SrI vishNu shasranAmam - slokam 21.

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SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - slokam 21.

 

marIcir_damano hamsah suparNo bhujagottamah |

hiraNya-nAbhah sutapAh padmanAbhah prajA-patih ||

 

Om marIcaye namah

Om damanAya namah

Om hamasAya namah

Om suparNAya namah

Om bhujagottamAya namah

Om hiraNya-nAbhAya namah

Om sutapase namah

Om padma-nAbhAya namah

Om prajA-pataye namah.

 

191. marIcih - Ray of light.

 

Om marIcaye namah.

 

The word marIci means a ray of light. SrI Bhattar interprets

this name as indicating that bhagavAn reveals Himself to His devotees

through the eye of their devotion even though they can't see Him through

their natural eye.

 

The author in dharma cakram indicates that this guNa of bhagavAn

should remind us that we should aim for the ray of light that will help

us meditate on Him. This we can achieve by first controlling our

indirya-s, which then converts the body's energies into mental energy.

Then by control of the mind, this energy is converted into the light

that gives the clarity of mind that can help us meditate on Him.

 

A different interpretation is given by SrI satyadevo vAsishTha

for this nAma. The word marIci is derived from mr* prANatyAge to die,

to perish. He interprets marIci as one who destroys. Since it is one

of bhagavAn's functions to destroy the beings that He creates, He is

marIci. To support this, he gives the examples from bhagavad-gItA -

jAtasya hi dhruvo mr*tyur-dhruvam janma mr*tasya ca (2.25); mr*tyuh

prajAnAm adhipatih (atharva 5.24.13), etc.

 

192. damanah - a) Dispeller (of the samsAra bhAram)

b) One who controls and punishes those who swerve from

their prescribed path.

 

Om damanAya namah

 

damayati iti damanah - One who dispels. Continuing his

interpretation of the previous nAma (One with great radiance), Sri

Bhattar interprets this nAma as indicating that He guides His devotees

overcome the sufferings of samsAra or the material world through His

guiding Light.

 

The word is derived from the dhAtu - dam upaSame to tame. SrI

Sankara interprets the nAma as the Subduer - one who controls and

punishes - of those that swerve from their assigned duties (damayitum

Silam yasya sa damanah). This could be in the form of a king while the

people are in their mortal bodies, as yama after they die, etc. SrI

chinamayAnanda explains that the damana aspect of bhagavAn is

responsible for controlling the rAkshasic impulses within every one of

us. In the form of pain and agitation, sorrow and death, it is He who

controls all the negative tendencies in everyone's heart.

 

The author in dharma cakram points out that when one does not

lead a life based on strict sAtvic principles, including the food

habits, etc., one gets diseases and other mental pains. These are all

acts of bhagavAn to discipline the person with the intent of helping the

person learn and realize the right path. This is His act of damana, or

controlling, punishing, guiding, etc.

 

In the form of the ten incarnations, He also has controlled the

irresistible tyrannies of the vicious against the good.

 

193. hamsah - One who is like the swan.

 

Om hamsAya namah.

 

Hamsa is capable of separating milk from water and drinking only

the milk and leaving the water behind. Hamsa is also noted for its

beauty, especially for its walk. BhagavAn is hamsa in that He is

everything that is good and nothing that is not good. He is also hamsa

for His beauty in thought, word, and deed.

 

We had made extensive reference to the hamsa incarnation of

bhagavAn in the explanation for the nAma surAnanda. Thus the current

nAma can also be viewed as a reference to the hamsa avatAra of bhagavAn.

 

Another interpretation, given by SrI Sankara, is that hamsah

indicates that bhagavAn kills (han) the fear of samsAra in those who

realize that aham sah - I am He. This (I am He) is traditionally quoted

in discussions supporting the advaita philosophy. In some of his

upanyAsa-s, SrI kr*shNa Premi describes the following upa-katha

involving a disciple who went alternately to an advaita and a

visishTAdvaita teacher, who taught him alternately their philosophy -

so'ham, dAso'ham, sadA so'ham, and dAsadAso'ham. Notice the play of

words here, adding dA to the first one, sa to the next one, and dA again

to the third word to get the fourth.

 

Yet another interpretation is hanti gacchati sarva SarIreshu iti

vA hamsah - He moves in all beings and bodies and so He is called hamsa.

 

194. suparNah - a) (literally) One possessed of charming feathers - see

below.

b) One who can lead men to the other shore across the

ocean of samsAra.

 

Om suparNAya namah.

 

a) In SrImad-bhAgavatam we have - siddheSvarANAm kapilah

suparNo'ham patatriNAm - Among the siddha-s, I am Kapila, and among

birds I am GaruDa (11.16.15). In Bhagavad-gItA, we have mr*gANAm ca

mr*gendro'ham vainateyaSca pakshiNAM - Among beasts, I am the lion,

their king, and among birds, I am GaruDa, the son of VinatA (10.29).

Thus, suparNa is interpreted as referring to His being the Best of the

best in all that exist.

 

b) parNa means wings. Sobhana parNatvAt suparNah - suparNa

means One with auspicious and beautiful wings. He is suparNa because He

carries His devotees to the other shore of the ocean of samsAra.

 

c) In the upanishad-s, we have reference to two beautiful birds

sitting on the same tree - signifying the jIvAtmA and the ParamAtmA

dwelling in the same body. One (jIvAtmA) eats the fruits of actions,

and the other (ParamAtMA) just gazes on (sAkshI). VishNu is this

all-experiencing Principle of Consciouness. "dvA suparNA sayujA sakhAyA

samAnam vr*ksham parishvajAte tayoranyah pippalam svAdvanti, anaSnan

anyo abhicAkaSIti (mundakopanishad - 3.1) - A pair of white-winged birds

extremely friendly to each other sit on one and the same tree; one eats

the fruits, the other eats not and gazes on". SrI rAdhAkr*shNa Sastri

refers to one as the great enjoyer (pErinbam), and the other as the

Great Knower (pEraRivu).

 

d) The nAma can also relate back to the previous nAma - The

hamsa incarnation with beautiful wings.

 

195. bhujagottamah - The Master of the Serpent AdiSesha.

 

Om bhujagottamAya namah.

 

bhujaga refers to the species which navigate using their

shoulders or arms - bhujena gacchanti, rather than through their legs.

Here bhujaga refers to AdiSesha. uttama can refer to 'one who is

above'. Here it refers to bhagavAn who is reclining on top of the

AdiSesha. He is the SeshI or the Lord of the Sesha. He is reclining on

ananta the Serpent as the couch.

 

 

Or the name could also refer to bhujagAnAm uttamah - One who is

the best among the serpents. I.e., it can refer to ananta - see

bhagavad-gItA 10-29 - anantaScAsmi nAgAnAm.

 

Even though I am finding the interpretations of SrI satyadevo

vAsishTha to be on the side of being unconventional, I am including them

since he supports his interpretations with extensive support from

grammar, quotes from sruti-s etc. Here he starts with the dhAtu bhuj

kautilye to bend, to curve. He points out that bhagavAn is bhujagottama

because He is the best of all that bend and move. This includes air,

birds, etc. Wherever anything of this category can reach, no matter how

fast they fly or move, bhagavAn is there before them. Even the man-made

machines that fly cannot go anywhere including other planets faster than

Him, since He is there before them. Not only that, even the ability for

those that fly etc. are given only by the Grace of the Lord.

 

196. hiraNya-nAbhah - One who supports in His navel the creator,

hiraNyagarbha.

 

Om hiraNya-nAbhAya namah.

 

Literally the word means "One who has a beautiful navel with a

golden hue". Here it refers to the navel that is great by having

created the catur-mukha-brahmA who is also well-versed in the

catur-veda-s. brahmA gets his greatness because he creates all the

beings thus giving them the opportunity to reveal their greatness. This

great brahmA was borne out of the navel of vishNu, and thus the

greatness of the navel that bore the great brahmA is evident. Just as a

nation that creates great people becomes known as a great nation, so is

the analogy here, to quote the dharma cakram writer.

 

197. sutapAh - a) One who is possessed of supreme knowledge.

b) One with consistent creative thinking.

 

Om sutapAse namah.

 

SrI Bhattar interprets tapas as knowledge, and gives the first

interpretation above.

 

SrI Sankara uses the following from mahAbhArata -

mansaScendriyANAm ca hyaikAgr*yam paramam tapah - The concentration of

mind and senses is called supreme tapas - (MB 12.242.4). SrI

chinmayAnanda gives the following support from the upanishad - sa tapah

taptvA idametadasr*jat (He thought, and through thought He created all

this).

 

The author in dharma cakram points out that the strength derived

from tapas is more powerful than any other strength, and gives the

example of how viSvAmitra's army was powerless against vasishTha's

tapo-Sakti. It was through tapas that viSvAmitra ultimately attained

brahma-j~nAna, and it was through tapas that dhruva attained the

immortal position. Lord vishNu is tapas-Incarnate (sutapAh), and thus

guides His devotees in the path of tapas.

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha interprets tap to mean the ability to

bear (kleS kA sahnA in Hindi). The example of a mother bearing the

strain of an unborn child for 9 months just so she can bring out the

child to this world is but a reflection of bhagavAn's su-tapa or His

bearing the tejas of the likes of Sun so that it can bring out the good

for the beings of this world, without burning them with its heat etc.

So bhagavAn is the mahA-tapasvI.

 

198. padma_nAbhah - a) One who has the lotus emanating from his navel

(carrying brahma)

b) One who resides in the center of everyone's heart

 

Om padma nAbhAya namah.

 

This nAma had occurred earlier as nAma 48. There the

interpretation was that the lotus (the cause of the Universe) emanates

from His navel. Another explanation given by SrI Sankara for the

current nAma is that bhagavAn is in the centre of everyone's hr*daya

kamalam or heart (nAbhI means also the central part, and padmam in this

context is heart).

 

The author in dharma cakram enjoys this nAma in various other

ways. When lotus (padmam) blossoms, it attracts the bees and other

insects towards it; so also, bhagavAn (padma-nAbhI) attracts all the

jeevans to Him. Lotus is the most beautiful and fragrant of flowers;

so also our padma-nAbha is the embodiment of beauty. Lord rAmA's beauty

has been described by Sri Kamban - tAL kandAr tALE kandAr. Unlike the

bodily beauty which brings down people to a lower level, the beauty of

padma-nAbha can only elevate people to a higher level.

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives additional insight into this nAma

from yet another perspective. Padmam also means knowledge - padyate

j~nAyate anena padmam j~nAnam. One who is the Center or reservoir of

Knowledge, or One who controls and rules over Knowledge is padmanAbha

(the author uses the term j~nAna-bandhanah as the equivalent of

padma-nAbha based on this explanation).

 

199. prajApatih - The Lord of beings.

 

Om prajApataye namah.

 

tat padmodbhava-prabhr*tInAm prajAnAm patih - The Lord of all

beings including brahma bron of that lotus. This pertains to the

creation and destruction that take place periodically. Pati also means

father, and since all creatures have emerged from Him, He is prajApati.

He is the Leader who appears whenever needed to establish dharma.

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan