Search:
Bhakti List Archives

SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 73 - Part 6.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Narasimhan Krishnamachari • May 24, 2002 


     SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 73 - puNyah.

692. puNyah -a) The Purifier.
	b) He Who is excellent in performing pious activities.

Om puNyAya namah.

This nAma occurs again as nAma 925 in Slokam 98.  

There are two ways the derivation of the word "puNyah" has been
approached  - one from the root pU - pavane - to purify, and the other
puN - Subha karmaNi - to be pious.  The details will be seen below
under the respective authors.  

SrI BhaTTar gives the definition - punAti iti puNyah - He who purifies
is puNyah, which is derived from the root pU - pavane to purify.   SrI
BhaTTar points out that bhagavAn has this nAma because He purifies even
the worst of the sinners and makes them fit for extolling Him.  SrI
v.v. rAmAnujan observes that the nAma "puNyan" for bhagavAn in tamizh
is a favorite of the AzhvArs.  Among the references he gives are from
tirumazhiSai AzhvAr  -  "anantan mEl kiDanda em puNNiyA!" (tiruccanda
viruttam 45), and from tiruma'ngai AzhvAr -  "un aDiyEn manam pugunda
ap pulava! puNNiyanE!" (periya tirumozhi 3.5.7).   

SrI Samkara interprets this nAma to mean that He is a Purifier because
thought about Him purifies the person who thinks about Him -
smRtimAtreNa kalmashANi kshapayati iti puNyah.  The dharma cakram
writer  explains that just as the thoughts of indriya-sukham are
thoughts that are not conducive to His realization, the thoughts about
Him produce the purity that leads to His realization.

Under nAma 925, SrI BhaTTar gives the above as his second
interpretation for this nAma - that by the mere contemplation of His
kIrti pertaining to His helping His devotees, we become pure.  He gives
the example of bhagavAn's protection of gajendra, and observes that the
meditation of His kIrti through acts such as this will purify us.  This
same interpretation and example are presented by SrI baladeva
vidyAbhUshaN for this nAma under Slokam 98.

For the occurrence of this nAma in Slokam 98, SrI Samkara gives the
interpretation that bhagavAn has the nAma puNyah because He enables all
to be righteous by His teachings through the Sruti-s and smRti-s  -
sarveshAm Sruti smRti lakshaNayA vAcA puNyam AcashTa iti vA puNyah.  

Under the current Slokam, SrI baladeva vidyAbhUshaN comments that
bhagavAn is a Purifier of this world in the sense of eliminating or
removing the wicked (such as kamsa).

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha derives the nAma starting from the root pU -
pavane - to purify, and gives the derivation - pavata iti, pUyate vA
anena iti puNyah - pavitrah pApAnaviddhah Subho vA  - He who purifies,
or One by whom things are purified is puNyah; or, One who is pure,
devoid of any sin, auspicious,  etc.  He gives the example of bhagavAn
in the form of the Sun purifying all objects in the universe, in
addition to being pure Himself.  

In addition to the above derivation and interpretation,both SrI
satyadevo vAsishTha and SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj also give the
alternative derivation of the nAma starting from the root puN - Subha
karmaNi - to be pious.  SrI bhAradvAj gives the derivation as "puNati
Subham karma Acarati iti puNyah - One Who observes pious activities is
puNyah.  By the grammatical rule "tatra sAdhuh" (ashTAdyAyI 4.4.98),
with the addition the yat pratyaya to puNa, the term puNyah means "One
who is excellent in observing the pious activities", and not just in
the sense of being good.  BhagavAn sets the example to His devotees on
performing pious acts by performing them Himself.  He leads by example.
  
Thus, bhagavAn is puNyah (the Purifier) because a) He purifies even the
worst of sinners by making them think of Him; b) He purifies this world
by eliminating the wicked from our midst during His incarnations; c)
His thought is a purifier for those who meditate on Him; d) He purifies
everything in the form of the Sun; e) He guides us to be righteous
through the Sruti and smRti.

Alternatively, He is puNyah (One who excels in observing pious
activities) because He excels in the practice of pious activities so
that He sets an example for others to follow.

-To be continued.

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
http://launch.yahoo.com


--------------------------------------------------------------
           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
To Post a message, send it to:   bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Group Home: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list
Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/
 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/