Guest guest Posted October 26, 1996 Report Share Posted October 26, 1996 srimathe sri lakshminrsumha parabrahmanE namaha sri vedanta desika guravE namaha Sriman Vijay Srinivasan made a singular observation that according to him there was no mention in the Vishnu Sahasranamam of daya or its synonyms used in the daya satakam. I was struck dumb by this observation. I had always been under the impression that what is not contained in the sahasranamam is not worth knowing about in all our scriptures. To Sriman Vijay srinivasan goes now half the "punya" in my having to meticulously scan the sahasranamam yesterday for the synonyms ! I have to agree with him. I failed to come up with either daya,karuna,krupa or anukampa in the sahasranamam. I sat for alone for a moment in a mood of reflective disappointment. Then I scanned again for synonyms of daya and Lo ! I found a few gems that I share below for the benefit of bhagavatOttamas who may please comment further on the same. How clear it is that none but the intellect of great "achaaryaas" can show us the way! 1) Nama No: 127 in verse 14 : "vedaha" -- is to be taken to mean that He who is of the form and nature of the veda or one who bestows "gnana" on "jivas". At this point, I learn, Adi Sankara in his commentary on the sahasranamam alludes to the compassion of the Lord by referring to the verse in the Gita (10.11) that begins with : "tesham ev-anukampArtham aham agnyAnajam tamah/ nAsha-yAmy Atma bhAvastho gnyAna-dIpEna bhAsvatA." meaning :"Out of acutely felt compassion for them, I as the imnnermost Spirit, destroy the darkness of ignorance by the light of knowledge." 2) Nama No.236 in verse 26 : "suprasAdaha" This nama means, I learn, He Whose 'prasada' or mercy is unique or unparalleled because He bestowed salvation even to Sisupalan who has the most infamous distinction of having showered Him with 100 choicest invectives (a 'satakam' of another sort indeed!). 3) Nama No.455 in verse 49 : "suvrataha" This wonderful appellation, one learns from Sankara's commentary, denotes one who has taken a vow ('sankalpam') to be the resort of all refuge-seekers. Sankara, I understand, refers at this point in his commentary, to the shloka of Valmiki (6.18.33) beginning with: sakrd-eva prapannAya tavAsmitti ca yAcate abhayan sarva-bhUtebhyo dadamy etat vratam mama I offer protection from all beings to one who seeks refuge in Me by even once saying,"I am Thine". One wonders if this "nama" denotes the Lord's Magnanimity or his Mercy. But I, personally, would tend to give the benefit of doubt to His quality of 'daya'. 4) Nama 791 verse 85 : "sundaha" This is a wonderful and rare synonym of 'daya', I think. According to Sankara it means one who is renowned for his melting tenderness ("undanam").From what I can gather from the translation, it would be no exaggeration to say this 'nama' is a fitting substitute for 'karuna' that Swami Desikan employs. 5) Nama 913 verse 97 : "shishirah" The meaning of this "nama", I learn, is One who is the Great Refuge of those who helplessly "burn" in the three temporal fires stoked by material, psychological and spiritual causes. This "nama" brings to mind a whole host of worldly afflictions that can and do beset man and how they are the cause of the Lord's concern and "daya". 6) Nama 919 verse 98 : "kshamiNAm varaha" This "nama" brings to mind Sriman Tatachari's stern protestations in his posting y/day to my suggestion for excluding "kshama" from the list of worthy synonyms for "daya". I confess I have to re-think my original opinion on this (Sriman Rangaswamy, too, are you listening?) after noting what this "nama" connotes as per the sahasranamam. This appellation of the Lord, it seems, hails Him as the "Patient One non-pareil".He is moved to such monumental patience by His forbearance and mercy for jivatmas. Undoubtedly, one easily associates patience with such emotions of compassion.One must also note that the compassionate are invariably patient although the contra may not always obtain. Hence the appropriateness of this "nama" to denote the Lord's quality of 'daya'. 7)Nama 905 verse 96 : "svastidakshinaha" I go back to this "nama" because I am still in a little bit of doubt if I am stretching the connotation too much to make it synonymous with 'daya'. According to Sri Sankara the phonetic element or "sound-bite" (to use the modern expression of media-experts) of "dakshiNa" connotes "accomplishing" anything with remarkable alacrity. Thus this epithet may be used to mean He who bestows His abundant blessings forthwith or as the French say, "toute-de-suite". This nama too, thus, I should say, is redolent of the "daya" quality of the Lord. I was able to cull out the above 7 namas with my limited and scant knowledge of Sanskrit. Those "bhAgavatOttamas" with richer "gnana" and "anubhavam" may please direct me to others in the sahasranamam. I enjoy thoroughly exercises and brain teasers like these. It adds that extra "zing" (pardon the rather crude expression) to the enjoyment of His kalyana gunas. If there are any errors of ommission or commission, please forgive me. Srimathe srivan satagopa sri narayana yathIndra mahadesikAya namaha humbly, sudarshan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.