SarvA (26th naamam of Sri VishNu Sahasra nAmam

[Guest guest]

Dear Sri KrishNamAchAri and Sri RamakrishNan

BalasubramaNyan& friends : I will add some more notes .

 

The naamam "sarvan " is common to BOTH VishNu

and Sivan ( as kshithimoorthy , one of the 11 RudrAs/

ekAdasa RudrAs) celebrated in BaisAk temple in the

island of Baali , IndonEsia . In the 11th chapter of

Bhagavdh GItA ( Visva roopa darsana adhyAyam ) ,

The Lord says : " Behold the dvAdasa AdhithyAs ,

ekAdasa RudrAs , the twin Aswins and the Maruths ;

behold , O descendant of Bharata , many wonders

never seen before " ( Chapter 11. 6 ) . ArjunA describes

the "Sarvan " aspect of ViswarUpi in terror this way

in the 27 th verse of the 11 th chapter this way :

 

" Verily , as the many torrents of rivers flow towards

the ocean , so do these heroes in the world of men

enter Thy fiercely flaming mouths " . ArjunA sees that

these creatures enter the mouths of Sarvan as moths

rushing in great haste into the flames just to perish .

He says : " O Lord ! swallowing all the worlds on every

side withb Thy flaming mouths , Thou art licking Thy lips .

Arjuna is terrified and salutes the "Sarvan " and pleads

for mercy and confesses " Na hi prajAnAmi tava pravrutthim "

( O primeval One ! I know not indeed Thy purpose ) .

 

In addditon to the Occurence of the nAmam , "sarvan (as in

Siva ) in Rudraprasnam /Sri Rudram/Satha Rudreeyam ,

we come across this name in the Kaavyams

( Raghuvamsam and KumAra Sambhavam ),

purANam ( Vaamana PurANam ) and in Atharva Vedam in

the 11 th canto twice . I will focus on the usage in AtharvaNa

vedam after commenting briefly on the use of "sarvan " from the

Saiva SiddhAntham perspective .

 

As indicated earlier ,The noun "sarvan " is used both

for Lord Siva and VishNu Bhagavan . When Lord SivA is referred to ,

the attribution is to His destructive aspects as saluted

in Sri Rudram based on the route "sr".

 

The name " Bhavan" coming before "sarvan " is associated with

the aspects of creation .

 

The fifth anuvAkam' s first and second manthrams

in Sri Rudram are :

 

namO bhavAya cha rudrAya cha I

namssarvAya cha pasupathayE cha

 

BTW ,these two manthrams have a profound significance to

Saiva SiddhAntham . They describe Sri Rudran as the

magnificient God , who engages in pancha krithyam:

Srishti (creation ) , shtithi ( protection and maintenance ) ,

samharam ( destruction ) , TirOdhanam ( hiding the truth

thru MaayA ) and anugraham ( siva loka prApthi ) .

 

Lord NatarAjA , the cosmic dancer symbolizes the

pancha krithyam in his body . If one intreprets " Siva "

as auspiciousnes , then the pancha krithyam applies

to VishNu as well in His avathAram as Vata pathra sAyee ..

 

The little drum (damarukam/udukkai ) on the upper right

hand of Lord NatarAjA symbolizes the act of creation .

The birth of limitless creatures and their cry is associated

by the sounds emanating from the play of the udukkai .

This is the Bhava aspect .

 

The hand gesture on the lower right hand (abhaya mudrA )

refers to the sthithi aspect of pancha krithyA.

 

on the upper left hand is agni , which is nothing but

praLaya kAlAgni denoting samhAram and the sarvA

aspect .

 

The bent right leg posted on the back of the demon

muyalagan represents the veil of maayA .

 

The lifted left leg ( kunchitha paadham ) stands for

anugraham . In chidambaram , a vettivEr maalai

fititng exactly the size of the ankle of the kunchitha paatham

decorates the lifted feet at ardha jAma kaalam .

Next morning , that maalai is given as prasAdam to

a devotee by the muraikkArar .

 

In saiva siddhantham , Siva does not create the jeevans .

He creates the bodies that house the jeevans . This is

His creation . He protects the bodies during their life on

earth ( shtithi ) . At the conclusion of the earthly cycle ,

He destroys the bodies (samhAram ) . All of these three

acts take place on this earth dealing with the bodies of

living beings .

 

The fourth and the fifth acts ( tirOdhanam and

anugraham ) deal with jeevans as opposed to

physical bodies By perfecting the jeevan inside ,

He prepares them to become fit to reach His holy

feet (tirOdhanam ) . He then blesses the jeevan

in its purified state to join Siva Saayujyam

(anugraham ) . The relation between SivA and

VishNu is spelled out at the end of Sri VishNu

Sahasra Naamam during the occasion of celebrating

Sri Raama nAmam in pala sruthi .

 

The passages in the atharva Vedam are beautiful

echos of Sri Rudram housed in the middle of Yajur

Vedam .

 

Atharva Vedam Khandam 11. hymn 2 is a sonorous

appeal to Sarvan not to harm the beings :

 

bhavAsarvou mrudatham mAapi yAtham

bhoothapathi pasupathi namO vaam I

prathihithAmAyathAm maa vi srAshtam

maa nO himsishtam dvipadhOma chathushpadha : II

--- AV XI .2 .1

(meaning ) : O Bhava and SarvA , make us happy and

do n't attack us !Salutaions to You , TWIN LORDS of

all living beings , beasts and emancipated souls !

Shoot not the arrow aimed and drawn against us .

pledge to Save our bipeds and quadrupeds !

 

nama : sAyam nama ; prAtharnamO rAthryA namO divA I

BHAVAAYA CHA SARVAAYA chObhAbhyAmakaram nama: II

---- AV XI . 2.16

 

 

(meaning ) : Salutations to the Lord at evening and at morning's

early light ! Salutations at night and day ! To the Lord's powers

of creation (Bhavan ) and dissolution/destruction (Sarvan ) ,

both , have I paid my humble salutaions !

 

bhavAsarvAvidam bhrumO Rudram Pasupathisccha ya : I

yeeshUryA yeshAm samvidhma taa na: santhu sadhA SivA : II

------ AV XI . 6 . 9

 

(meaning ) : May we eulogize the different aspects

of the Lord , as BhavA , SarvA , RudrA and Pasupathi .

May we understand the doctrines behind these aspects.

May they be ever compassionate towards us !

 

I wonder whether Parasara Bhattar did not elaborate

on this VishNusahasra nAmam ( Sarvan ) because

of its destructive connotations as referred to in the rks

of Sri Rudram and Atharva vedam . I am equally surprised

that Sankara Bhagavdh PaadAL did not elaborate either

on this nAmam inview of or inspite of its hyperlinks

to Sri Rudran !

 

V.Sadagopan

 

P.S : Regarding SaaKagrama mAlais found as aabharaNams

on the Moolavars of Divya dEsams , the saaLagramams

are never drilled to make a hole . They will shatter .

It appears that the sALagrAmamams are housed in

gold -plated casings and the hooks are attached to

the outside of the casings to connect them .

Sri ThiruviNNagarappan ( Moolavar ) has a huge

saaLagrAma mAlai , which seems to be constructed

this way .