महो अर्ण इति मन्त्रस्य । मधुच्छन्द ऋषिः । गायत्री छन्दः । सरस्वती देवता । सौरिति बीजशक्तिः कीलकम् । मन्त्रेण न्यासः । अन्तर्याम्यात्मना विश्वं त्रैलोक्यं या नियच्छति । रुद्रादित्यारूपस्था यस्यामावेश्य तां पुनः । ध्यायन्ति सर्वरूपैका सा मां पातु सरस्वती । सौः महो अर्णः सरस्वती प्रचेतयति केतुना । धियो विश्वा विराजति
maho arṇa iti mantrasya | madhucchanda ṛṣiḥ | gāyatrī chandaḥ | sarasvatī devatā | sauriti bījaśaktiḥ kīlakam | mantreṇa nyāsaḥ | antaryāmyātmanā viśvaṃ trailokyaṃ yā niyacchati | rudrādityārūpasthā yasyāmāveśya tāṃ punaḥ | dhyāyanti sarvarūpaikā sā māṃ pātu sarasvatī | sauḥ maho arṇaḥ sarasvatī pracetayati ketunā | dhiyo viśvā virājati
"She who, as inner ruler, directs the whole threefold world, who abides in the form of the Rudras and Ādityas, and into whom [people], introducing them, contemplate — all-formed, one — may that Sarasvatī protect me. 'Sauḥ. The great flood, Sarasvatī, awakens with her banner; over all thoughts she reigns.'"
631b4cab2e45 · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
It is worth noting the word antaryāmin, "the inner ruler." It was discussed in detail when reading the Bṛhadāraṇyaka (3.7) and the Prāṇāgnihotra (2.11); let us repeat the main point briefly, for it is the Vaiṣṇava side's fundamental argument. The Bṛhadāraṇyaka says: he is within the self, the self does not know him, the self is his body, and he rules it from within.
Three distinctions in a row — and each distinguishes the ruler from the ruled. If they were one, there would be neither "within," nor "does not know," nor "rules." Let us add what the present verse adds and what is curious: she is rudra-āditya-rūpa-sthā, "abiding in the form of the Rudras and Ādityas," and into her, introducing them, one contemplates.
That is, the gods are her forms, and the one contemplating reduces them into her. This construction is fundamental in śākta literature and is called laya, "reduction": a multitude of gods is reduced to one power. The Vaiṣṇava side does the same, but differently: for her, the multitude is reduced not to a power but to a person, and the verse of the Bhāgavatam 1.3.28 — ete cāṃśa-kalāḥ puṃsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, "all these are parts and portions of the Puruṣa, but Kṛṣṇa is the Lord Himself" — was discussed when reading the Tārasāra (3.7).
The difference here is what things are reduced to: a principle or a person; and on this depends whether, in the end, there is anyone to speak with.