10-3

यो माम् अजम् अनादिम् च वेत्ति लोकमहेश्वरम् ।
असम्मूढः स मर्त्येषु सर्वपापैः प्रमुच्यते ॥ ३ ॥

yo mAm ajam anAdim ca vetti lokamahezvaram |
asammUDhaH sa martyeSu sarvapApaiH pramucyate || 3 ||

मर्त्येषु [martyeSu] Among humans, यो असम्मूढः वेत्ति [yo asammUDhaH vetti] a person who is free of misconceptions knows माम् अजम् अनादिम् च [mAm ajam anAdim ca] Me to be without birth and without an origin, लोकमहेश्वरम् [lokamahezvaram] the Lord of the universe. सः [saH] Such a person प्रमूच्यते [pramUcyate] is freed from सर्व पापैः [sarva pApaiH] all misfortune.

The Lord is without birth, He was never born. In this He is distinct from all inanimate things that keep transforming.

He is also distinct from the Self, which is attached to the material environment. The Self gets associated with the material world in accordance with its past deeds. This association is called ‘birth’.

The Lord has no such birth - This distinction is described here with the word अजम् [ajam] . The phrase ‘without an origin’ means that the Lord is not someone who has attained freedom from birth and death. Those who have attained such freedom do have an origin, in that they attained freedom after being bound in the material world.

This is also evident from the श्वेताश्वतर उपनिशत् [zvetAzvatara upanizat] , 6-19 , where it says that the Lord exists without discontinuity.

In this Shloka, the Lord states - A person who knows Me in this way - as the Lord of the entire universe who is untouched by any flaw - is free of misconception.

‘Misconception’ is to consider the Lord as similar to something else. Unfortunately, such misconceptions prevent the start of bhakti. The person who does not have this opinion is free from misconception. Such a person is free from all misfortune that prevents the start of bhakti.

Any other wealthy or powerful leader is like another human. The person has attained that wealth and power due to deeds committed in the past. Same is the case with the gods , their superiors and Brahma, the principal engineer of the universe. They are subject to the influence of the three qualities too. The Lord is described as ‘The one who created brahma’ in श्वेताश्वतर उपनिशत् [zvetAzvatara upanizat] , 6-8 .

Similarly, a wealthy person also belongs to the same category of people who are bound to the environment.

The Lord of the universe is distinct from all causes and effects we see in inanimate things. He is distinct from all conscious beings, whether free or bound in the environment.

The Lord has the distinction of having absolute control, being the terminator of all misfortune, the single supreme controller and the single abode of an infinite variety of abundant favorable qualities. The person who knows the Lord in this way doesn’t think of the Lord as being similar to something else. This person is completely free of all misconceptions and misfortune.

In this way, the Lord described the removal of misfortune that prevents the birth of devotion . Such misfortune is removed by a study of the Lord’s characteristics. He also said that the mere removal of such misfortune leads to devotion , which then springs forth by itself.

Next, the Lord describes the growth of devotion by studying His attributes, His wealth and the world of auspicious qualities that reside in Him.

Let’s get to know the Lord.