Matsya Avatara

By Smt.Meera & Shri Kesava Rao Tadipatri

Udupi Krishna
Matsya Jayanti - Chaitra Shukla Tritiya
3. Matsya chintane in Narayana Varma👇👀

प्रोष्ठीश - विग्रह सु -- निष्ठीव - नोद्धत वि -- शिष्टाम्बु - चारिजल -- धे।
कोष्ठान्त - राहितवि -- चेष्टाग - मौघ पर -- मेष्ठीडि - त त्वमव -- माम्।
प्रेष्ठार्क - सूनुमनु -- चेष्ठार्थ - मात्मविद -- तीष्टो यु - गान्तसम -- ये।
स्थेष्ठात्म - शृङ्गधृत -- काष्ठाम्बु - वाहन व -- राष्टाप - दप्रभत -- नो॥ १॥


ಪ್ರೋಷ್ಠೀಶ - ವಿಗ್ರಹ ಸು -- ನಿಷ್ಠೀವ - ನೋದ್ಧತ ವಿ -- ಶಿಷ್ಟಾಂಬು - ಚಾರಿಜಲ -- ಧೇ |
ಕೋಷ್ಠಾಂತ - ರಾಹಿತವಿ -- ಚೇಷ್ಟಾಗ - ಮೌಘ ಪರ -- ಮೆಷ್ಠೀಡಿ - ತ ತ್ವಮವ -- ಮಾಮ್ |
ಪ್ರೇಷ್ಠಾರ್ಕ - ಸೂನುಮನು -- ಚೇಷ್ಠಾರ್ಥ - ಮಾತ್ಮವಿದ -- ತೀಷ್ಟೊ ಯು - ಗಾಂತಸಮ -- ಯೇ |
ಸ್ಥೇಷ್ಠಾತ್ಮ - ಶೃಂಗ ಧೃತ -- ಕಾಷ್ಠಾಂಬು - ವಾಹನ ವ -- ರಾಷ್ಟಾಪ - ದಪ್ರಭತ -- ನೋ || 1||


prOShThIsha - vigraha su -- niShThIva - noddhata vi -- shiShTAmbu - chArijala -- dhE |
kOShThAnta - rAhitavi -- chEShTAga - maugha para -- meShThIDi - ta tvamava -- mAm |
prEShThArka - sUnumanu -- chEShThArtha - mAtmavida -- tIShTo yu - gAntasama -- yE |
sthEShThAtma - shR^iN^gadhR^ita -- kAShThAmbu - vAhana va -- rAShTApa - daprabhata -- nO || 1||

Although the word splits shown above facilitate recital, the actual padachCheda for arthAnusandhAna (word splits that will help in grasping the meaning) is as follows:

pra + uShThi + Isha + vigraha + su + niShThIvana + uddhata + vishiShTa + ambu + chAri + jaladhe
koShTha + antara + Ahita + vicheShTa + Agama + ogha + parameShThi + IDita + tvam + ava +  mAm
pra + iShTha + arka + sUnu + manu + cheShTa + artham + Atmavit + ati + iShTaH + yuga + anta + samaye
stheShTha + Atma + shR^iN^ga + dhR^ita + kAShTha + ambu + vAhana + vara + aShTApada + prabha + tano

For reference, some sandhis (joining of two sounds) in this verse are:

Guna Sandhi :

1. pra + ushhThi = proshhThi

2. sunishhThIvana + uddhata = sunishhThIvanoddhata

3. pra + ishhTa = preshhTa


SavarNadIrgha Sandhi:

1. proshhThi + Isha = proshhThIsha

2. vishishhTa + ambuchAri = vishishhTAmbuchAri

3. koshhTha + antara + Ahita = koshhThAntarAhita

4. vicheshhTa + Agama = vicheshhTAgama

5. parameshhThi + IDita = parameshhThIDita

6. preshhTa + arka = preshhTArka

7. cheshhTa + artham = cheshhTArtham

8. ati + ishhTo = atIshhTo

9. yuga + anta = yugAnta

10. stheshhTa + Atma = stheshhTAtma

11. kAshhTha + ambu = kAshhThAmbu

12. vara + ashhTApada = varAshhTApada


VR^iddhi Sandhi:

1. Agama + ogha = Agamaugha

This song begins with Narayana’s Matsya avatara, which is first among the Dashavataras. Before understanding this verse, it will be helpful to know the background story for this avatAra, which is described in detail in Bhagavata.

A demon named HayagrIvAsura (or SomakAsura as mentioned in other texts) once stole the Vedas and hid under the sea. How can the unauthored Vedas, the embodiment of pure knowledge, be stolen? To answer this, there is a vachana in the Mahabharata, “bhibhetyalpashrutAdvedo, mAmayaM prachalishyati.” This roughly translates to “the Vedas are scared that a person who has no understanding of the Vedas will misinterpret them in a terrible way and misguide people.” In this sense, SomakAsura “steals” the Vedas. Paramatma then takes MatsyavatAra, killing the demon and restoring the Vedas.

Later on, in a different time period (the end of ChakshuSha manvantara), Bhagavantha wanted to bless King Satyavrata in the form of Matsya. So, when the king was performing ablutions in the river, Narayana took the form of a small fish and appeared in the king’s palms. The king was about to put the fish back into the river when Matsya cries out, “Please don’t put me back! I will be devoured by bigger water creatures!” The kind-hearted king then puts Matsya into a small jar of water.  Matsya instantly grows to the size of the jar and says that the jar is not sufficient. The king transfers Matsya to a bigger container and Matsya grows to its size as well.

The king puts Matysa into a pond and then a river, only to have Matsya take up the size of every space that is given to Him. When the king tries to put Matsya back into ocean, Matsya says that even the ocean is not large enough for Him. The king then realizes that this is no ordinary fish and that He must be Paramatma. Then Matsya speaks out that in a week a huge deluge is going to happen and Narayana will send a ship. He tells the king that he can get into the ship along with saints, sages, and plenty of grains and food. Matsya also tells the king that he may use Vasuki to tie the boat to Matsya’s horn and Matsya will bring the king and all the others aboard the ship to safety. King Satyavrata is later known as “Vaivasvata Manu”, the ruler of the current Manvantara.

The central piece of this verse can be found at the end of the second line, “tvam ava mAm.” “Tvam” means “you”, “ava” means “protect,” and “mAm” means “me.” Simply, this is a call to Bhagavantha to seek his protection. “You” refers to Paramatma and the following expressions are given to praise Him:

1. proshhThIshavigraha

2. sunishhThIvanoddhata-vishishhTAmbuchAri-jaladhe

3. koshhThAntarAhitavicheshhTAgamaugha

4. parameshhThIDita

5. yugAnta-samaye preshhTArkasUnumanucheshhTArtham stheshhThAtma-shR^iN^ga-dhR^ita-kAshhThAmbu-vAhana

6. AtmavidatIshhTo

7. varAshhTApadaprabhatano

“ProshhTi” is a type of fish that has a spout (“ushti”), and “Isha” means “god” as well as “king”. So “ProshhTisha” can be considered as a king of the fishes. Typically we only see spouts in whales, but Paramatma is not constrained to the limitations of the fish anatomy and can take any form that He pleases. Narayana takes this form (“vigraha”) and is spouting air out (“sunishhThivana”), displacing the surrounding water (“uddhata”) or making the water overflow. 

“SunishhThivana” combined with “uddhata” becomes “sunishhTivanoddhata”. 

“SunishhTivanoddhata” can be taken as its own expression to describe Narayana as “one who causes a lot of disturbance in the water by spouting air.” The word “vishiShTa” can have a few meanings. It can mean “special”, in which case it serves to describe Narayana. A second meaning comes from the word “shista”, which means “left out”. 

“VishishTa” can mean what is remaining after the deluge that comes in pralaya, implying water. 

“VishishTa” can also describe Paramatma as the one who is left out, meaning that Narayana can end everything else, but He in fact does not have an end.  The following word “ambu” means “water” and “chAri” means “moving around”, referring to the aquatic animals in the ocean. “VishiShTa” can also be used to describe these animals as being “especially large.” 

“Jaladhi” means “ocean”, so “jaladhe” addresses one who is in the ocean. 

In this case, it is addressing Matsya. The word “jaladhe” is an example of bahuvrIhi. In Sanskrit, it is common to use a word or set of words to describe someone, similar to how we might address someone as a “chai-walla.” 

In fact the word “bahuvrIhi” is itself a bahuvrIhi because it means “a lot of grain”, and thus references a person who has a lot of grain (in Sanskrit the vigrahavAkhya or explanatory expression is “bahUn vrIhIn asya asti iti”). 

The phrase “sunishhThIvanoddhata-vishishhTAmbuchAri-jaladhe” is a BahuvrIhi samAsa (word combination): “yasya sunishhThIvanena vishishhTAH ambuchArayaH uddhatAH jaladhau santi saH,” or “By whose spouting force causes the huge water animals and surrounding waters to become agitated in the ocean, such a Lord.” 

To summarize, in this first line the phrase “proshhThIshavigraha” describes Narayana as “king of the fishes, taking the form of a fish with a spout,” 

and the second phrase “sunishhThIvanoddhata-vishishhTAmbuchAri-jaladhe” means “One who caused great agitation to the aquatic animals and their surrounding waters by spouting air with tremendous force.”

“KoshhThAntarAhita” can be split into “koshhTha” meaning “stomach”, “antara” meaning “inside”, and “ahita” meaning “placed”. 

“VicheshhTA” can be split into “vi” and “cheshhTa”. “CheshhTa” means “movements” so “vicheshhTA” means “without movements”. So, what has been placed in the stomach without movements? The answer is “Agamaugha,” or the cluster (“ogha”) of Vedas (“Agama”). 

The full word “KoshhThAntarAhitavicheshhTAgamaugha” is a bahuvrIhi for Narayana, describing one who has placed the Vedas in his stomach without any movements. This is meant to be a figurative expression for keeping the Vedas safe (free from misinterpretations), similar to how a mother keeps an infant in her stomach and protects it from the outside world. 

“ParameshhThIDita” is yet another bahuvrIhi for Narayana as one who is worshipped (“IDita”) by “parameshhThI,” or Brahma. As mentioned earlier, “tvam ava mAm” is a call to Bhagavantha to protect us.

“PreshhTha” means “very dear,” and refers to those who are dear to Bhagavantha and those who find Bhagavantha to be dear to them. Who is dear to Bhagavantha? “ArkasUnu,” the son (“sUnu”) of Surya deva (“Arka”) and “manu,” or the manus such as Vaivashvata, who is the current presiding manu of this manvantara.  “Artham” means “for the sake of” and “CheshhTa” refers to “activities.” 

Combined, this means “for enabling the continuing activities of Vaivasvata manu, who is very dear to Narayana.” “Atmavit” describes atmagnanis, or those who know (“vit”) about Paramatma (“Atma”). 

Narayana is described as “AtmavidatIshhTo” because he is very dear (“atI” “IshhTa”) to the atmagnanis. The following word “yugAntasamaye” means the time (“samaye”) at the end (“anta”) of the yuga, and leads into the conclusion of the verse.

“StheshhTha” translates to “one who is unperturbed”, and serves as another descriptor for Narayana. “AtmashR^iN^ga” means the horn (“shR^iN^ga”) that belongs to Narayana himself (“Atma”). “DhRita” describes Narayana as “one who is supporting.” 

“KAshhThAmbuvAhana” means a carrier (“vAhana”) in the water (“Ambu”) made of wood (“kAshhTha”), which combined represents a wooden ship. 

“VarAshhTapadaprabhatano” is another description of Narayana as having a body (“tano”) with the effulgence (“prabha”) of the best (“vara”) gold (“AshhTapada”). 

In summary, Vadirajaru sings that at the end of the yuga, Matsya uses His horn to support the wooden ship which is keeping everyone afloat during the deluge. This actually sounds similar to the Christian story of Noah’s Ark, though the explanation given in the Vedas far precedes their story.


3. Matsya in Shri Harikathamrutasara

meena- koorma va -- raaha- nara paM- |caana-naatuLa -- shourya- vaamana |rENu-kaatmaja -- raava-Naadi ni -- shaaca-ra dhwaM-si ||dhEnu-kaasura -- mathana- tripurava |haani-gaisida -- nipuNa- kalimukha- |daana-vara saM -- harisi-dharmadi -- kaayda- sujanara-nu || 2-30 ||


apaga-taashraya -- ella-roLagi- | ddupama-nenipaa -- nupama- roopanu | shaphara-kEtana -- janaka- mOhipa -- mOha-kana tera-di || tapana- kOTi sa -- ma pra-bhaasita | vapuve-nipa kRu -- ShNaadi- roopaka | vipaga-LaMtuM -- DuNipa- sarva -- tradali- nelesi-ddu || 19-24 ||
 
shRuti pu-raaNa sa -- mooha-doLu bhaa- | rata pra-tiprati -- padaga-LoLu ni- | rjitana- guNa roo -- pagaLa- puDukuta -- parama- haruShada-li || matiyu-taru prati -- divasa- saara- | swata sa-mudradi -- shaphari-yaMdadi | satata- saMcari -- suvaru- kaaNuva -- lavala-vikeyiM-da || 21-27 ||
 
matsya- kEtana -- janaka- hari shree- |vatsa-laaMChana -- nija sha-raNa jana- |vatsa-la varaa -- rOha- vaikuM -- Thaala-ya nivaa-si ||citsu-kha prada -- salahe-nalu gO- |vatsa- dhwanigoda -- guva te-radi para- |mOtsa-hadi baM-- dodagu-vanu ni-- rmatsa- rara baLi-ge || 21-28 ||

meena- koorma -- krODa- naraharimaaNa-vaka bhRugu -- raama- dasharatha |soonu- yaadava -- buddha- kalkI -- kapila- vaikuM-Tha ||shreeni-vaasa -- vyaasa- RuShabha ha- |yaana-naa naa -- raaya-NI haM- |saani-ruddha tri -- vikra-ma shree -- dhara hRu-ShIkE-sha || 23-1 ||


Shri KrishNArpaNamastu !!


Dashavatara Storas & kritis

Bhagavat Rupa Dhyana & Pujas

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