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Sri VishNu SahasranAmam - nAma 37 to 45.

 

37. svayambhUh - He who manifests Himself by His own free will.

 

Svayameva bhavati iti svayambhUh - One who is self-born.

 

Sri RAdhA KrishNa Sastri gives the example of how in the case of the

birth of Lord KrshNa to Devaki and Vasudeva, the child was born unlike

any other child, decorated with beautiful jewels, smiling, lotus-eyed,

with divya rUpa, etc., and with no pain or discomfort to the mother.

In Srimad BhAgavatam, we find the following description:

 

"tam adbhutam bAlakam ambujekshNam caturbhujam sankha gadAryudAyudham

|

srIvatsalakshmam galasobhikaustubham pItAmbaram sAndra

payodasoubhagam ||

 

"(Sri KrshNa at birth) was of magnificent appearance, lotus-eyed,

adorned with sankha, cakra, and gada, with four arms, the kaustubha

around his neck, adorned with pitAmbara (yellow silk cloth) around His

waist, and beautiful like the water-laden cloud".

 

38. sambhuh -(sa as in Siva) One who causes happiness to everyone by

the beauty of His appearance.

 

Sam bhAvayati iti sambhuh - here sam (sa as in Siva) means sukham or

happiness. This happiness is caused by the sheer beauty of His

manifestation. In RAmAyaNa we see the following passages:

 

"rUpa audArya guNai: pumsAm drshti citta apahAriNam" - (Sri Rama)

attracts the eyes and hearts of beholders by His beauty, generosity, and

similar qualities

 

"candra kAntAnanam rAmam atIva priya darsanam" - Rama who has a face

lovelier than the moon, and who has an extremely pleasing appearance

 

39. Adityah - a) The purusha in the Sun

b) One of the twelve Adityas

c) One who sustains and nourishes everything like the Sun

 

Sri Bhattar points out that this is one example of BhagavAn manifesting

Himself at His will.

We are all familiar with "dhyeyah sadA savtr-manDala madhyavarti

nArAyaNa...." - Sriman nArAyaNa who is in the centre of the orb of the

Sun must always be meditated upon.

 

We also have "sa yascAyam purushe, yascAsAvAditye, sa eka: "

(taittirIya upanishad) - He is one and the same deity who is in the

hearts of men and who is in the middle of the Sun.

 

Sri Sankara gives the additional explanation that this nAma can refer

to Lord VishNu being one of the twleve Adityas or Aditi's sons. He

gives the Bhagavad Gita in support of this:

 

"AdityAnAm aham vishNur-jyotishAm raviramsumAn |

marIcirmaruTamasmi nakshtrANAm aham sasI || (10-21)

 

"Among Adityas, I am VishNu, the twelfth Aditya ........". Sri

Chinmaya points out that BhagavAn incarnated as Aditi's son in His

vAmana incarnation. .

 

Sri Chinmaya also points out that another way to enjoy this nAma is to

realize that BhagavAn is like the Sun in that everything depends on the

Sun for its survival, and so BhagavAn is Aditya or the Sun or the

supporter and nourisher of everything.

 

40. pushkarAkshah - The Lotus-eyed.

 

Sri ChinmayAnanda refers us to the famous quote "The eye is the

reflection of the mind", and points out that the reference to the beauty

of the eye in this nAma is to be contemplated on in terms of the Inner

Joy and Peace that BhagavAn beams out to all through His eyes and

magically lifts out all the sorrows in His devotee's hearts. This nAma

re-occurs as nAma 561 later, where we will find a new interpretation.

 

Pushkare akshiNI yasya sa pushkarAkshah; poshayatI bhUtAni pushkare

akshiNI yasya sa pushkarAkshah.

 

41. mahA-svanah - He of the venerable sound (of the vedas)

 

In BrhadAraNya upanishad, we have the following:

 

"asya mahato bhUtasya ni:svasitametad yad-rg-vedo yajur-vedah sAma

vedo-atharvAngirasa: itihAsa: purANam vidyA upanishada: slokA:

sUtrANyaNuvyAkhyAnAni vyAkhyAnAni" (4.4.10) - Thus has been breathed

from this great Being what we have as Rg veda, Yajur veda, sAma veda,

and atharva veda, etc.

 

42. anAdi-nidhanah - One who is without beginning or end.

 

Yasya Adi nidhanam na asti sa anAdi-nidhanah - One for whom there is

neither beginning nor end. nidhana, which commonly refers to poverty

or lack of wealth, also has a second meaning, death or destruction. .

 

BhagavAn is anAdi-nidhana because His form is not composed of earthly

elements like fat, flesh and bone - na tasya prakrtA mUrti:

mAmsa-medosthi-sambhavA (varAha purANa 75.44), His body is beyond the

range of the sense-organs, and can be cognized only by the eye of the

mind - rUpam vA atIndriyam, antahkaraNapratyaksha nirdesAt, His body is

not made up of the combination of elements like earth, water, etc. - na

bhUta sangha samsthAno deho'sya paramAtmanah (MahAbhArata - sAnti parva

206-60), etc.

 

43. dhAtA - The creator (of .Brahma and others)

 

The interpretation for this and the next nAma are not clear to me, and

I am giving my best attempt. Especially the difference between the two

names, and how they differ in their root words and thus in the meaning

that they convey, was unclear to me. Each of the four primary

references I am using seems to give a different interpretation, which

seems to suggest that the meanings of these nAmas are open to

interpretation.. First I considered including all the different

interpretations but then decided against it in order to focus the

material presented here. I would like to request SrimAn Sadagopan and

others to elaborate more on this at their convenience.

 

The name can be derived from the root dhA - to produce, to bear, to

place, to lay upon. Sri Bhattar gives the following reference to Maula

Samhita - "dhAtA kshetre karma-bIja-bhUtam garbham dadhAti - dhAtA

places in the kshetra (i.e., prakrti), the fetus (i.e., the jiva), which

is the seed for action". As mentioned under the nAma kshetrajna

earlier, the kshetra is the field for actions, and the jiva is the seed

for actions. The same concept is also expressed in the gItA -

 

"mam yonir mahad brahma tasmin garbham dadhAmyaham |

sambhavah sarva-bhUtAnAm tato bhavati bhArata ||

(Gita 14-3)

 

The concept here is that BhagavAn causes all beings to be created

through the combination of prakrti and jivan or AtmA, which are both His

creations and under His control (pradhAna-purusha Isvarrah). It is as

if prakrti is the womb in which He places jivan as the seed, and thus

He is the creator or dhAtA.

 

Based on the explanation given for the next nAma, the seed referred to

here could also be Brahma, the four-faced creator of all the beings,

with VishNu as the antaryAmin. In other words, VishNu is the dhAtA

because He .seeds His vIrya in the prakrti so that the combination of

prkrti and His vIrya result in the cause of Brhma as the fetus.

 

44. vidhAtA - The producer (of Brahma from the fetus referred to above)

 

Sri Bhattar states that He is vidhAtA because He develops the fetus and

makes him (Brahma) appear.

 

Sri Sankara interprets this name to mean that he is the dispenser of

the fruits of actions and inducer of actions - karmaNA tat-phalAnAm ca

kartA vidhAtA. Sri Chinmaya interprets the name to mean that BhagavAn

is the unquestionable Law behind the entire universe (may be this can be

understood starting from the word vidhi - rule).

 

45. dhAturuttamah - a) One who is far superior to Brahma (dhAtr)

b) The best of all basic constitutents

 

The first interpretation is self-explanatory based on the previous two

nAmas. Another explanation given is based on the word dhAtu, which

means "element" or basic constituent. He is the ultimate constituent of

all, and so He is dhAturuttama.

 

-dAsan krshNamAchAryan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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