NAME 43

He is the supporter of the universe, or on whose support the universe exists. Bhagavad Gita (VIII.9) says, ‘sarvasyadhātāram’ which means ‘sustainer of all’. The Brahman, projecting Himself as Īśvara, (nāma 36) sustains the universe.

One who Created the Universe

Dhaataa has several meanings as below:

a)   One Who Created the Universe (dhaa – to produce, or dhaa – to lay upon).

b)   He Who supports and sustains (dhaa – dhaaranposhanayoyscha).

c)  He Who has no support other than Himself.  Here the basic name is taken as Adhaata rather than Dhaata.

As He is the Creator who needs no assistance from anyone, He is Dhaata.

 BG Chapter 8 Verse 9

कविंपुराणमनुशासितार

मणोरणीयांसमनुस्मरेद्यः।

सर्वस्यधातारमचिन्त्यरूप

मादित्यवर्णंतमसःपरस्तात्।।8.9।।

BGChapter 8.9: Attaining the Supreme

कविं पुराणमनुशासितार
मणोरणीयांसमनुस्मरेद्य: |
सर्वस्य धातारमचिन्त्यरूप
मादित्यवर्णं तमस: परस्तात् || 9||

kavimpuranamanusasitaram

anoraniyamsamanusmared yah

sarvasyadhataramacintya-rupam

aditya-varnamtamasahparastat

TRANSLATION

One should meditate upon the Supreme Person as the one who knows everything, as He who is the oldest, who is the controller, who is smaller than the smallest, who is the maintainer of everything, who is beyond all material conception, who is inconceivable, and who is always a person. He is luminous like the sun and, being transcendental, is beyond this material nature.

४३. ॐ धात्रे नमः।

43. Om Dhātrāiy Namah

Dhaataa- One who is the Substratum for the world of names and forms. And who supports all fields of experiences in all. He who is the screen for the cinema of empirical experiences’ (Visvam).  Dhaata – One who Created the Universe.

INTERPRETATION GUIDED BY SANT VANI (WORDS OF SAINTS)

DHĀTĀ

The support of the universe.

He is the one who supports and sustains the universe and hence is Dhātā.

This word comes from the same Sanskrit root from which the word ‘dharma’ is formed. The Lord in the form of Dharma too supports and sustains the order of society.

The game of snakes and ladders, earlier called Moksha patam has inbuilt scope to keep moving ahead in life, one place at a time. Sometimes one can get a ladder up (lots of pūnya in the form of a fulfilling job, comfortable living, a compatible partner, a brahma vidya guru etcetc). Sometimes one also gets bitten by a snake and has to retrace a few steps backward (Some Prarabdh phal in the form of unsupportive boss, financial difficulties, strained relationships, etc). The dharma or order of the game is that one moves ahead while both pūnya and pāpa fructify.

The only way out is to recognise the order of dharma as the Lord. It then becomes easier to commit to dharma in our actions. According to the Purānas the universe is borne by the thousand hooded serpent called Ananta or Ādiśēsa. The snake is always considered as a symbol of power and Ananta stands for His ananta-śhakti, limitless power. He alone supports the universe as Ananta.

He, who is the substratum, the foundation for the world of names, forms, experiences, happiness and sorrow (the mixture of opposites). He supports all of these experiences however ephemeral and impermanent because he is the “screen” for the ‘movie’ of empirical, experiential, sensory, and even illusory experiences of the apparent world that we live in – This is an expanded take on Śaṅkara’s commentary on this name.

Parāsara Battar goes beyond this to locate the meaning in the fact that the Supreme being is beyond everyone else and therefore is “THE FOUNDATION for-the-foundation” – that ‘substratum-supreme’ from which everything else emanates – greater than even Brahmā who is the secondary creator and owes his origin to that ‘supreme-substratum‘ (refer to the previous name ANĀDINIDHANA (अनादिनिधना)

IT SHOULD BE NOTED HOWEVER THAT ONCE AN INDIVIDUAL GOES BEYOND THE WORLD OF SENSORY EXPERIENCES AND REACHES OUT TO HIM WHO IS THAT FIRM SUBSTRATUM THEN ‘HE’ WILL PROVIDE ALL THE SUPPORT THAT THE SĀDHAKA SEEKS…

Parāsara Battar further invokes one of the names/forms of Viṣhṇu, namely “Aniruddha“ to describe further the name DHĀTĀ. While this name Aniruddha, has several different meanings and interpretations, contextually ParāsaraBattar uses it here to mean “he who places Brahmā in prakṛiti to initiate the process of creation and therefore is the foundational basis of all creation” – DHĀTĀ.

DHĀTĀ places within the kṣétra (prakṛiti), the fetus i.e the Jivātma (who is a spark of the Kṣetrajña/Paramātmā).

The Nārāyaṇīyam which is a poetic condensation of the ŚrīmadBhāgavatam consisting of 100 ‘dasakams’ or Cantos authored by MeppathurNarayanabhattathiri , the first line of the 98th dasakam refers to the Supreme Being as the “ground” on which the world manifest:

यस्मिन्नेतद्विभातंयतइदमभवद्येनचेदंयएत

“Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān,
puruṣaṁ śāśvataṁ divyam ādi-devam ajaṁ vibhum.
You are the supreme being, the final refuge, the purest, the absolute truth. You are the eternal, the divine, the unborn, the greatest. 

Realize it.” – Om Swami

https://os.me/the-purpose-of-your-life/

At a practical level, this name assures us that with the supreme being as the substratum and foundation of all, all we have to do is to trust in the foundational-basis of that ‘foundation’ and that, that substratum knows what is right for us and shall take care of us no matter what… However, as they say – this is easier said than done unless Faith is developed through absolute surrender.