Chapter Six — The Supreme Lord and Source of All Descents

Veda-vedyaḥ sarva-sākṣī sarvopāsyaḥ svatantrakaḥ,
Nityānāṃ nija-bhaktānāṃ bhogya-bhūtaḥ Śriyaḥ patiḥ. (36)

He is known through the Vedas, witness of everything known and unknown, worshipped by all, and completely independent. He is the beloved object of delight for his eternal devotees and the husband of Sri Sita, sovereign Lady of infinite divine splendour.

Brahmā-Viṣṇu-Maheśānāṃ kāraṇaṃ sarva-vyāpakaḥ,
Mūlaṃ tu hy avatārāṇāṃ dharma-saṃsthāpakaḥ paraḥ. (37)

He is the cause of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesha, and the other divine rulers; he is all-pervading, the original source of every divine descent, the establisher of dharma, and the Supreme beyond all.

The commentator explains Rama’s all-pervasiveness through his two-syllable name. No other divine name fully conveys the same meaning without these two syllables. Devotees say that Rama’s name pervades the four ages; knowledge and ignorance, or the divine and demonic endowments; the five elements; and the eightfold material nature. One should therefore fix the mind upon the two syllables of “Rama.” A traditional numerical riddle successively multiplies, combines, and divides the relevant numbers; after every operation, only Rama’s name remains as the remainder upon which the heart should rest.

The Bhagavad Gita proclaims the Lord as the source of divine descents and restorer of dharma:

Whenever dharma declines upon the earth and adharma rises, I manifest myself. I appear age after age to protect the good, destroy wrongdoing, and establish dharma anew.