AHAM VRKSASYA RERIVA ....

Om aham vrksasya reriva | Kirtih prstham gireriva | Urdhvapavitro vajiniva svamrtamasmi |

Aham -I am; vrksasya - of the samsara tree; reriva - one who sustains; kirtih - (my) fame; gireh -
of the mountain; prstham - peak; iva - like; urdvapavitrah - (being the cause of everything) I am
beyond objectification and pure; vajini iva - like in the sun; svamrtam - pure atma; asmi - I am;
savarcasam - shinning; dravinam - wealth; (asmi - I am); sumedhah - one who has a mind capable
of self knowledge; amrtoksitah - (I am) completely soaked in ananda; iti - this is ; trisankoh - of
the Rsi Trisanku; vedanuvacanam - statement after gaining the knowledge of the self.Om santih
santih santih- let there be peace,peace,peace.

I am the one who sustains the samsara tree. My fame is as high as the peak of the mountain. I am
pure and(being the cause of everything)and beyond objectification, I am in the form of pure self that
obtains in the sun. I am in the form of shinning knowledge which itself is wealth. I am blessed
with the knowledge of self(everything). I am completely soaked in the ananda. This is the statement
of Rsi Trisanku after gaining the knowledge of the self. Let there be peace from obsructions from three
sources.
The recital of this mantra results in freedom from accumulated papas and various obstacles. So
the mind becomes pure.And for one who possesses a pure mind, there is possibility of knowledge to be
born. Therefore the purpose of this mantra is to gain the purity of the mind and there by make it
ready for the self knowledge.

This mantra was visualised by Rsi Trisanku for the benefit of the seekers. He talks about his
accomplishments which should be kept in view while reciting this mantra. Whatever Trisanku
accomplished by the japa of this mantra, you can also accpmplish. He visulised it for the
purification of mind, and this vision or resolve remains valid as long as this mantra is available.
It is like making a resolve at the time of prana pratistha of a deity.While doing prana pratistha the
person who does it makes a resolve and if that person is satya sankalpa then it becomes valid for all
the time. Therefore recital of this mantra makes the mind pure.

Aham vrksasya reriva - The word reriva has two meanings- one who sustains and one who
destroys. So aham vrksasya reriva means 'I am the one who sustains the vrksa'. Here the
vrksa, tree, is the famous,well known samsara vrksa in the sastra. In Kathopanisad the samsara is
presented as a tree. The tree has many branches, leaves, etc., and it can sustain itself.
Especially the banian tree can sustain itself even when the trunk is gone.So the tree perpetuates
its existence. The samsara also perpetuates its own existence like the tree. Again the root of the tree
is not seen, it is inferred only. In the same way the root of the world is the very nature of the atma or the
seer and therefore not seen, it is only inferred. Thirdly a tree can be felled or uprooted totally,
so too the samsara tree. Because of these similarities the samsara is compared to a tree.

Here Trisanku says 'I am the one who sustains the tree of samsara '. But from the sastra we
understand that the isvara alone is the sustainer of the world then how Trisanku can sustain it ?
He says "I am the atma of all beings" and as antaryami I am the one who abides in the body-mind-
sense complex and sustains this samsara tree. Or we can interpret reriva as one who
destroys, in that case what is said here is "may I become the destroyer of the samsara vrksa'.

Kirti gireh prstham iva - Further he says ' my fame is like the peak of a mountain. My fame has gone
all over, it is all pervasive even the Devatas cannot throw any kind of obstruction to my fame'. Again
fame is one of the glories of the Lord. So ' whatever is the fame of Lord, that is my fame alone', that is
what is the statement.

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 Urdhva pavitram - Again the Rsi says ' I am urdhvam, beyond your understanding, beyond the
region of your objectification because 'I', the brahmatma , being the cause or the basis for the
creation is not available for your objectification. Pavitram means pure. I am the one who is pure
and cause of everything. Again I am free from punya papa or ignorance. 'Such a person I am', says
Tisanku.

Vajiniv svamrtamasmi - The sun is called vajin, one who has food because the food is energy
and the sun is nothing but energy. Again because of the sun alone the food is created that is
why it is called vajin .

In our solar system the sun is most important and it stands for virat. That which is the effulgence of
sun, that which is the self of virat is the same as that obtains as the self in a person. The self
obtaining in virat and in a given physical body is not different . It is one atma alone.Virat is cosmic
person and includes the entire physical world, therefore the atma of virat is the atma of each
physical body .So the atma of hiranyagarbha, the atma of virat, the atma of sun and the atma
obtaining in a particular physical body is one and the same.So there is an identity between the
individual and the Lord.

The sun is free of dirt, it is pure. The atma is also pure , it is free from the dirt of ignorance.
Therefore having gained the knowledge of atma Trisanku says , 'I am in the form of pure
awareness, the same awareness that obtains in the sun'.

Dravinam savarcasam - Dravinam means wealth. There are two types of wealth , manusa vittam
- a wealth that is seen by you like gold. That is the wealth of a mortal which is for the sake of security.
The other type of wealth is daiva vittam, which is always heard. What you have heard from sastra and
what punya you gain by performing brahma yagna in the form of study and teaching of Veda etc., is
called daiva vittam. Here the knowledge of atma being brahman is called 'heard' and therefore is
wealth . And being knowledge it is shinning, savarcasam. The ordinary wealth gives you sense
of happiness and security whereas the knowledge gives absolute security or happiness. That is
why Trisanku says "I am in the form of that wealth which gives me total security".

The dravinam savarcasam can be interpreted as knowledge of brahman also. The knowledge is
in the form of awareness and therefore it is shinning and it reveals the freedom from
mortality. Just as the ordinary external wealth becomes cause for wordly happiness this wealth,
knowledge, is cause for happiness in the form of moksa. In moksa there is freedom from being a
samsari. When the status of being an individual separate from the world is given up there is
happiness, like in deep sleep. Similarly moksa is of the nature of knowledge where individuality is
given up and there is freedom from fear etc., and there is happiness. Therefore he says , 'I am
in the form of this shinning knowledge, which is like wealth which gives me moksa sukham'.

Sumedha amrtoksitah - Sumedha is the mind(intellect) that is capable of knowing and retaining
the self knowledge as unfolded by the sastra. It is intellect by which one gains self knowledge, by
which one knows everything. Trisanku says "I have got the knowledge of everything". A jnani is
called sarvajnah - one who knows everything because he is the one who knows ' I am satyam
brahman and everything else is mithya'. He knows everything other than atma as mithya in general. He
does not know the details of mithya. One who knows the details of mithya also , is called sarvavit.
Lord alone is sarvavit.

The isvara also is called sumedhah, because he is capable of creating, sustaining and resolving the
world . The jnani is also like isvara. Lord Krsna says in Gita, 'the jnani is myself'. So a jnani also is
called sumedah. Therefore Trisanku says ,"everything resolves into me. I am not going to
be dead ".Everything resolves into atma but atma is not subject to change or destruction by
anything else because anything else is mithya. Therefore I am not subject to change, amrtoksitah.

The word amrtoksitah can be interpreted as, 'I am completely soaked by the brahmananda ',
limitless ananda ,means my mind is completely soaked in ananda. Brahmananda is of the nature of
rasa , it is liquified ananda because in the wake of knowledge the ego gets resolved. The happiness
enjoyed by the ego is crystallised ananda, as opposed to that the brahmananda is liquid.

Iti trisankoh vedanuvacanam - The knowledge that atma is one alone, which is isvara and
which is everything is called knowledge of oneness. After gaining this knowledge and being
one with brahman, Trisanku declared his fulfillment in this mantra like Vamdeva. Vamadeva is the
name of another rsi who also gained this knowledge and having gained the knowledge he declared

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' I become the Manu - I was Manu, Prajapati etc., - everything that existed before me and all
that is going to come is also me alone'.

The vision of this mantra is gained by Trisanku by the glory of his own tapas and knowledge. It is
something that came without his thinking, it is revelation. Trisanku by declaring his own
discovery, reminds you that you can also discover the same way. This mantra reveals the self
knowledge so the japa of this mantra is helpful for you to gain it.

This mantra appears in taittiriya upanisad where the sections before this mantra talk about action
and the sections after this talk about knowledge. Thus it is a connecting link between the
sections dealing with the action and the knowledge. The action only destroys the impurity of the
mind, then japa of this mantra is the cause for the self knowledge. The japa produces some extra
punya by which mind is freed from obstacles and becomes fit for the knowledge. The mantra japa
is meant for a person who is free from desire of heaven etc. So it is meant for mumuksu. But one may
ask a question here, 'the desire for moksa is also a desire , then how a mumuksu is free from desire ?
If the object of desire is other than yourself then it is called desire but if the object of desire is yourself
then that desire is not called desire.Anything other than yourself, not centered on yourself is called
desire. Moksa is desire for oneself and therefore it is not a desire. In the same way desire for the
purity of the mind also cannot be taken as desire because mind is always pure what is impure is
gained from outside. To remove that impurity , is to gain what is yourself. In the same way in
order to maintain good health if there is a prayer then that is also not a real desire because
that is meant for moksa. Any desire as long as it subserves the purpose of moksa is not a real
desire.

If one who desires to gain the knowledge of brahman at the exclusion of everything else and if
that person does the japa of this mantra then the vision of the rsis will rise in his mind and he gains
the knowledge of the self.