Shloka 101
आत्मानमव्ययं चैव प्रकृतिं प्रभवं प्रभुम् । पुरुष विश्वकर्माणं सत्त्वयोगं ध्रुवाक्षरम्,आत्मा, अव्यय, प्रकृति (उपादान), प्रभव (उत्पत्ति-कारण), प्रभु (अधिष्ठाता), पुरुष (अन्तर्यामी), विश्वकर्मा, सत्त्वगुणसे प्राप्त होने योग्य तथा प्रणवाक्षर भी वे ही हैं; उन्हींको अनन्त, अचल, देव, हंस, नारायण, प्रभु, धाता, अजन्मा, अव्यक्त, पर, अव्यय, कैवल्य, निर्मुण, विश्वरूप, अनादि, जन्मरहित और अविकारी कहा गया है। वे सर्वव्यापी, परम पुरुष परमात्मा, सबके कर्ता और सम्पूर्ण भूतोंके पितामह हैं
ātmānam avyayaṃ caiva prakṛtiṃ prabhavaṃ prabhum | puruṣaṃ viśvakarmāṇaṃ sattvayogaṃ dhruvākṣaram ||
Dāśa said: “He is the Self, imperishable; He is also Prakṛti, the source and the sovereign Lord. He is the inner Person, the universal Maker, attainable through the discipline of purity (sattva), and the steadfast, undecaying syllable. Thus He is spoken of by many names—endless and unmoving, divine, the Haṃsa, Nārāyaṇa, the Lord, the Sustainer, unborn and unmanifest, supreme and changeless, absolute and beyond the guṇas, of universal form, beginningless, birthless, and unaltering. Pervading all, He is the Supreme Person, the Supreme Self—the doer of all and the grandsire of all beings.”
दाश उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents a unified vision of the Supreme: the same reality is described as the imperishable Self, the material ground (Prakṛti), the originating cause, and the sovereign inner ruler (Puruṣa). It teaches that the divine can be approached through sattva (purity/clarity) and is indicated by the imperishable syllable (often taken as Oṃ), while being known through many epithets that highlight transcendence, immanence, and cosmic agency.
The speaker Dāśa delivers a hymn-like description of the Supreme Being, listing key metaphysical identifiers and revered names (such as Nārāyaṇa and Haṃsa). The passage functions as a theological characterization within the story, emphasizing the Lord as creator, sustainer, and universal father of beings.