श्री गणपती अथर्वशीर्ष has a part in which one asks Lord Ganesh to protect us from various directions. It seems ritualistic at first glance, but like most Sanskrit Upanishads, there are layers and layers that can be uncovered and the details within nuances are rich and carry a lot of encoding.
अव पश्चात्तात्। (Protect me from the back)
अव पुरस्तात्। (Protect me from the front)
अवोत्तरात्तात्। (Protect me from the north)
अव दक्षिणात्तात् | (Protect me from the south)
अव चोर्ध्वात्तात्। (Protect me from above)
अवाधरात्तात्। (Protect me from below)
सर्वतो मां पाहि पाहि समन्तात् | (Protect me from all sides)
Let us uncover the layers of the third line अवोत्तरात्तात् | अव means protect, उत्तरात्तात् means from the north. I am standing facing the east – east is in front and west is to my back. North is to my left and south is to my right. So अवोत्तरात्तात् means protect me from the left and also protect me from the north. As one saw earlier, who will protect and from whom/what? I will protect myself because Ganapati is internalised and I am Ganapati.
1) अवोत्तरात्तात् – protect me from the left. I will try to tackle this from the view-point of a right-handed person, since I am right-handed myself. Since I am a right-handed person, it also means I favour my right-side more and I am therefore a right-legged person too. In football and martial arts, I will tend to kick with my right leg intuitively. I write and eat and shave exclusively with my right hand. I play racquet games and carrom with my right hand. It is almost as if the left hand is a stepney hand!
अवोत्तरात्तात् therefore makes me aware to make my unused side equal to my used side. The left shoud be as strong and skilled as the right. Lifelong potential does not preclude lifelong wastage of said potential.
2) अवोत्तरात्तात् – protect me from the north. The Dikpala or the guardian deity of the north is Kubera. Kubera is the god of wealth. Wealth indicates prosperity, but wealth also indicates resources. As per today’s parlance, Kubera is the Chief Financial Officer. I must conduct my worldly affairs in such a manner that my CFO does not resign upon me citing irreconcilable differences. Wealth should have a purpose.
अवोत्तरात्तात् – a small phrase of a single word, but it is encoded with so much beauty and is made up of vast riches (literally beacuse it references the god of the wealth) in which one can become a seeker and come out richer after every seeking.