namo jñāna-ghanāya ca

namaḥ śāntāya ghorāya

mūḍhāya guṇa-dharmiṇe

nirviśeṣāya sāmyāya

namo jñāna-ghanāya ca

I offer respects to the Lord who is the form of planets of sattva, rajas and tamas, having the material guṇas, who is the impersonal, peaceful Brahman and condensed knowledge. 

 

The Lord is here described as the universal form, realized by the ignorant. He is the form of sattvika planets (śāntāya). The Lord is also Brahman realized by the jñānīs.

|| 8.3.13 ||

kṣetra-jñāya namas tubhyaṁ

sarvādhyakṣāya sākṣiṇe

puruṣāyātma-mūlāya

mūla-prakṛtaye namaḥ

I offer respects to the knower of the field, Paramātmā, the monitor of all beings, the witness of all beings, the puruṣa, the source of the jīva and prakṛti.

Four verses describe the Lord as antaryāmī, realized by the yogīs. The Lord knows the subtle and gross bodies of the jīva. Gīta says kṣetra-jña cāpi mām viddhi: know that I also am the knower of the field. (BG 13.3) The Lord is the source of the jīvas, the āmśī. He is the source of prakṛti (mūla-prakṛtaye). The words of the compound are reversed as in the word rāja-danta: king of teeth.

|| 8.3.14 ||

sarvendriya-guṇa-draṣṭre

sarva-pratyaya-hetave

asatā cchāyayoktāya

sad-ābhāsāya te namaḥ

I offer respects to the seer of all senses and sense objects, the revealer the senses’ knowledge, who is inferred from the temporary material creation, and who is visible to the devotees. 

The Lord is the seer of all senses and sense objects. He possesses all the functions of the senses which reveal knowledge (sarva-pratyaya-hetave). Guṇa-prakāśair anumīyate bhavān: you are inferred by revelation of the senses (SB 10.2.35) The Lord, the cause, can be inferred from the effect, the universe of māyā, which is like a shadow, which is temporary (asatā). Brahma-saṁhitā says chāyeva yasya bhūvanāni bibharti durgā: Durgā maintains the worlds as your shadow. The material world is just like a pot, which announces the skill of the potter. Another version has asaty acchāyāktāya: I offer respects to the Lord who does not give shelter of his feet to the non-devotee. Or I offer respects to the Lord who is brilliant. According to Amara-koṣa the word chāyā means wife of the sun, beauty, reflection, and shade. Another meaning is “I offer respects to the Lord who is visible (ābhāsāya) to the devotees though invisible (achāyayā) to others.”

|| 8.3.15 ||