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Sri VishNu SahasranAmam - nAma 46 to 55.

 

46. aprameyah - One who cannot be defined, explained, measured, etc.

through logical means, (but who can only be experienced)

 

pramAtum na yogya: aprameyah -

 

He is beyond reach through normal means because

 

* He is beyond sense organs (pratyaksha) such as our mortal eyes, ears,

etc.;

* nor through inference (anumAna) because he is devoid of the marks

leading to inference (e.g., the presence of fire can be inferred through

smoke, but for this inference one should have at least once witnessed

fire and smoke together, and no one has seen Him with or without

anything associated);

* nor through analogy or comparison (upamA), because He is without

parts and everything else is only parts, and hence no comparison can be

made;

* nor through Apta vAkya or (s)abda pramANa (someone else who has seen

Him telling us, or through sacred texts) because no one can see Him,

since even the muktAs only experience Him.

 

Sri Bhattar goes on to point out that BhagavAn is aprameya because He

is beyond the sense organs of even Brahma and other gods (Sri RAdhA

KrshNa Sastri points out that the means of sensing is the same for

Brahma and other gods as it is for people). He is not describable as

This or That, like this or like that, or inferred because of this or

because of that, etc., and so He is aprameya.

 

47. hrshIkesah - a) The controller of the sense-organs of all including

Brahma, Rudra etc.

b) One who, in the form of the Sun and the Moon, makes this world

happy through His rays

 

The two interpretations are derived by looking at this word as hrshIkA

+ Isa or hrishI + kesa. The first explanation is derived from

"HrshIkANAm Isah hrshIkesah - The Lord of the sense-organs. The second

interpretation is given based on kesa - rays, hrshI - that give

happiness.

 

Sri Sankara gives the following support from MahAbhArata, Moksha

dharma, (s)Anti parva for the second interpretation:

 

"sUrya candramasoh (s)a(s)a vadam(s)ubhi: ke(s)a samjnitaih |

bodhayan svApayan(s)caiva jagadutthisThAte prthak ||

bodhanAt svApanAccaiva jagato harshaNam bhavet ||

agnIshoma krtairebhih karmabhih pANdunandana |

hrIke(s)o'hamIsAno varado lokabhAvana:

||

 

"The sun and the moon through their kesa or rays always uphold the

world by awakening it and causing it to sleep. By such awakening and

sleeping, the world is delighted. It is in consequence of this act of

fire (Sun) and Soma who uphold the universe that I have come to be

known as HrshIke(s)a...".

 

Sri T.S. Krishnamurthy, who has written an English trnslation to Sri

(S)ankara bhAshya, has taken this guNAnubhava one more step by saying

that the ke(s)a - hair of the Lord in the form of the rays of the sun

and the moon give delight (harsha), and thus He is HrshIke(s)a.

 

48. padma-nAbhah - One from whose navel the lotus (the cause of the

Universe) emanates.

 

Sarva jagat kAraNam padmam nAbhau yasya sa padmanAbhah -

 

Sri Bhattar points out that this name substantiates or summaries all

that has been said through the previous nAmas about BhagavAn being the

creator or cause of Brahma (e.g., dhAtA, vidhAtA, dhaturuttamah).

 

Sri RadhAkrshNa (S)astri gives a beautiful and simple explanation to

enable the appreciation of this nAma. In our normal life, the child

before and at birth is connected to the mother through the navel chord,

and gets its nourishment from the mother through this chord. Similar is

the chord from the Lord's navel, which is nothing but the Universe in

its prakrti form, and which looks like a lotus which has not expanded.

This is prior to its expansion through Time, and He is the nourisher of

this creation of His (which is none other than Brahma).

 

49. amara-prabhuh - The Lord of the immortal gods.

 

AmarANAm prabhuh amaraprabhuh.

 

The Lord is amaraprabhu because He created the different devatAs and

entrusted them with acts such as creation, destruction, etc., made them

immortal because of their functions, and directs them in their

functions.

 

Sri Bhattar quotes the following words ascribed to Brahma in Uttara

kANda in RAmAyaNa -

 

"mahArNave (s)ayAnau'psu mAm tvam pUrvam ajIjana: |

prAhApatyam tvayA karma sarvam mayi nive(s)itam || (104-4)

 

"You were lying on the waters of the great ocean and you first of all

created me. The entire duty of the PrajApati (the rulership of the

beings) was entrusted to me by you".

 

Also, the following from MahAbhArata is given -

 

"etau dvau vibudha (s)reshThau prasAda-krodhajau smrtau |

tadAdar(s)ita panthAnau srshTi samhAra kArakau

||(169-19)

 

"These two great gods (Brahma and Rudra) are said to have emerged from

the sweet temper and wrath of BhagavAn respectively. They carry out the

duty of creation and destruction in the way shwon by Him".

 

50. vi(s)va karmA - a) One who is the agent of all actions with regard

to the Universe.

b) The Creator of the Universe

 

vi(s)vam karma jagad-vyApArah yasya sa vi(s)va karmA. Sri Bhattar

points out that this name signifies that all the entire work with regard

to the affairs of the Universe are His alone either before or after the

creation of Brahma. In other words, He is the director and controller.

 

Among the many passages in the sruti that support the interpretation

are:

 

"so'kAmayatabahu syAm prajAyeya iti - He willed, I shall become many, I

shall take birth" - taittirIya AraNyaka - 6.

 

"so'bidhyAya (s)arIrAt svAt sisrkshu: vividhAh prajA: - Brahman willed

to create different kinds of beings out of Its body and so It did" -

 

51. manuh - The Great Thinker.

 

MananAt manuh -

 

In the BrhadAraNya upanishad, we have "nAnyo'to'sto mantA - There is no

thinker but Him" -

 

(B.U. 3.7.23)

 

To mentally conceive an act prior to the act itself is mananam.

BhagavAn has to but think and not do anything else in order to achieve

what He wills. The creation of the cosmos was only a minute part of His

will. Sri Bhattar uses the word sankalpa lava mAtrAt - by the MERE

fraction (lava mAtrAt) of His will to explain this guNa.

 

52. tvashTA - One who created all the different forms and names in this

Universe.

 

This name is dervied from the root tvaksh - to pare, to reduce, to

chisel.

 

Sri Bhattar uses this meaning to interpret this nAma to mean that

BhagavAn has "chiseled" so many diverse forms and names of gods, man,

birds, plants, insects, etc., and thus He is tvashTA. He gives the

taittirIya araNyaka (3-11) in support - tvashTAram rUpANi vikurvantam

vipascitam.

 

Sri (S)ankara uses the same meaning to interpret this name as

indicating that BhagavAn pares down all the beings or makes them shrink

at the time of cosmic dissolution or pralaya.

 

It is interesting to note that the first interpretation refers to the

creation of forms and shapes from the primordial matter, and the second

interpretation refers to the dissolution of forms and shapes back into

primordial matter.

 

53. sthavishThah - One who is exceedingly huge in size.

 

The name is derived from the two words sthUla and ishTha - One who

willed to be huge. Sri Bhattar points out that this huge size is the

manifestation of BhagavAn as the brahmANda (the egg-shaped universe)

with the fourteen worlds. which are the places of residences for all the

beings that He has created, as well as its sheath, and the sense-organs

of all the beings, as well as the sound, touch, and other qualities that

are the objects of these sense-organs, as well as their effects. The

fourteen worlds are referred to by Sri Ramanuja in his Sri VaikuNTha

gadyam (caturda(s)a bhuvanAntaram aNdam da(s)a guNitottaram ....) in his

reference to Sri VaikuTham's location far, far beyond the limits of

these fourteen worlds.

 

54. sthavirah - One who has always existed, Older than the oldest.

 

The name is derived from the root stha - tishThati - to stand. This

nAma signfies that BhagavAn is not constrained by Time. All His

creation goes through the cycle of creation and pralaya, and He uses

Time for His creation and dissolution, but He is not constrained by it.

This He is older than the oldest.

 

55. dhruvah - One who is unaffected by Time, Unchanging, Permanent.

 

The word is derived from the root dhr - to carry, maintain, preserve,

to be eternal, immovable - (sthiratvAt dhruvah). The previous nAma

indicated that BhagavAn is the oldest of the oldest. This nAma

signifies that He is unchanging while Time keeps moving.

 

Perhaps because both the nAms sthavira and dhruva refer to the quality

of BhagavAn being beyond the influence, effect, or control of Time, Sri

Sankara has chosen to interpret the two words as one nAma - sthaviro

dhruvah - One who is unchanging and older than the oldest. Thus the

sequence number for the nAmas that follow start differing from this nAma

between Sri Sankara bhAshya and Sri Bhattar's vyAkhyAna.

 

-dAsan KrshNamAchAryan