FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.24.36

नमो नमोऽनिरुद्धाय हृषीकेशेन्द्रियात्मने । नम: परमहंसाय पूर्णाय निभृतात्मने ॥ ३६ ॥
namo namo ’niruddhāya
[namo namo ’niruddhaaya]
hṛṣīkeśendriyātmane
[hrisheekeshendriyaatmane]
namaḥ paramahaṁsāya
[namah paramahamsaaya]
pūrṇāya nibhṛtātmane
[poornaaya nibhritaatmane]
namaḥ — all my obeisances unto You namaḥ — obeisances again aniruddhāya — unto Lord Aniruddha hṛṣīkeśa — the master of the senses indriya-ātmane — the director of the senses namaḥ — all obeisances unto You parama-haṁsāya — unto the supreme perfect pūrṇāya — unto the supreme complete nibhṛta-ātmane — who is situated apart from this material creation.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
namo namo ’niruddhāya
namaḥ
all my obeisances unto You
namaḥ
obeisances again
hṛṣīkeśendriyātmane
aniruddhāya
unto Lord Aniruddha
namaḥ paramahaṁsāya
pūrṇāya nibhṛtātmane
hṛṣīkeśa
the master of the senses
indriya-ātmane
the director of the senses
namaḥ
all obeisances unto You
parama-haṁsāya
unto the supreme perfect
pūrṇāya
unto the supreme complete
nibhṛta-ātmane
who is situated apart from this material creation.
My Lord, as the supreme directing Deity known as Aniruddha, You are the master of the senses and the mind. I therefore offer my obeisances unto You again and again. You are known as Ananta as well as Saṅkarṣaṇa because of Your ability to destroy the whole creation by the blazing fire from Your mouth.

Hṛṣīkeśendriyātmane. The mind is the director of the senses, and Lord Aniruddha is the director of the mind. In order to execute devotional service, one has to fix his mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa; therefore Lord Śiva prays to the controller of the mind, Lord Aniruddha, to be pleased to help him engage his mind on the lotus feet of the Lord. It is stated in Bhagavad-gītā (9.34) , man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru. The mind has to be engaged in meditation on the lotus feet of the Lord in order to execute devotional service. It is also stated in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) , mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca: from the Lord come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness. Thus if Lord Aniruddha is pleased, He can help the mind engage in the service of the Lord. It is also indicated in this verse that Lord Aniruddha is the sun-god by virtue of His expansions. Since the predominating deity of the sun is an expansion of Lord Aniruddha, Lord Śiva also prays to the sun-god in this verse.

Lord Kṛṣṇa, by His quadruple expansion — Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna and Aniruddha — is the Lord of psychic action, namely thinking, feeling, willing and acting. Lord Śiva prays to Lord Aniruddha as the sun-god, who is the controlling deity of the external material elements which constitute the construction of the material body. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the word paramahaṁsa is also another name for the sun-god. The sun-god is addressed herein as nibhṛtātmane, which indicates that he always maintains the various planets by manipulating the rainfall. The sun-god evaporates water from the seas and oceans and then forms the water into clouds and distributes it over land. When there is sufficient rainfall grains are produced, and these grains maintain living entities in each and every planet. The sun-god is also addressed herein as pūrṇa, or complete, because the rays emanating from the sun have no end. For millions and millions of years since the creation of this universe, the sun-god has been supplying heat and light without diminution. The word paramahaṁsa is applied to persons who are completely cleansed. When there is sufficient sunshine, the mind remains clear and transparent — in other words, the sun-god helps the mind of the living entity to become situated on the platform of paramahaṁsa. Thus Lord Śiva prays to Aniruddha to be kind upon him so that his mind will always be in the perfect state of cleanliness and will be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord. Just as fire sterilizes all unclean things, the sun-god also keeps everything sterilized, especially dirty things within the mind, thus enabling one to attain elevation to the platform of spiritual understanding.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
I offer my respects to Aniruddha, the lord of the mind, which is the chief sense. I offer respects to the perfect sun, who nourishes the jīva. I offer respects to the controller (ātmane) of the mind (indriya), which is the chief of the senses (hṛṣikeśa). O Aniruddha! Attract my mind to bhakti alone! I offer respects to you. After purifying the four components of antaḥkaraṇa (citta, ahaṅkāra, buddhi and manas) by worshipping their upāsya deities, he offers respects to the Lord in the form of the presiding deities of the elements, in four verses, in order to purify the five gross elements which constitute the body and the external senses. I offer respects to the sun (paramahaṁsāya), who constantly (ni) nourishes (bhṛta) the jīva (ātmane) by rain etc. (nibhṛtātmane). Śrūti says haṁsaḥ śuciṣat: haṁsah is the sun. (Kāṭha Upaniṣad) śuciṣat means “who dwells in the antaḥkaraṇa.” [Note: Perhaps this is a mistake. The usual meaning is “he who dwells in the light.”] O devatā of the sun! Make my eyes see the beauty of the Lord’s form. (The sun is the deity of the eyes.) May the energy coming from my body, non-different from the sun’s energy, be purified!
As Aniruddha you master senses and mind; as Ananta you can destroy creation with mouth-fire. The Lord's master-of-the-mind aspect and His destroyer-aspect are the same Person.
Reflection Questions
  • Where do I separate the Lord-as-comfort from the Lord-as-destroyer when they are the same?
  • What changes if I let both faces of the Lord help with my mind today?
📝 My note

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