Naama 18-20: He is the path to moksham

योगो योगविदां नेता प्रधानपुरुषेश्वरः ।

नारसिंहवपुः श्रीमान् केशवः पुरुषोत्तमः ॥ ३ ॥

yōgō yōgavidāṃ nētā pradhānapuruṣēśvaraḥ |

nārasiṃhavapuḥ śrīmān kēśavaḥ puruṣōttamaḥ || 3 ||

18. yōgaḥ · योगः

The meaning of this naama is better understood with the help of an analogy. Consider this: you desire to go from point A to point B. Point B becomes the destination (upeyam), and the means taken to reach your goal become the means (upayam).

(oṃ) yōgāya namaḥ

The ultimate goal is to become a mukthaathma and attain the Lord. The Lord, therefore, becomes the upeyam. Then, the question arises: What are the means for one to reach the Lord? The answer to this is straightforward to say but very hard to implement. To reach the Lord, one must constantly follow the path of Bhakti-yogam. Therefore, bhakti-yogam becomes the upayam to achieve moksham. But the Lord Himself is the true means: the one who is both the upayam as well as the upeyam to achieve moksham is yōgaḥ.

The Amarakosha gives several meanings for the word yōga: means, meditation, union, and remedy (yōgaḥ sannahanōpāya dhyāna saṅgati yuktiṣu). Sri Bhattar takes the meaning "means" (upāya). His words are "asyaiva nirupādhika mukti upāyatvam", "He alone is the natural and independent means for liberation." He is both the means and the goal.

19. yōgavidāṃ nētā · योगविदां नेता

Regardless of the means the badhaathma uses to reach the Lord, He will grant them moksham.

(oṃ) yōgavidāṃ nētrē namaḥ

Lord Krishna says in the Gita, "To those who worship Me alone, thinking of no one else, who are ever devoted to Me, I bring what they do not have and preserve what they have" (ananyāścintayantō māṃ yē janāḥ paryupāsatē | tēṣāṃ nityābhiyuktānāṃ yōgakṣēmaṃ vahāmyaham ||). The Lord leads those who follow the path of yoga until they reach their goal.

20. pradhānapuruṣēśvaraḥ · प्रधानपुरुषेश्वरः

We as humans try to control nature and the surrounding environment. He who is capable of not only controlling nature but also all of its inhabitants is said to be pradhānapuruṣēśvaraḥ.

(oṃ) pradhānapuruṣēśvarāya namaḥ

Here, pradhāna refers to primordial matter (prakṛti), which causes bondage, and puruṣa refers to the jeevaathma. The Lord is the master of both. Chapter 13 of the Gita deals with this at length: the field (kṣētra) and the knower of the field (kṣētrajña), both of which are controlled by the Lord.