Who is Bhagavan

Here I intend to explain the word bhagavaan, one of the most important words of the Sanatana Dharma. The base word for bhagavaan is bhagavat. The word bhagavat is formed by adding the suffix vat to the word bhaga. The suffix vat is added to a noun in the sense of possession. In feminine gender it is bhagavatii. Some other known words for instance are dhanavaan, he who has wealth, jnaanavaan, he who has knowledge. So the word bhagavaan literally means he who possesses bhaga. Now the understanding of the word bhaga can lead us towards the true meaning of bhagavaan.
In Rigveda, bhaga is regarded as one of the four powers of the Truth Consciousness (the other three being varuna, mitra and aryaman). As per the Vedic experience the Reality is One, ekam sat or tad ekam. The existence of this Reality is all-embracing, infinite and pure. That Reality is All-delight and it expands this delight when it gives itself to multiplicity. The whole purpose of this creation is to enjoy this delight. Bhaga represents this delight or ananda as the creative enjoyment; he takes the delight of the creation, takes the delight of all that is created’. It is he to whom belongs the right enjoyment. He is the supreme enjoyer of the infinite reality and its creative power opens the gate to the Divine bliss, to the Supramental Truth.

(As per the Vedic concept bhaga stands between the infinite and the creative worlds within us and without. But the fulfillment of the nature of bhaga cannot happen without the help of varuna who brings to us the infinite oceanic space and ethereal and elemental purity; of mitra who brings us the light, harmony, right distinction and relation and friendly concord; and of aryaman who brings to us the mighty strength and perfectly-guided happy inner upsurging.)

Basically, enjoyment is the root sense of the word bhaga which comes from the root sound bhaj that originally means 'to divide, separate, split, to share, bestow, posses, to serve, to adore, and to attach’ etc. The fulfillment of the nature of bhaga leads to the attainment of perfect joy and delight. This delight is the divine delight, the delight of immortality. The word subhaga in Rigveda means happy, fortunate, felicitous, full of happiness. In its feminine form as subhagaa it means the blissful one, the one rich in joy. The word saubhaga refers to perfect enjoyment and bliss. When the word saubhagaaya is used in Rigveda it always means for the enjoyment of bliss. From all these we gather that the word bhaga, in its root sense refers to the enjoyment, bliss, happiness, fortune etc. So, the true meaning of the word bhagavaan, or bhagavatii, is the one who is in possession of perfect enjoyment of bliss, the all-blissful lord (sarvaanandamaya), the perfect enjoyer; he who enjoys his own infinite being and enjoys all that it creates within itself. There is a striking passage in sriaravindopanishad where Sri Aurobindo says, “That, indeed, which is Jiva (individual soul) is the all-blissful Divine in disguise, descended to enjoy the self-luminous World-Brahman.” Sri Aurobindo further says, “This which is the experience of suffering is an experience made of Bliss. The All-Blissful enjoys its Bliss only.” This all-blissful one, indeed, is the true being and the governing force of the existence. It is he in whom Truth has its foundation, bliss has its root, love has its home, peace has its support. In him everything finds its rest. He is in everything and yet beyond all. He is the Lord of love and delight, of Grace. He is the most Glorious and Shining Lord. He is the All-blissful One who enjoys his own bliss by entering into his own creation. This then is the true meaning of the word bhagavaan or bhagavatii.

Bhagavaan is transcendent, “the possessor, user and sovereign reality of the movement and the eternal self of the stillness. In Him we find our rest and in Him simultaneously, we find our active self-fulfillment; for He alone is our complete and utter being,” says Sri Aurobindo.