, tIkshaNa (guda) – ತೀಕ್ಷಣ (ತೀ – 1, ಕ್ಷ – 10, ಣ – 5 — 1105) = 5101, and nirahari (phala) – ನಿರಹರಿ (ನಿ – 5, ರ – 2, ಹ – 8,  ರ – 2 –5282) = 2825. When all of them are added it becomes 8309 rUpas.

• Lord Srihari resides in different food items in various forms, and we eat we should remember each of these forms:

Impact of food we eat on the five kOshas (sheaths)

• While describing the various rUpas Srihari took in managing the five kOshas and the number of rUpas he took to manifest in them is what dAsArya is providing to us in the verses 13 to 16:

aidu laxada mEle eMbha
ttaidu sAvira nAlku shatagaLa
aidu kOshAtmaka virinchAnDadOLu tunbihanu

• Thus, in five different kOshas: annamaya, prANamaya, manOmaya, vignAnamaya and Anandamaya, Srihari exists in a different number of rUpas in each of them as aniruddha pradyumna, sankarshaNa, vasudEva and nArAyaNa in a total of 585400 (8251+5543+562107+4374+5125) rUpa-s and does the kriya-s of those kOshas through their abhimAni dEvatas and makes us do the kriyas, and by pervading in the entire brahmAnDa.

Sriharis akhanda (whole) rUpas of each kOshas

• Srihari resides in each of the kOshas, in the shape of the kOsha, and is known by the name of the kOsha.  dAsArya is providing the whole form of Srihari in these kOshas

Srihari on a whole has 4305 rUpas in the kOshas.  SridAsArya gives an example of how the ghee is in the butter but cannot be seen, and only we heat the butter we get ghee.  Similarly, Srihari is niyamaka (controller) of everything in the brahmanda.  He resides in his biMba rUpa in mukhyaprANa does and makes us do all kriyas.  Thus, he lives in ‘bhAratIshanOLippa navanItastha ghRutadante’ and makes us do all kriyas by pervading in 4305 rUpas.

How Srihari pervades in mukhyaprANa

• In each of the kOshas, Srihari resides in each of them through mukhyaprANa, and is known by the name of the specific kOSha itself.

sAvirada mE
lELu nURhannoMdu rUpava
tALi paMchaprANaroLu lOkagaLa salahuvanu

• Thus, Srihari pervades with 1711 rUpas in the kOshas of annamaya, prANamaya, manOmaya, vignAnamaya, and Anandamaya in their respective panchaprANa rUpas of prANa, apAna, vyAna udAna, and samAna vAyu and protects all the jIvas in the entire universe.

The forms Srihari pervades in our body

Thus, Srihari pervades with 585400 (in the kOsha) + 4305 (as kOsha name) = 589705 rUpas in our sharIra (body).  He also resides in his antaryami form in all that we eat, he is also known as bhoktru as he takes the svarasa of the food a chEtana eats (biMba kriya) and makes the pratibiMba eat everything, which is why dAsArya call it as ‘unDuNisi’. 

Sri-bhu-durgA ramana, pervades throughout the body from head to toe and protects us.

aidu laxeMbhattaroMbha
ttAda sAviradELunUrara
aidu rUpava dharisi bhOktruga bhOjyanendenisi
shrIdharA duRgAramaNa pA
dAdi shirapaRyaMta vyApisi
kAdukoMDiha saMtata jagannAtha viTThalanu

1. As vishNu Srihari resides in SridEvi (Lakshmi) who is abhimAni for satvic gunas and this resides in mukti yogya chEtana
2. As brahma (not Chaturmukha brahma) Srihari resides in bhudEvi (Lakshmi) who is abhimAni for rajasic gunas and resides in nityasamsari
3. As rudra (not shiva) Srihari resides in durgadEvi (Lakshmi) who is abhimAni for tamasic gunas and resides in tamoyogya chEtanas.

Shri bharatiramaNa mukhyaprANantargata Sri krishnarpaNamastu