Sri VishNu sahasranAmam - nAma 96 to 104.

[Guest guest]

Sri VishNu sahasranAmam - nAma 96 to 104.

 

96. ajah - a) Unborn.

b) The Remover of all obstacles.

c) One who moves in the hearts of the devotees

d) One who removes the ignorance from the hearts of His devotees

e) One who is the root of all sound (akshara "a").

 

This nAma occurs two more times later (nAma 206 and 524).

 

a) The first meaning is derived as na jAyata iti ajah - One who is not

born in the traditional sense.

 

Sri Sankara gives the following from the srutis to support this

explanation:

 

na jAto na janishyate - He was neither born nor will be born (Rg veda

1.81.5)

 

"na hi jAto na jAye'yam na janishye kadAcana |

kshetraj~nah sarvabhUtAnAm tasmAt aham ajah smrtah || MB SAnti

parva 330.9

 

"I was not born, nor am I born, nor will I have a future birth; I am

the soul in all beings; hence I am called the Unborn".

 

Other references to the name aja are: "ajo nityah SASvato'yam purANah"

(kaThopanishad 1.2.18), and "sa vA esha mahAn aja AtmA" (brhadAraNya

upanishad 4.4.22).

 

Sri Bhattar points out that BhagavAn only emerges out of a pillar etc.,

but is not born like others (see the explanation for svayambhuh - nAma

37).

 

b) There are several interpretations of the nAma aja using the meaning

"movement" for the root aj - aja gati kshepaNayoh - The root 'aj'

signifies movement or throwing away .

 

Sri Bhattar uses this meaning and interprets the name as meaning "The

Remover of all obstacles" to ensure that His devotees accomplish in

their objective of reaching Him. Sri Sankara uses the same meaning for

aja (movement, motion) and comes up with the explanation - ajati

gacchati kshipati iti vA ajah - He who moves into the heart of His

devotees. Sri rAdhAkrshNa SAstri uses the meaning "movement" and

interprets the name as Remover of the ignorance in us, or One who goes

to the bhaktas to enable them to reach Him, or One who throws away His

weapons at anyone who disturbs or causes hardship to His devotees.

 

One other explanation given for aja is akAravAcyatayA jAtah - One who

is known through the letter "a". - akAra vAcyatayA jAtah ajah. In the

gItA we have "aksharANaAm akAro'smi - (gItA 10.33) - I am 'a" among the

syllables. Sri rAdhAkrhNa SAstri points out that at the time of pralaya

the panca bhUtas coalesce into ehter (the reverse of AkASAt vAyuh,

vAyoragnih, aganerApah, adbhyah pethivI, etc.)., and the ether coalesces

into its tanmAtra, the sound, and Sabda ultimately dissolves into the

sound "a", which is the form of BhagavAn at the conclusion of prlaya.

The sruti is 'akAro vai sarvA vAk". In tirukkural we have "akara

mudalAya ezhutthellAm Adi bhaghavan mudatre ulagu".

 

97. sarveSvarah - a) One who reaches all who seek Him

b) One who is the Isvara for all isvaras

 

a) Sri Bhattar derives the first interpretation from the root aS to

pervade. By the uNAdi sUtra 738, aSnoterASukarmaNi varat ca - the affix

varat comes after the root aS - to pervade, when the word formed from it

refers to "having the power of granting success soon". Thus aS + varat

= ISvarah. The interpretation is that He is sarveSvara because He

quickly reaches all those who have taken refuge in Him in order to avoid

delay in dispelling their uneasiness whether they are qualified or not.

Or rather, the sufficient qualification is that they have taken refuge

in Him.

 

b) sarveshAm ISvarANAm ISvarah sarveSvarah. The Sruti says - esha

sarveSvarah - BrhadAraNya upanishad - 4.4.22 - He is the Lord of all

lords.

 

98. siddhah - One who is available at the hands of His devotees.

 

niruktam summarizes Sri Bhattar's vyAkhyAna as svarUpeNaiva bhaktAnAm

siddhatvAt siddhah ucyate - He is in the hands of His devotees in His

true form. A siddha can also mean One who has accomplished all that

has to be achieved. Sri Sankara gives the interpretation that He is

ever perfect - nitya nishpanna rUpatvAt siddhah.

 

An interpretation for the amarakoSa gives the definition siddhyati iti

siddhah.

 

99. siddhih - The Goal.

 

The word siddhi literally means accomplishment, success etc. BhagavAn

is siddhi because He is the Goal or accomplishment by adopting the

means. Or, in the context of success or accomplishment, He is siddhi

because He gives the ultimate fruit of action, moksha. All other

accomplishments can only give lesser benefits such as the lesser joys of

heaven etc., but only by attaining Him one can get moksha, the ultimate

success.

 

100. sarvAdih - The Origin or Cause of all things.

 

SarveshAm purushArtAnAm Adih sarvAdih or sarva bhUtAnAm AdikAraNatvAt

sarvAdih. One who is the very beginning of all; One who was in

exsitence earlier than anything else. Even before the effects arise,

the Cause. The Infinite whish was before creation, and from which the

created beings emerged out.

 

101. acyutah - a) One who has never slipped from His glory.

b) One who never lets His devotees slip.

c) One who undergoes no modifications such as birth, growth, decay,

disease, etc.

 

This nAma occurs two more times later (320 and 557).

 

a) cyti means "fall" and cyuta means "fallen". acyuta means "One

who has never fallen from His true nature". Several explanations are

given to further expand this guNa of the Lord. Sri Bhattar points out

that He does not ever fall from His position of overlordship unlike

Brahma, Indra, etc. who are subject to loss of position, and therefore

He is called acyuta. Sri rAdhAkrshNa SAstri points out that He also

does not slip from His position by being influenced by kAma etc. unlike

Brahma, Indra etc.

 

In mahAbhArata we have

 

"yasmAt na cyuta pUrvo'ham acyutastena karmaNA" - SAnti parva

12.330.16.

 

Sri Sankara and Sri Bhattar have interpreted the above sruti slightly

differently. Sri Sankara's words are - svarUpasAmarthyAt na cyuto na

cyavate na cyavishyata iti acyutah - He has not lapsed, is not lapsing,

and will not lapse from His own glory; hence the name acyuta. Sri

Bhattar's interpretation fo the above Sruti lead to the second meaning,

which follows:

 

b) Sri Bhattar's vyAkhyAna for the above is "I have never abandoned (my

bhaktas). Because of this act of mine, I am known as acyuta". His

words are "tebyah prapannebhyah na apagatah acyutah - He is never away

from those who have sought refuge in Him". Sri tirukkaLLam

nrsimharAghavAchAryar in his bhagavadgItA bhAshya has given the

explanation na cyAvayati iti acyutah - One who does not let His devotees

slip - arjuna using this name here to call Lord krshNa who has taken it

upon Himself to be his charioteer and who will not let him slip.

 

c) cyutam means modification. The upanishad says of BhagavAn -

"(s)A(s)vatam (s)ivam acyutam" - Eternal, Auspicious, and Changeless" -

taittirIya AraNyakam - 10.11). Sri rAdhAkrshNa SAstri points out that

BhagavAn is acyuta because he does not slip from stage to stage in the

sequence of events such as birth, living, growth, change in appearance,

decay, and finally disappearance from the body.

 

102. vr*shAkapih - One who lifted the Earth from the waters of adharma

in the form of varAha.

 

In the mahAbhArata we have

 

"kapir varAhah SreshThaSca dharmaSca vr*sha ucyate |

tasmAd vr*shAkapim prAha kASyapO mAm prajApatih || (Santi parva

330.24)

 

"The word vr*sha means dharma, and the word kapi refers to boar (pA

means to protect and ka means water, and so kapi refers to varAha

incarnation where He protected the Earth from the waters). Sri

chinmayAnanda points out that the name derives from the fact that He

protected the Earth from the ocean of adharma in His varAha incarnation.

The meaning dharma for the word vr*sha is based on the ability of

dharma to shower all that is desired.

 

Sri chinmayAnanda points out that this is one of the nAmas on which

there is wide controversy between the different vyAkyAna kartAs;

however, in the few tests that I have referred to, this indication of

serious controversy is not evident. If any of you can elaborate on

other interpretations by our AchAryas and other vyAkhyAna kartAs, I will

be extremely grateful.

 

103. ameyAtmA - One whose Nature cannot be comprehended.

 

Ameya means unaccountable or incomprehensible. Sri ChinmayAnanda

indicates that the virAt purusha form of the Lord is suggested here.

His self or nature is such that it cannot be measured by any particular

standard and determined.

 

104. sarva yoga vinissr*tah - a) One who is beyond any attachment

b) One who is easily attained by all means by His devotees

 

The word yoga can mean union or it can mean the means. Depending on

which one of these is chosen, we get a different interpretation.

Vinissr*ta means gone forth or out, or escaped according to the Sanskrit

dictionary by Sir William-Monier.

 

Using the first meaning for yoga, we get the interpretation that He is

free from any and all of kind of bondage, and so He is sarva yoga

vinissr*ta. Using the second meaning, Sri Bhattar's interpretation is

that He is attainable easily by all means. His interpretation is -

yOgaih - upAyaih; vi - viSheshENa - vEda parama guhyairiva; nissr*tah -

prAptum yogyah, sugraha iti vA.

 

-dAsan krshNamAchAryan