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FW: Sri vishNu sahasranAmam - sloka 13.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Krishnamachari, N. • October 13, 1997 


>Dear Sri BhAgavatottama-s:
>
>I tried sending the following a few times last week, but it seems my atttempt
>was not successful.  So I am resubmitting it today.  I hope this is not a
>duplication.
>
>-dAsan kr*shNamAchAryan	
>
>
>
>	Sri vishNu sahasranAmam - sloka 13 - nAma 115 to 123 .
>
>	sloka 13 -  rudrO bahuSirA babhrur viSva_yOnih Suci_sravAh        |
>		    amr*tah SASvatah sthANur varArOhO mahA-tapAh     ||
>
>Om rudrAya namah
>Om bahu-SirasE namah
>Om babhravE namah
>Om viSva-yOnayE namah
>Om Suci-SravasE namah
>Om amr*tAya namah
>Om SaSvatAya namh
>Om sthANavE namah
>Om varArOhAya namah
>Om mahA-tapasE namah
>
>115.  rudrah - a) One who brings tears to the eyes.
>       	b) One who confers the good on the devotees
>		c)  One who destroys misery.
>
>Om rudrAya namah
>
>	rOdayati iti rudrah - Sri Bhattar interprets this to mean that He brings
>tears of joy to the eyes of His devotees.  SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAStri gives an
>example from SrImad bhAgavatam in support of this, but probably because of a
>typographical error in the book I could not find the particular Sloka in my
>copy of SrImad bhAgavatam.  The gist of this reference is that one who is not
>shedding tears of joy on hearing of bhagavAn's guNas, singing His praise
>etc., must indeed have a heart made of stone.  The reference given is MB
>3.3.24.  It could also mean that He brings tears to the eyes of the beings
>when He withdraws them during the pralaya.  Sri Sankara points out that it
>could also mean one who confers (ra) the good (rud), or it could mean one who
>destroys (dru) misery and its cause (ru - duhkham) - rum drAvayati iti
>rudrah. 
>
>116.  bahu-SirAh - One who is multi-headed.
>
>Om bahu-SirasE namah.
>
>	In purusha sUktam of r*g veda we have the description of the cosmic form of
>BhagavAn described as "sahasra SIrshA purushah sahasrAkshah sahasra pAt - The
>purusha of thousand heads, thousand eyes and thousand feet.....  In gItA we
>find the following description of the viSvarUpa of bhagavAn -
>sarvAScaryamayam devam anantam viSvatOmukham - the rUpa with uncountable
>faces in all directions (11.11).  Again in gItA (13.13), we have "sarvatah
>pANi pAdam tat sarvato'kshi SirO mukham - The Pure jivAtma savarUpa has hands
>and legs everywhere, has eyes, heads, and mouths everywhere.....".
>
>	Sri Bhattar has interpreted the name as referring to the form of bhagavAn as
>ananta, in which form He has many faces and over a thousand hoods. 
>
>117.  babhruh - The Supporter.
>
>Om babhravE namah
>
>	bibharti lOkAn iti babhruh - The one who supports the worlds.  He as
>AdiSesha supports the earth.
>He is also the supporter of the Earth as Adi kUrma, Adi varAha, etc.
>
>118.  viSva-yOnih - a) The cause of this world.
>		b) One who unites His devotees with Himself.
>
>Om viSva-yOnayE namah
>
>	yOni means cause.  Since He is the cause of this world He is called
>viSvayOni.  In nAma 89 - viSvarEtA - we saw that He is the seed from which
>the world originates.  This nAma says that He is also the place where the
>seed develops into its full blossom.  yOni means womb, and He is the seed,
>the womb, the sustainer after the birth of the world, the one who impartially
>observes as the kshetraj~na, etc.  Note that we have refeered to the
>following from the gItA a few times before, and it applies here again -
>vAsudevah sarvam.
>
>	The word yOni can also be derived from the world yu - to unite (yu miSraNE).
> Thus yOni can refer to bhagavAn's act of uniting His devotees with Him.
>Without His will, no one will be united with Him.  He is viSvayOni because He
>unites His devotees with Himself.
>
>119.  Suci-SravAh -a)  One who listens to words which are pure.
>		b)  One whose names are worthy of being heard.
>		c)  One who has beautiful and divine ears.
>
>Om Suci-Sravase namah.
>
>	a) SucIni SrAvaNyAni Sr*Noti iti Suci-SravAh - One who listens to words that
>are pure.  Sri Bhattar gives the following reference to mahAbhArata in
>support of this interpretation -
>
>	"SucIni SrAvaNIyAni Sr*Nomi iha dhanan~jaya             |
>	   na ca pApAni gr*hNAmi tato'ham vai SuciSravAh      ||   (MB Santi parva
>344.61)
>
>	"O dhanan~jaya!  I listen here to all that is pure and agreeable to hear.  I
>do not heed to what is sinful.  Therefore I am known as Suci-SravAh".
>
>	In this context, Sri Bhattar points out the incident where bhagavAn just
>kept listening to the words of vidura which were full of dharma, and the
>night passed away for Kr*shNa unnoticed -
>
>	"dharmyA ramyASca arthavatIh vicitrArtha padAksharAh       |
>	   Sr*Nvanto vividhA vAcah vidurasya mahAtmanah                |
>	    akAmasyaiva kr*shNasya sA vyatIyAya SarvarI                   ||  (MB
>Udyoga 93.2)
>
>b)  Sri Sankara gives the following interpretation - SucIni Sravamsi nAmAni
>SravaNIyAnyasyeti Suci-SravAh - One whose names and glories are very holy and
>purifying to hear.
>
>c)  The word Sravas also means ear.  Sri chinmayAnandA thus interprets the
>name as meaning One who has divine ears - He is the Hearer of all ears.  
>
>120.  amr*tah - a) The unsatiating nectar to His devotees
>		b)  One who is Immortal
>
>Om amr*tAya namah
>
>	a)  The devotees never get satiated by doing service to bhagavAn, and He is
>sweet to the devotees to an unlimited extent.
>
>	b)  na vidyate mr*tam maraNam asya iti amr*tah - He has no decay or death.
>The sruti says He is non-decaying and Immortal - ajarah amarah -
>(br*hadAraNya upanishad 4.4.25).
>
>	Sri chinmayAnandA points out that He is amr*tah because He can cure the
>disease of ignorance in His devotees. 
>	
>121.  SASvata-sthANuh - One who is Eternally Firm. 
>
>Om SaSvata-SthANave namah.
>
>	The two parts of this name, SASvata and SthANu, occurred as separate names
>earlier (SASvata - which occurred as nAma 57, and sthAnu as nAma 28).  sthANu
>also occurs as part of the current nAma and of nAma 427 - sthAvara-sthANuh
>later.  Recall that sthANu was earlier interpreted as One who is firm in
>blessing His devotees, and SASvata was interpreted as One who is Eternal
>because of His unceasing act of creation, sustenance and destruction.
>
>	SASvata-SthANu here is interpreted as one name in all the references I have,
>and there is no discussion on why it is treated thus. 
>
>	Sri Bhattar gives this name the meaning 'Eternal and Steady'.  Unlike the
>nectar for which the devas and asuras churned the Ocean, He is Eternal
>because he cannot be taken away from those who enjoy Him.  Sri Sankara gives
>the meaning "Eternally Firm".   SrI rAdhAkr*shNa Sastri gives the
>interpretation that He is SASvata because He has no beginning or end, and
>sthANu because He does not age or decay.
>
>122.  varArohah - a) One who is the most supreme object of attainment.
>		b)  One of Excellent Ascent.
>
>Om varArohAya namah.
>
>	Varam means supreme, and Arohanam means ascent.  Sri Bhattar's
>interpretation is that He is the Supreme object of attainment, since all
>other objects are inferior.  Sri Sankara gives the meaning that He is of
>Excellent Ascent.  Sri rAdhAkr*shNa Sastri suggests that bhagavAn is varAroha
>because He is reclining on AdiSesha, the high paryanka.
>
>	In the second or third article in this series, I had indicated that Sri
>Bhattar interprets the first 122 nAmas as describibg the para-vAsudeva form
>of the Lord, which is not conditioned by any limiting adjuncts and which is
>not the effect of another object.  It is endowed with six qualities (~jnAna,
>bala, aiSvarya, vIrya, Sakti, tejas).  This is the object of attainment of
>the released souls.  The transcendental nature (paratva) of bhagavAn has been
>spoken of mostly by the names ending with the above nAma - varAroha.  Sri
>Bhattar also interprets the contents of the first 122 names as the response
>from BhIshma to YudhisThira for the first two of the six questions posed to
>him - 1) kim ekam daivatam loke? 2) kim vApi ekam parAyaNam?
>
>	The next set of nAmas are interpreted by Sri Bhattar as a) representing the
>vyuha (emanation) forms, and b) responding to YudhisThira's question -
>stuvantah kim - eulogising whom?  The vyuha forms are four in number -
>vAsudeva, samkarshaNa, pradyumna, aniruddha.  Of these, vAsudeva can be taken
>as having been included in the para form.  The vyUha forms are in charge of
>the work of creation, sustenance, and destruction;  they propound the
>Sastras, explain their significance, and give the fruits in accordance with
>the rules laid down therein; they also teach the method of meditation and
>workship of bhagavAn.  The six qualities of the para rupa are distributed
>amongst the four  vyUhas and each has its own form and duties.  They are the
>means for the attainment of salvation. 
>
>The samkarshaNa form is associated with knowledge and strength.   Starting
>with the next nAma, the samkarshaNa form - the second in the vyuhas - is to
>be dealt with. 
>
>123.  mahA-tapAh - One who is endowed with great knowledge.
>
>Om mahA-tapase namah.
>
>	Tapas is given the meaning "great knowledge" based on muNdakopanishad -
>yasya ~jnAnamayam tapah - Whose tapas is the nature of knowledge.  Mahat is
>pUjyam - worthy of respect.  Here knowledge is the ability to guide people so
>that they may be rid of the miseries of the world which they have been having
>from time immemorial.
>
>-dAsan kr*shNamAchAryan
>
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