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 second line अव पुरस्तात् | अव means protect, पुरस्तात् means from the front or what lies ahead. There is also a play on पूर्व – the east – in पुरस्तात्. 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 अव पुरस्तात् means protect me from the front and also protect me from the east. As one saw earlier, who will protect and from whom/what? I will protect myself because Ganapati is internalised and I am Ganapati.
1) अव पुरस्तात् – protect me from the front. What lies in front of me? In everyday moments, it can be anything. While driving, while walking, while talking, or any other mundane activity, one can get zoned out. That is when accidents can happen. One loses awareness when we are doing one activitiy but the mind is elsewhere. So, let me protect myself from my boredom – let me be aware of my surroundings at all times.
What else lies in front of me? The future of course! What can it bring? It can bring with it a promise of possibilities and also an anxiety of outcomes. But the outcome is rarely in our control, only our actions are. I have to protect myself from getting overwhelmed by the infinite possibilities of the future. I have to also protect myself from getting crippled by anxieties about future outcomes. So let me protect myself from what will be by being fully immersed in this moment.
2) अव पुरस्तात् – protect me from the east. Indra is the Dikpala or guardian deity of the east direction. Indra is the king of gods and killed Vritrasura. Vritrasura kept the waters of the world captive and flow vanished from the world. Hence if there is anything within me that stops the flows of my thinking, my emotions or my actions, that thing will surely invite the vajra of Indradeva. The vajra of Indradeva killed the entire Vritrasura, not just his bad things. I must therefore be aware and take care of my mental, physical and emotional well-being. The bad things can start compounding and can create a toxic environment within and without. So let me protect myself from things in me that stagnate the easy flow of life and energy in me.
अव पुरस्तात्- a small phrase of 2 words, but it is encoded with so much beauty and is made up of vast spaces (literally beacuse it references the god of the gods) in which one can keep on exploring to find something new in each exploration.