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Prajāpatiḥ प्रजापतिः
Prajāpati means the Lord of all beings. Prajāpati is the creative aspect of the Brahman. Vedas use Prajāpati in a number of verses. To cite examples, Yajur Veda (II.i.2.1) says, “prajāpatiḥ prajā asṛjata jā asmāth sṛṣṭāḥ……. प्रजापतिः प्रजा असृजत जा अस्माथ् सृष्टाः……”. Yajur Veda says that Prajāpati created successors. They, being created from him…..” Vedas use this word to mean the creative aspect of the Brahman. In another place (V.vii.10.1), the Veda says, that Prajāpati created fire. In yet another place (III.v.9.1), the Veda says, “all gods are Prajāpati”.
Therefore Prajāpati refers to all the creative energies of the Brahman. Brahman does not create merely through His Free Will. He created the universe through different evolutionary processes that are now being studied as science and are being endlessly researched. The creation happens from subtle to gross and annihilation happens through gross to subtle.
The Leader of all Beings
Prajaa is a subject and here it refers to all beings. Pati means a Leader. Bhagavan is called Parajaapatih because He is the natural and undisputed Leader of all beings. In the words of Sri Adi Sankara ‘Ishvaratvena sarvaasaam prajaanaam patih Prajaapatih – He is the Leader of all beings with his divinity’.
Sri Parasara Bhattar gives a slightly different perspective by giving the meaning that He is the leader of those who have a glorious birth – the nitya-sooris, who are far superior to the baddha and mukhta, or the bound and freed souls.
६९. ॐ प्रजापतये नमः |
69. OM Prajāpataye Namaḥ
Prajāpatiḥ -The Lord (Pati) of all living creatures (Prajaah). The term Prajas means ‘Children’. Therefore Prajaapati means the Great Father, to whom all beings in the living kingdom are His own children, In this sense, the term connotes One, who, as the Creator, creates all creatures.
(Īśvaratvena sarvāsāṃ) Prajānāṃ patiḥ (ईश्वरत्वेन सर्वासां) प्रजानां पतिः The Master of all living beings, because He is Īśvara.
Prakarsh- ena Jayante Iti Prajah, Tesham Patih Prajapatih – The leader of those who have a glorious birth – the Nitya-Suris, who are far superior to the Baddha and Mukhta, or the bound and freed souls. The term Prajas means ‘Children’. Therefore Prajapati means the Great Father, to whom all beings in the living kingdom are His own children, In this sense, the term connotes One, who, as the Creator, creates all creatures.
INTERPRETATION GUIDED BY SANT VANI (WORDS OF SAINTS)
Prajāpatiḥ (also name 197)
The Lord of all the beings.
He is the pati, the Lord of all the prajās, beings from Brahmāji to a blade of grass. This word includes being the Lord of individuals as well as exalted beings, devas. Knowing about one’s source or connecting to a source is universally desired. The child, whose umbilical cord has been cut, is gifted with the ability to totally trust his/her caregivers and hence be connected. That gets him by, atleast for the first few years of life, until his ability to trust starts getting eroded by constant wordly interactions and conditionings.
That Īśvara who is the master of all beings. He who is part of all beings who emanate from him and dissolve in him…
यतो वा इमानि भूतानि जायन्ते । येन जातानि जीवन्ति । यत्प्रयन्त्यभिसंविशन्ति । तद्विजिज्ञासस्व । तद्ब्रह्मेति ॥ ३ ॥
yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante | yena jātāni jīvanti | yatprayantyabhisaṃviśanti | tadvijijñāsasva | tadbrahmeti || 3 ||
It is from him that all beings emanate, it is he who dwells within as well, and it is to him and in him that each being returns.
It is important to note here that “all beings” includes every single being starting from Brahma down to unicellular beings, plants and animals and so on. Not only do they emanate from and dissolve in that being, it should also be understood that they can never exist “apart” from him – the apparent separation is only a mirage an illusion that needs to be transcended and the unity with the eternal being within ‘realised’.
This connectedness with situations and people grows over a period of time and varies from person to person. A certain sense of connectedness and sense of well being comes from finding more about one’s cultural roots, one’s family roots and eventually realising your own primal source.
We discover our connection with Isvara, in what we do on a daily basis. We discover our connection with Īśvara in who we are.
We discover our connection with Īśvara in the opportunities we have been given. We discover our connection with Īśvara in the capacities we have been given.
We discover our connection with Īśvara as the order of actions and consequences.
The more we discover our sense of connection, we find that our sense of disconnectedness was notional and starts to wither away. Atlease note, I am not saying we make a connection with Īśvara, we discover a connection that IS.
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https://os.me/building-a-sense-of-belonging/
Our victim identities that manifest as ‘Why me?’ also gets shaken, because of our recognition that whatever we experience – good, bad or ugly – we alone wholly and solely own it’s responsibility. Continuing to blame myself or the people around me, will spiral me into cycles of despair. The only sane way out is to take responsibility for one’s own life, feelings and actions and do what is to be done, while offering one’s actions to Bhagavān. He is the Lord of all beings because He is the one who gives the fruits of action to the people.
“Nature is living its own life. Like cats, dogs, trees, stones and rivers, we too are mere tiny cells in the universal body. Limited existence in a limitless creation. Timed stay in a timeless home. This is the play of nature. Hauntingly beautiful and unknowable.
So is this life; an unscripted play. Play happily or otherwise, play we must. The show must go on.”
– Om Swami
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At a practical level, this has a deep significance. That “He” is present in every being and therefore every being is but a manifestation of that very same universal principle is one of the fundamental tenets of our Dharma.
That such a complete identification (that it is the very same principle that dwells within every being) is possible was demonstrated through an incident from Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa’s life: He was once fidgeting with pain and those near him saw reddish welts appear on his chest. When someone checked to see what could be the issue, Sri Ramakrishna pointed to the lawn outside where there was someone walking on the grass – such was his identity with everything around him – that it was He who was doing, thinking and saying whatever anyone in the world was doing, thinking and saying that he could even feel the feet walking on the grass!
This high state is so rare that it is impossible for most of us to even contemplate, leave alone reach but what can be done is to recognize that it is the very same principle that animates every being and our lives are like movies being played on the very same screen.
It is this that helps us understand our own place in the Universe and in a sense our own irrelevance and how insignificant we really are and that is the beginning, the start of the journey…
