SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - sloka 17.

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SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - sloka 17.

 

17. upendro vAmanah praAmsuh amoghah SucirUrjitah |

atIndrah samgrahah sargo dhr*tAtmA niyamo yamah ||

 

Om upendrAya namah

Om vAmanAya namah

Om prAmSave namah

Om amoghAya namah

Om Sucaye namah

Om UrjotAya namah

Om atIndrAya namah

Om sa~ngrahAya namah

Om sargAya namah

Om dhr*tAtmane namah

Om niyamAya namah

Om yamAya namah

 

153. upendrah - a) One who appeared as the younger brother of indra to

help him.

b) One who is superiror to indra.

 

Om upendrAya namah.

 

a) upagatah indram - One who assisted indra. SrI rAdhAkr*shNa Sastri

gives the following instance in this context. PrahlAda's grandson Bali

defeated Indra by doing penances according to SukrAcArya's advice.

Indra's mother aditi prayed to God to get Indra's position back. Since

Bali had attained Indra's position through penance etc., there was no

way of getting back the position easily. So bhagavAn appeared as the

younger brother of indra by being born as the son of aditi, and

restoring the position of indra by asking for three feet of land from

Bali in his yAga Sala.

 

b) indrasya upari indrah - One who is superior to indra. upa also means

above or superior. Sri rAdhAkr*shNa Sastri gives the example of Lord

Kr*shNa subduing indra's self-assumed superiority complex in gokulam

when indra tried to flood and destroy the place for not offering prayers

to him.

 

154. vAmanah - One with the Dwarf form.

 

Om vAmanAya namah.

 

vAmayati tyAjayati madam balim - One who expelled the pride out

of Bali. Vam literally means to vomit out, and vAm could mean one who

made Bali literally vomit out his pride. LingAyatasurin gives the

interpretation vAmo valgutvam asya asti iti vAmanah - One who has a very

charming short form. Or it can be also be interpreted as vAmo vatutvam

asya asti iti vAmanah - One who has a short form of a gurukula student,

which is how mahAvishNu appeared in front of Bali to ask for the three

feet of earth from him. The rupa soundaryam (valgutvam) of the vAmana

incarnation is beautifully described in Srimad bhAgavatam - e.g.,

yajamAnah pramudito darSanIyam manoramam| rUpAnurUpAvayavam tasmA

Asanam Aharat|| - Bali, the yajamAna of the yAgaSala, saw the beautiful

appearance of the brahmachAri in the dwarf form and offered the seat to

him with a completely captivated heart (BhAgavatam 8-18-26).

 

Another interpretation - sarvANi vAmAni nayati iti vAmanah -

One who bestows all the desires of the devotees, or He produces joy in

those who see Him, by His effulgence. In chAndogyopanishad we have

"esha u eva vAmanIh esha hi sarvANi vAmAni nayati (chAndogyopanishad

4.25).

 

155. prAmSuh - The Tall.

 

Om prAmSave namah.

 

prASnute prakarsheNa Urdhvam iti prAmSuh -

 

In the vAmana incarnation, bhagavAn very quickly grew from His

dwarf form into a form which covered the three worlds under His two

feet. As soon as Bali poured the water to accompany his gift of three

feet of land into the dwarf hands, the dwarf was no longer a dwarf. The

Lord manifested His universal form; the earth was His feet, the sky His

head, and the sun and the moon His eyes. The vyAkhyAna kartA-s give

the reference, from HarivamSa, to the beauty of His growth from the

dwarf form, in relation to fixed objects, the Sun and the Moon. First,

He assumed the tall form where the Sun and the Moon were His two eyes.

Then as He measured the earth, they were at the level of His bosom. As

He measured the space, the Sun was at the level of His navel, and as He

lifted His feet to measure the Heaven, the Sun and Moon were just below

His knees.

 

"tasya vikramato bhUmim candrAdityau stanAntare |

nabhah prakramANasya nAbhideSe vyavasthithau ||

(HarivamSa 31.89)

 

156. amoghah - One whose acts are never purposeless.

 

Om amoghAya namah.

 

na mogham ceshTitam yasya sah amoghah. When bhagavAn asked for

three feet of earth from bali, it helped indra; when Bali could not

give the third foot of earth, it helped subdue Bali and make him a great

devotee on the spot; subduing Bali led to Bali getting the status equal

to indra in a trice, and led to all the gods partaking in the offerings

made in the sacrifice. Thus every act of His has a purpose.

 

157. Sucih - Pure.

 

Om Sucaye namah.

 

Sucyata iti Sucih - One who purifies is Sucih. BhagavAn is Pure

because He is the ParamAtmA who is uncontaminated by actions and their

effects. He is Sucih because One who contemplates on Him becomes pure,

and thus association with Him makes one pure. Whatever He does is

uncontaminated by anything other than dharma, and so His purity never

diminishes. When He helped indra by subduing Bali, one could say He was

biased towards the deva-s; not so, since He made Himself the door-keeper

of Bali and thus Bali benefited several-fold more than indra did in the

process. He is pavitrANAm pavitram, or purer than the purest. The

several references from sruti attest to His purity - Suddham apApa

viddham - ISAvasya - 8); asparSaSca mahAn Sucih etc.

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha takes this interpretation one step further by

pointing out that everything bhagavAn does is resplendent with the

beauty that speaks of His purity. All one has to do to realize this is

to look at the beauty of His creations such as the flowers, the leaves,

the waters of the rivers, etc. So He is all around us displaying His

innate quality of purity constantly. He points out that thus guNa of

bhagavAn should constantly remind His devotees to be always pure in

their actions, words, and deeds as a means to attain Him.

 

158. Urjitah - One who is endowed with immense strength.

 

Om UrjitAya namah.

 

UrjA means balam or strength. This is one of the shadguNa-s of

bhagavAn (~jnAna, bala, etc.). This strength is displayed whenever He

has had to take care of the evil demons. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha points

out that He is Urjita not only because of His immense strength, but also

because whatever strength each being in His creation has, is because He

is the source. He gives the following vedic quotes to substantiate

this interpretation -

 

UrjA detAm avasyojasA tvAm pibA somamadAya kam Satakrato (r*g

8.36.3)

UrjA pinvasva samishodidehi na (r*g 3.3.7)

UrgasyAngirasyUrNamradA Urjam mayi dehi (yajur 4.15)

balamasi balam mayi dehi (yajur 19.9)

Urjo balam sa ojo ma Agan (atharva 18.4.53)

Ojo'si saho'si balamasi bhrAjo'si

 

As is evident, through many of mantra-s, the devotee is asking for balam

from bhagavAn i.e, He is the source of balam or strength in all His

creations.

 

159. atIndrah - One who is superior to indra.

 

Om atIndrAya namah.

 

We saw how He surpasses indra by His lordship and glorious acts.

Indra is the king of gods, and bhagavAn exceeds him in wisdom,

greatness, etc. SrI chinmayAnanda points out that in vedAnta indra

stands for mind-intellect, and the paramAtmA or the Pure Self is

superior to mind since it transcends the mind.

 

160. samgrahah - a) He who is easily reached.

b) He who has everyone under His control.

 

Om samgrahAya namah.

 

The meaning given in the dictionary by Sir William-Monier is

"holding together", "drawing togther", etc.

 

a) SrI Bhattar gives the interpretation "atha bhaktaih ayatnena

samgr*hayata iti samgrahah" - One who is reached by His devotees without

any effort (other than pure devotion).

 

b) SrI Sankara gives the interpretation "sarveshAm samhr*tau

pratisamhArAt samgrahah" - One who withdraws everything into Him during

pralaya.

 

c) SrI chinmayAnanda gives the interpretation that bhagavAn is samgraha

because he holds the entire world of beings and things together. SrI

satya vAsishTha looks at the nAma as sama + graha, or holding everything

together in one form, viz. by being the Atma in everything.

 

161. sargah - The creator of Himself.

 

Om sargAya namah.

 

sr*jati iti sargah - One who creates. The word sarga is derived

from the root sr*j - to create. He is sarga since He created the whole

world out of Himself. Sarga refers to primary creation as opposed to

pralaya or dissolution, and sthiti or maintenance.

 

162. dhr*tAtmA - The supporter of all the jivAtmA-s.

 

Om dhr*tAtmane namah.

 

dhr*tah AtmA yena sah dhr*tAtmA - One who supports all the

jIvAtmA-s, or One who supports (conducts) Himself uninfluenced by any

change (birth, death, likes, dislikes, etc.).

 

163. niyamah - The Controller.

 

Om niyamAya namah.

 

niyamayati iti niyamah - One who assigns and directs the

different functions to the different beings. The root yam has two

meanings: yam uparame - to check, and yam pariveshaNe - to surround.

One who is the Creator of all beings is also naturally the Controller of

all those beings. It is He who orders all the mighty forces of nature

and prescribes for each the laws of their conduct, the ways of their

behavior and the methods of their functions. The Sun, Moon, Air,

Waters, Death, etc., are all appointed and controlled by the Lord.

 

164. yamah - The Ruler.

 

Om yamAya namah.

 

yacchati iti yamah or yamayati iti yamah - One who rules. He

rules all our selves from within. He also rules all the beings of the

earth from within the sphere of the Sun. We have the passage from

br*hadAraNya upanishad - yah sarvANi bhUtAni antaro yamayati (3.7.15).

Other passages from the sruti-s are "yah pr*thivIm antaro yamayati - He

who rules the earth from within" - Br*hadAraNya 3.7.3, yah AtmAnam

antaro yamayati - He who rules the self from within", etc.

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAchAryan