Devanagari
त्रित्वे हुत्वा च पञ्चत्वं तच्चैकत्वेऽजुहोन्मुनि: ।
सर्वमात्मन्यजुहवीद्ब्रह्मण्यात्मानमव्यये ॥ ४२ ॥
Verse text
tritve hutvā ca paṣcatvaṁ
tac caikatve ’juhon muniḥ
sarvam ātmany ajuhavīd
brahmaṇy ātmānam avyaye
Synonyms
tritve
—
into the three qualities
;
hutvā
—
having offered
;
ca
—
also
;
paṣcatvam
—
five elements
;
tat
—
that
;
ca
—
also
;
ekatve
—
in one nescience
;
ajuhot
—
amalgamated
;
muniḥ
—
the thoughtful
;
sarvam
—
the sum total
;
ātmani
—
in the soul
;
ajuhavīt
—
fixed
;
brahmaṇi
—
unto the spirit
;
ātmānam
—
the soul
;
avyaye
—
unto the inexhaustible .
Translation
Thus annihilating the gross body of five elements into the three qualitative modes of material nature, he merged them in one nescience and then absorbed that nescience in the self, Brahman, which is inexhaustible in all circumstances.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
He offered the body into the three guṇas and the three guṇas into prakṛti. He offered everything into the jīva and offered the jīva into indestructible Kṛṣṇa.
Purport
All that is manifested in the material world is the product of the
mahat-tattva-avyakta,
and things that are visible in our material vision are nothing but combinations and permutations of such variegated material products. But the living entity is different from such material products. It is due to the living entity’s forgetfulness of his eternal nature as eternal servitor of the Lord, and his false conception of being a so-called lord of the material nature, that he is obliged to enter into the existence of false sense enjoyment. Thus a concomitant generation of material energies is the principal cause of the mind’s being materially affected. Thus the gross body of five elements is produced. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira reversed the action and merged the five elements of the body in the three modes of material nature. The qualitative distinction of the body as being good, bad or mediocre is extinguished, and again the qualitative manifestations become merged in the material energy, which is produced from a false sense of the pure living being. When one is thus inclined to become an associate of the Supreme Lord, the Personality of Godhead, in one of the innumerable planets of the spiritual sky, especially in Goloka Vṛndāvana, one has to think always that he is different from the material energy; he has nothing to do with it, and he has to realize himself as pure spirit, Brahman, qualitatively equal with the Supreme Brahman (Parameśvara). Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, after distributing his kingdom to Parīkṣit and Vajra, did not think himself Emperor of the world or head of the Kuru dynasty. This sense of freedom from material relations, as well as freedom from the material encagement of the gross and subtle encirclement, makes one free to act as the servitor of the Lord, even though one is in the material world. This stage is called the
jīvan-mukta
stage, or the liberated stage, even in the material world. That is the process of ending material existence. One must not only think that he is Brahman, but must act like Brahman. One who only thinks himself Brahman is an impersonalist. And one who acts like Brahman is the pure devotee.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Where will the five elements be situated? He offered the body of five elements into the three guṇas (tritve). He offered the three into one aggregate, a portion of māyā. He offered all that into the jīva. Ajuhavīt is poetic license for ajohavīt. “Jīva! This portion of māyā, with the three guṇas is yours. Remain separate from that and do not come under its control.” He offered the jīva into the brahman. Offering the kingdom to Parīkṣit, Mathurā to Vraja, distancing himself from all those relationships, he became oblivious to the external world. Offering the senses and the rest to their respective controllers, he became oblivious to internal functions. The jīva belongs to Kṛṣṇa or brahman. The aggregate of māyā belongs to the jīva. The guṇas belong to the aggregate. The five elements belong to the guṇas. Death belongs to the five elements of the body. Apāna belongs to death. Prāṇa belongs to apāna. The mind belongs to prāṇa. The senses belong to the mind. The sense objects belong to the senses. The enjoyer of the sense objects is Parīkṣit, not me. It should be understood however that because Yudhiṣṭhira is an eternal associate of the Lord, this meditation where he considers his eternal form to be a temporary body is of no significance at all.