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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokma 85 - udbhavah.

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champakam • January 30, 2003 


       SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam – Slokam 85 - udbhavah.

udbhavah sundarah sundo ratna-nAbhah su-locanah    |
arko vAja-sanah SR'ngI jayantah sarva-vij-jayI   ||

om udbhavAya namah
on sundarAya namah
om sundAya namah
om ratna-nAbhAya namah
om su-locanAya namah
om arkAya namah
on vAjasanaye namah
om SR'ngiNe namah
om jayantAya namah
om sarva-vij-jayine namah

796. udbhavah – a) He Who rose above samsAra.
		b) He Who is of a superior birth, taking birth as He 
likes, where He likes, when He likes.
		c) He from Whom everything originated.  
		d) He Who resides in an exalted place ( SrI 
vaikunTham).
		e) He Who created the exalted gods and goddesses.
		f) He Who is born again and again for the protection 
of dharma.

om udbhavAya namah

We had the anubhavam of this nAma in Slokam 41 (nAma 375).   SrI 
BhaTTar's interpretation of nAma 375 was in the context of bhagavAn 
as para vAsudeva, lakshmI-pati.  

ud is an upsarga; the root for bhava is bhU – sattAyAm – to be, to 
live, to be born.  The term udbhava refers to origin, source, 
creation etc.  The difference in the different interpretations mostly 
arises from the different ways in which the vyAkhyAna-kartA-s 
interpret the upasarga "ut" (e.g., udgata – rising above, utkRshTa - 
excellent, uttama – best or superior, uccaih – high, etc.).

SrI BhaTTar interprets both the instances of the nAma as "udgatah 
bhavAt iti udgatah" – "He Who pulls us out of the cycle of 
samasAra".  He distinguishes between the two instances of the nAma as 
follows:  In Slokam 41, he interprets the nAma in terms of bhagavAn's 
act of releasing His true devotees from samsAra.   In the current 
instance, his interpretation in terms of the Buddha incarnation is 
that He misled the asura-s on the path of release from samsAra. 

In the context of Slokam 41, SrI BhaTTar points out that by 
meditating on His being released from the bondage to which He 
subjected Himself when yaSoDA tied Him to the mortar, we will be 
released from our bondage of samsAra – "dAmodaram bandha haram".   

a) SrI BhaTTar's interpretation for the current instance 
is "muktyupadeSa nATitakena bhavAt udgata iti udbhavah" – He was 
preaching the wrong way to attain salvation, and then pretended that 
He has indeed achieved the objective of rising above samsAra through 
these wrong means.   

b) SrI Sa'nkara's vyAkhyAnam is – "utkRshTam bhavam janma svecchayA 
bhajati it udbhavah" – He Who is of superior birth, being born of His 
free will, wherever He likes. 
 
SrI Sa'nkara's interpretation for this nAma in Slokam 41 was: 1. 
bhagavAn is called udbhavah because He is the Origin of the Universe, 
being its material cause – prapa'nca utpatti upAdAna kAraNatvAt 
udbhavah; Or, 2. udgato bhavAt iti udbhavah – He Who is free from 
birth or worldly existence is udbhavah.

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives the interpretation – "uttamo bhavo yasya 
sa ud-bhavah" – He Whose birth is superior, which is similar to the 
above.  He gives the support from SrImad bhAgavatam 10.3, which 
describes child kRshNa's birth to devaki in the prison.  His birth is 
superior because it is unlike any other birth that is known, and is 
accompanied by wonderful and uncommon events.  Unlike other children 
who are born, His eyes were not closed at birth, but He appeared with 
beautiful lotus eyes open;  He was not connected to His mother 
through the umbilical cord at birth;  He was not covered with the 
signs of being inside a mother's womb, but appeared with a clean and 
beautiful body, bearing the conch, the cakra etc.;  the waves dashing 
against the shore sounded like the beautiful beat of the drum as an 
auspicious sound at the time of His birth;  and all kinds of other 
unusual and auspicious things that happened when this One Who has no 
birth, "was born" to devaki.  

c) An alternate interpretation by SrI Sa'nkara is – udgatam apagatam 
janmA asya, sarva kAraNatvAt – He Who has no birth or origin, since 
everything originated from Him. 

SrI satya sandha yatirAja conveys a similar idea.  His interpretation 
is:  "bhavAt samsArAt utpatter vA udgata iti ud-bhavah – He Who is 
beyond samsAra, birth etc.,  is udbhavah.  

SrI cinmayAnanda gives the meaning "source or origin" for the word 
udbhava, and gives his interpretation for the nAma as "The ultimate 
source" –  He from Whom everything originated – the very spring of 
Creation.  He gives the gItA Slokam 14.4 in support:

	sarva yonishu kaunteya mUrtayah sambhavanti yAh   |
	tAsAm brahma mahad-yonih aham bIja-pradah pitA   ||   (gItA 
14.4)

"Whatever forms are produced in any womb, O arjuna, the prakRti is 
their great womb, and I am the sowing father".   The meaning is that 
bhagavAn is the One who decides the birth of each individual  
according to each one's karma – He decides whether one is born a 
deva, a gandharva, an animal, etc., according to their karmA.

d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the meaning uccaih for the upasaraga 
ut – ud upasarga uccaih arthe.  Using the root bhU – sattAyAm, he 
gives the interpretation – uccaih bhavanam yasya sa udbhavah – He 
Whose place of existence is at a high level.   SrI vAsishTha gives 
the example of sun moving around in a high position as a 
manifestation of bhagavAn being in a high position.  The meaning is 
more enjoyable if we take the reference to the "high place" as SrI 
vaikunTham.

e) Among the alternate interpretations that are given by SrI satya 
sandha yatirAja is one which describes this nAma as referring to His 
being the Creator of exalted beings such as pArvati – utkRshTah 
pArvatyAdibhyo bhavo yena iti udbhavah.  

f) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives another interpretation – He has 
this nAma because He is born again and again to protect dharma – 
dharma samsthAnapArthAya sambhavAmi yuge yuge (gItA 4.8).

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan







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