Fourth Adhyaya, Third Khanda (8 mantras)

Mantra 4.3.1.

1. (Raikva said). The Vāyu indeed is the container. When (at the Great Latency) the Agni goes out, he verily goes into the Vāyu; when the Sūrya goes down, he enters tire Vāyu indeed; when the Moon goes down, he enters the Vāyu indeed.—247.

[Note.—Saṃvargaḥ (Saṃvarga)—the Absorber, the Eater, the Container, the Destroyer, the Devoured.]

Note.—The Vāyu, the First Begotten, is the Last Resort, the end of all Devas, Angels and Archangels, when the Great Dissolution sets in and the manifestation enters into the Latency.

Mantra 4.3.2.

2. When the Waters are dried up (at the Great Pralaya) they verily go into the Vāyu; Vāyu indeed contains them all. This the Macrocosmic aspect of the Vāyu.—248.

[Note.—Adhidaivatam (Adhidaivata)—with reference to the Devas. The cosmological aspect of the Vāyu. The Macrocosmic.]

Mantra 4.3.3.

3. Next the Microcosmic. The Prāṇa is indeed the Container of all. When the Prāṇa sends a man to deep sleep, the speech verily goes into the Prāṇa, the hearing goes into the Prāṇa, the manas (the common sensory) goes into the Prāṇa. The Prāṇa indeed contains them all.—249.

Note.—The speech, etc., of course refer to the presiding deities of these organs.

Mantra 4.3.4.

4. These then are the two Containers—the Vāyu among the Devas, the Prāṇa among the senses.—250.

Mantra 4.3.5.

5. Once when Śaunaka of the clan of Kapi, and Abhipratārin, the son of Kakṣasena, were distributing food (to their guests), a religious student begged of them. They, however, gave him nothing.—251.

[Note.—Pariviṣyamānau—(when these two) were distributing food. (Or when these two were taking food) and were waited on at their meal.]

Mantra 4.3.6.

6. He said: O Kāpeya! O Abhipratārin! He the Guardian of the world, the One God, has swallowed the four Great Ones. He dwells manifold among the mortals, but they see Him not. Who is He? He to whom the food belongs, to him it has not been given.—252.

Mantra 4.3.7.

7. Śaunaka Kāpeya pondering over this (riddle), came to understand it and said: “O Bramacārin! He is the Lord of the devas, the Father of all beings, the Golden tusked, the Consumer, (His name is) Anasūri, the Breath of Wisdom. (The wise) declare His greatness to be great indeed: Because not eaten by any, He eats even the uneaten (the Devas). This is the God that we worship.” (Then Kāpeya said addressing others) “Give food to that student.”—253.

[Note.—Pratyeyāya—came to know. Śaunaka Kāpeya, pondered over that and came to know the deity about which the student had asked. Re then said to the Brahmacārin.]

Note.—This shows that charity should be discriminate. The real student should be supported. Though Prāṇa is so great, yet He even is subordinate to the Supreme. The next verse shows that.

Mantra 4.3.8.

8. They gave him food. Now these five and the other five make ten, therefore this is called Kṛta or Perfect. Therefore these dwell in the ten directions; and as they are ten, they form a Kṛtam or Perfect number. All this ten is indeed food. That Virāṭ (Lord Viṣṇu) is the eater of (this tenfold) food. He verily sees all this. He who worships (Lord Viṣṇu) thus, sees all this, and becomes an eater of food.—254.

[Note.—Daduḥ—they gave (food). Then the servants gave food to that Brahmacārin. The above legend thus illustrates that Vāyu is the Consumer or Destroyer, for at the Great Latency everything and all beings merge into him. But he is not the Supreme Destroyer—God alone is the Supreme Destroyer, as He is the Supreme Creator also. Raikva now goes on to teach this.]

[Note.—Pañca anye, pañca anye—five other, five other. Namely, the four macrocosmic Devas and their consumer, Vāyu, the fifth; and the four microcosmic Devas and their consumer, Prāṇa, the fifth.]

[Note.—Daśasantaḥ (Daśasanta)—are ten, make the complete number; for ten is the number of perfection.]

[Note.—Kṛtam—(it is called) Kṛta. The number ten is the symbol of the Kṛta Age (the Golden Age): because as in the Kṛta Age all Dharmas are perfect, so in the number ten all numbers are contained.]

[Note.—Kṛtam—(therefore it is called) Kṛta or Perfect. Namely, the five Cosmic Devas, Agni, etc., (including Vāyu) and the five microcosmic Devas, Speech, etc., (including Prāṇa) are all food indeed.]

[Note.—Veda, knows, worships. The aspirant, who khows Viṣṇu thus as the Highest Eater, and worships Him, himself becomes partly a knower of all, according to his capacity.]

Note.—The ten quarters are presided over by these ten devas, Agni, They constitute collectively a Kṛta [Kṛtam] or the Perfect number: and are the food of Viṣṇu. In other words, the God is the end of all, the Highest Container, higher than Prāṇa. The great difference between Madhva and modern Christianity is that he never makes Christ equal to God.

Madhva’s commentary called the Bhāṣya:

It is thus in the Prabhañjana:—“Because Vāyu consumes (saṃvṛkte) all Devas (at the time of the Great Dissolution), he is called the Container (saṃvarga). Great indeed is his glory, because himself not eaten by any (except Viṣṇu) he eats all the Devatās.”

The Śruti says, “Ten verily is this all.” (This shows that the universe is made on the key-note of ten.)

As kṛta of ten is a perfect number, the Five Deities, when regarded in their cosmic and microcosmic aspects, become ten, and thus they are said to be Kṛta [Kṛtam] or Perfect.

Note.—The devas are really eighty but they are counted as ten, when taken along with Vāyu in his two aspects of Vāyu and Prāṇa. The words “pañca anye pañca anye” of Mantra 8, therefore, do not mean that they are different sets of five, but the same five looked at from two points: the subjective and the objective.

As these eight complete the number ten, when Vāyu, counted as two, is taken along with them, so all these Devas together with Vāyu dwelling in all quarters are (considered) indeed as food.

[Note.—The Vāyu also becomes food and is called Anna (Annam).]

The God who is the Eater of this (ten-fold) food is the Lord Virāṭ, namely, Viṣṇu Himself.

The word anadyamāna in Mantra 7 shows that Vāyu is not eaten by any (except Viṣṇu); as says the following verse:—

“Vāyu is the Eater of all Devatās, the Eater of Vāyu is Janārdana. There is no eater of Him. He is called Virāṭ, because, He is the Over-lord (adhirāja).”