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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 81 - naika-SR'ngah.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • December 23, 2002 


        SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokma 81 - naika-SR'ngah.

769. naika-SR’ngah – a) He Who adopted diverse tactics for controlling
His devoteesÂ’ enemies.
		b) He Who can be brought under control (realized) through the four
horns in the form of the four veda-s.
		c) He Who can be controlled (reached) through the OmkAra, with its
four “horns” – akAra, ukAra, makAra, and nAda.
		d) He Who has the four horns in the form of the four veda-s, to
control the world through dharma.
		e) He Who has many dimensions to His Lordship (prabhutvam).
		f) He Who has many aspects to His role as a Bestower of His devoteesÂ’
wishes.
		g) (eka-SR’ngah – satya sandha yatirAja) – He Who took incarnation as
the one-horned varAha.
		h) He Who has many rays of effulgence radiating from Him.
		i) He Who has provided diverse means to the different living beings
to cause harm to their enemies, as also to defend themselves from their
enemies.

Om naika-SRÂ’ngAya namah.

The root involved in the nAma is SRR – himsAyAm – to tear to pieces, to
kill, to hurt.  The word SRÂ’ngah is derived from this root by the
application of the uNAdi sUtra 126, SRNAter-hrasvaSca.  SrI satyadevo
vAsishTha gives the meanings – dIpti  (radiance),  “means of
destruction”, and “means for protection against obstacles from others”,
for the word SR’ngam – SR’ngam iti dIpter nAma, himsA-sAdhanam tathA
para-kRta-bAdhA-nivAraNa-sAdhanamapi SRÂ’ngam.   The word SRÂ’nga also
means horn, and SrI SaÂ’nkara uses this meaning in his interpretation.

a)	Of the above, SrI bhaTTar has used the meaning ‘himsA sAdhanam” in
his interpretation.  na + eka + SR’ngah = naika-SR’ngah – He Who has
multiple means for causing distress to His enemies.  SrI BhaTTar
elucidates his interpretation  using the instances of mahA bhArata –
buddhi-yogah sArathyam anAyudha grahaNa vyAjah prAptakAle tad-grahaNam
iti bahu-vairi-bAdhakam asya iti na-eka-SR’ngah – “He is naika-SR’ngah
since He adopted several devices for bringing about the fall of the
enemies, like giving sound advice, skillfully driving the chariot,
pretending that he would not use a weapon but actually making use of
His weapon at the opportune moment, etc”. Interchanging day and night
is another of the tactics that He used.   nammAzhvArÂ’s tiruvAimozhi
6.4.10 describes this guNa of His (SrI v.v. rAmAnujan):

	maN miSaip perum bhAram nIÂ’nga Or bhArata mA-perum pOr
	paNNI mAyaÂ’ngaL Seidu Senaiyaip pAzh paDa nUtRiTTup pOiÂ….

“To reduce the weight of this world caused by the ahamkAra of people,
the Lord caused the mahA bhArata war, performed many miracles, as if
some mantra was invoked for each step, and made sure that His design
succeeded”.  (nooTriTTu – fabricated, as it were, all these mAya-s).

b) SrI Sa’nkara uses the meaning “horn” for the word SR’ngah, and gives
the meaning “He With Many Horns”.  SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri explains that
just as the animals with horns come under control when their horns are
seized, bhagavAn comes under control of His devotees through the four
veda-s – the four “horns” referred to by SrI Sa’nkara – catuh SR’ngah
naika-SR’ngah.  SrI San’kara gives support from Rg veda – catvAri
SRÂ’ngA (RV 4.58.3) - 

	catvAri SRÂ’ngA trayÂ’sya pAdA dve Sirshe sapta hastAsoÂ’sya   |
	tridhA baddho vRshabho rorarvIti mahAdevo martyAgm AviveSa    ||  (RV
4.58.3)

(Ralph T. H. Griffith gives an explanation based on SAyaNa bhAshya for
the above in his translation of the Rg vedic hymns.  The four horns
refer to the four veda-s, the three feet refer to the three daily
sacrifices, etc.).  

c) SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives other interpretations from the SAyaNa
bhAshyam, which includes the four “horns”, namely akAra, ukAra makAra,
and nAda for the OmkAra – akAra ukAra makAra nAdarUpa SR’nga
catushTayopetah; from the niruktam -  catvAri SRÂ’ngA iti vedA vA uktah.
 

d) A thought that comes out of b) is that bhagavAn has the four horns
in the form of the four veda-s, that He uses to control the world
through dharma. 

SrI cinmayAnanda interprets the reference to “the four horns “catvAri
SR’ngA” in the Rg vedic quote above (4.58.3) as a reference to the four
States of Consciousness – the waking, dream, deep-sleep, and Pure
Awareness.  He interprets the three feet as the three states of gross,
subtle and causal bodies respectively.

e) The word SRÂ’ngam also means Lordship, supremacy, etc.  SrI kRshNa
datta bhAradvAj uses this meaning, and gives the interpretation that
the nAma refers to His many aspects to His Lordship – naikam vividham
SRÂ’ngam prabhutvam yasya iti naika-SRÂ’ngah.  He quotes medinI in
support – SR’gam prabhutve Sikhare (medina 3.25).  

f) SrI satya sandha yatirAja gives the interpretation – na eka SR’ngo,
na ekAni – anekAni SR’ngANi yasya vRsha rUpe sa naika-SR’ngah, which
can be translated as “He Who has multiple forms in His aspect as the
Bestower, or One Who establishes dharma” (vRsha – dharma).  

f) In his alternate interpretation, he splits the word as nA
eka-SRÂ’ngah, and explains the word nA separately as referring to the
parama purushatvam of bhagavAn (parama purshatvAt nA), and then takes
eka-SRÂ’ngah as the nAma, and gives the interpretation that it refers to
vishNuÂ’s form as the one-horned varAha incarnation.  He quotes moksha
dharma in support – eka-SR’ngah tato bhUtvA varAho nandi-vardhanah|  
imAm ca udhRtvAt bhUmim eka-SRÂ’ngah.  

h) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the meaning “dIpti” for the word
“SR’nga”, and interprets the nAma as referring to One Who has many
radiant rays emanating from Him.  He also gives two other
interpretations –  1) He Who has many ways of causing himsA; and 2) He
Who provides many ways to ward off from himsA (see the first
paragrapah).  As illustration of the third interpretation, he points
out the sharp nails in the paw of the lion are its horns (SRÂ’nga) for
its protection, the horns of the buffalo are its way of protection, the
hands for the man are his SRÂ’ngaÂ’s for protection, the tusks of the
elephant are its SRÂ’nga for protection, etc.  All these same
instruments for their protection are also the same instruments for
destruction or himsA, and thus the same examples hold for the 2nd
interpretation above as well. 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan 


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