रूपाणि स्थान आधत्से तस्मै शुक्लाय ते नमः ॥५१॥
yo 'rkendv-agnÄ«ndra-vÄyÅ«nÄá¹
yama-dharma-pracetasÄm
rÅ«pÄṇi sthÄna Ädhatse
tasmai Å›uklÄya te namaḥ
yaḥ - you who; arka - of the sun; indu - of the moon; agni - of Agni, the fire-god; indra - of Indra, the lord of heaven; vÄyÅ«nÄm - of VÄyu, the wind-god; yama - of Yama, the god of punishment; dharma - of Dharma, the god of piety; pracetasÄm - and of Varuṇa, the god of the waters; rÅ«pÄṇi - the forms; sthÄne - when necessary; Ädhatse - you assume; tasmai - unto Him; Å›uklÄya - unto Lord Viṣṇu; te - unto you; namaḥ - obeisances.
When necessary, You assume the part of the sun-god; the moon-god; Agni, the god of fire; Indra, the lord of paradise; VÄyu, the wind-god; Yama, the god of punishment; Dharma, the god of piety; and Varuṇa, the god presiding over the waters. All obeisances to you, who are none other than Lord Viṣṇu!
Since the sage Kardama was a brÄhmaṇa and SvÄyambhuva was a ká¹£atriya, the sage was not supposed to offer obeisances to the King because socially his position was greater than the King’s. But he offered his obeisances to SvÄyambhuva Manu because as Manu, king and emperor, he was the representative of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is always worshipable, regardless of whether one is a brÄhmaṇa, a ká¹£atriya or a śūdra. As the representative of the Supreme Lord, the King deserved respectful obeisances from everyone.
