Eight Adhyaya, Thirteenth Khanda (1 mantra)

Mantra 8.13.1.

1. I take refuge with the Lord having all colours through meditation on Him as having no colour: I take refuge in the Lord having no colour by meditating on Him as having all colour. Shaking off all evil as a horse shakes his hairs or as the moon frees herself from the mouth of Rāhu, shaking off the body, I obtain the uncreated realm of Brahman, having obtained the Self.—580.

Madhva’s commentary called the Bhāṣya:

In Khaṇḍa thirteen is taught the method of worshipping Viṣṇu in His different colours as residing in the heart, etc. Ono colour of Viṣṇu as residing in the heart is Dark called Syāma. It may be violet colour or pure black. The colour of Viṣṇu as dwelling in the heart is also Śabala or variegated.

The commentary mentions this:—

The colour of Viṣṇu as dwelling in the heart is Dark (śyāma) as well as variegated (śabala) or having various and manifold colours. (The Śabala is a collection of all colours.)

These two forms of Viṣṇu—One Dark and one White (for white is an aggregate of all colours, and Dark is absence of all colours) both dwell in the heart. A man must worship and meditate on these forms of the Lord. But there is no order in which he may meditate on those two forms. He may begin with Śyama [Śyāma?] meditation and end with Śabala, or begin with Śabala and end with Śyāma. The order is immaterial.

The Lord has other colours also than these two.

The Lord as dwelling in the Jīva lias also the colour of the Jīva. He is red coloured as dwelling in the Eye. Thus it is in the Mānasa.

The colour of the Lord varies also with the colour of the aura of the Man. Tn fact the Lord has primarily three dwelling places in man. In the eye of man—in the physical body He is rod coloured—or of the colour of blood. In the Astral and mental bodies—in the Jīva par excellence—He has the colour of the aura of the Jīva. In the heart—in tho Buddhic body—He has dark and white color. The colour of the Lord mentioned in the Gāyatrī Vidyā is Jīva-colour. In fact, the Lord has to be meditated upon as having these colours when meditated in those places. The formula that he should utter while meditating on the Lord in the Heart is thus given in this Khaṇḍa:—“Āśva iva Romāṇi Vidhāyā Pāpam Candra Iva Rāhor Mukhāt Pramucya, Dhūtvā Śarīram, Akṛtam Kṛtātmā Brahmalokam Abhisambhāvami”—“Shaking off all my non-prārabdha sins as the horse shakes off dust from his hairs, and being freed from all prārabdha sins (after suffering for a short time the effects of those Karmas) as the moon is freed from the mouth of Rāhu, abandoning my dense and subtle bodies, but manifesting my own essential nature (by functioning in my Svarūpa body), may I reach the eternal world of Brahman.”

Now an objector says—this prayer is put in the mouth of the author of the Upaniṣad—who is no other than the Lord Himself. Or if the secondary author bo taken, then Ramā is the Revealer of it to mankind. In the case of both these, the above prayer is inappropriate. The Goddess Ramā is an Eternally Free and can never stand in need of such a prayer.

To this the Commentator replies:—

(heard?) the words that came out from the mouth of the Lord Hayagrīva; those very words saw Brahmā, them even did see Nārada. (In this Upaniṣad) words which are inappropriate in the case of Viṣṇu (such as) prayers and the rest must be understood to be the words uttered by those next to Him (such as Nārada and the rest). The Lord Hari taught these (prayers, etc.,) for the future beings. Thus also spoke Ramā, thus also spoke Brahmā—and this is the Chāndogya Upaniṣad. Thus it is in the Sāma Saṃhita.

Thus the prayer “aśva iva romāṇi, etc.,” was uttered in the past Kalpa by Nārada and others. The future generations will also utter these prayers. Thus this is not the prayer uttered either by Ramā or Brahmā—they merely passed on the words as they heard it from the Lord Hari. They simply transmitted the words of the Lord of the wisdom—Face the Haya-griva [grīva?].