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SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 37.

 

aSokas-tAraNah tArah SUrah Saurir_janeSvarah |

anukUlah SatAvartah padmI padma-nibhekshaNah ||

 

om aSokAya namah

om tAraNAya namah

om tArAya namah

om SUrAya namah

om Sauraye namah

om janeSvarAya namah

om anukUlAya namah

om SatAvartAya namah

om padmine namah

om padma-nibhekshaNAya namah

 

The previous nAma, purandarah, and the following three nAma-s, aSoka,

tAraNa, and tAra, are interpreted in terms of bhagavAn's guNa of removing

the fears of different kinds in us. Different vyAkhyAna-kartA-s have

associated the different types of fears with the different nAma-s, but the

underlying idea is that His dayA is helping to remove these fears from us.

SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri sums this up nicely - "Especially when we have

difficulties of any kind, chanting the sequence of nAmas

"aSokas-tAraNas-tArah" will help us overcome these difficulties". SrI

BhaTTar has referred to these fears in terms of AdyAtmika, Adi-bhautika, and

Adi-daivika. Adi-daivika is the class of fears that can arise from the

asura-s etc. The Adi-bhautika group is the category of fears that can

arises from enemies, animals such as tiger, lion, serpent, etc. The

AdyAtmika refers to the fears such as sorrow, delusion, hunger, etc.

There is also the major fear, that of the cycle of birth and death, that of

samsAra.

 

One may wonder how bhagavAn helps in removing the fears of these kinds, when

we know most of us have the fear anyway. The dharma cakram writer gives a

very good explanation. Fear arises when we associate our life with our

body. When we realize the true nature of our soul, then we know there is

nothing to fear, because the soul is neither created nor destroyed. When

one meditates on mahA vishNu, one realizes this true nature of AtmA, and

then he is relieved of all fears. This is how bhagavAn helps in removing

the fears described below.

 

With this brief introduction, let us look at the individual nAma-s.

 

338 a-Sokah - The dispeller of sorrows.

 

om a-SokAya namah

 

SrI Sankara and SrI BhaTTar give differing but equally enlightening

vyAkhyAna-s for this. SrI BhaTTar points out that bhagavAn has this nAma

because He is the dispeller of the troubles such as sorrow, delusion,

hunger, etc. SrI Sankara gives the interpretation that bhagavAn is devoid

of defects such as sorrow, delusion, hunger, etc., and so He has this nAma.

 

In SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAna. this nAma is associated with His removing the

sorrows of the adhyAtmika kind. The next nAma will be interpreted in terms

of Adi-bhautika. nAma 336, purandarah, which was covered last week, covered

the category of sorrows designated as Adi-daivika. Thus, the sequence of

nAma-s purandarah, aSokah, tAraNah, and tArah, are interpreted as His guNa

of protecting us from all the different kinds of fears.

 

339. tAraNah - He who takes others to the other shore (a boat).

 

om tAraNAya namah.

 

tArayati iti tArah - One who helps in crossing. The interpretation that

SrI BhaTTar gives, continuing on the vyAkhyAna he gave for purandara and

aSoka, is that this name refers to His assisting us in overcoming the fears

grouped as Adi-bhautika. SrI BhaTTar reserves the explanation that He helps

in crossing the ocean of samsAra for the next nAma, tAra, whereas SrI

Sankara associates the current nAma with this guNa of bhagavAn.

 

SrI cinmayAnanda seems to make a subtle suggestion that tAraNa refers to

bhagavAn "helping" others crossing the ocean of samsAra, whereas the next

nAma "tAra" refers to His saving others Himself. I wonder if the difference

is one of throwing a stick to someone who is drowning but trying to swim,

vs. pulling out the drowning person when he has given up swimming. This is

the kind of distinction that is made sometimes between how the person who is

persuing the bhakti mArga for attaining moksha is helped by bhagavAn vs. one

who is following the prapatti mArga.

 

340. tArah - The Savior.

 

om tArAya namah.

 

SrI BhaTTar's interpretation is that He is tArah because He makes His

devotees cross over the ocean of samsAra. The following quote from

atharva-Siras (4) - "garbha-janma-jarA-maraNa- samsAra sAgara mahA bhayAt

tArayati tasmAt ucyate tArah" - One who takes His devotee across the great

fear of the ocean of samsAra consisting of garbha-vAsa or conception, birth,

aging, and death.

 

341. SUrah - The Valiant.

 

om SUrAya namah.

 

This nAma is derived from the root "Su" to go, and signifies the urge for

victory. Perhaps to emphasize the "go" aspect of this nAma, SrI

v.v.rAmAnujan gives examples from divya prabandham which illustrate the

"go-get" nature of His victories. "SenRu a~ngu ten ila~ngai SeRRAn" -

tiruppAvai; "SenRu a~ngu vANanai Ayiram tOzhim tenRit tiSai tiSai vIzhac

cheRRAi" - periYAzhvAr tirumozhi 5.3.4 (Note the choice of the word "SenRu"

in both examples).

 

The dharma cakram writer illustrates the significance of this nAma for our

day-to-day life. He points out that whenever there is battle between the

deva-s and asura-s, the asura-s invariable win first, and then the deva-s

seek the help of mahA vishNu who then helps them defeat the evil asura-s.

Our life is a replay of this scenario, with the constant battle between the

bad qualities in us and the good in us. Invariably, the bad will win out

unless we seek the help of mahA vishNu by chanting His nAma. This is what

we should learn from this nAma.

 

342. Saurih - a) The son of valiant people like vasudeva, dasaratha, etc.

b) The grandson of SUra, the name of vasudeva's father.

c) The descendant of the group of people called SUra-s in the yAdava

race.

 

om Sauraye namah.

 

The above different interpretations are found for this nAma based on the

different vyAkhyAna-s. The first is from SrI parAsara BhaTTar and others

writers who base their vyAkhyAa-s on SrI BhaTTar. The second is from SrI

Sankara. The third is from SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri. In support of the

first interpretation, SrI v.v.rAmAnujan points out the valor of nandagopan -

ODAda tOL valian nadagOpan kumaran, the valor of dasaratha - dayaraRkku

maganAit tOnRi - born as the son of the valiant dasaratha, etc.

 

SrI Sankara's interpretation is that bhagavAn in His incarnation as kr*shNa

was born as the son of vasudeva, whose father's name was SUra. SUrasya

gotrApatyam pumAn Saurih or SUra kulodbhavAt Saurih. SrI rAdhAkr*shNa

SAstri points out that among the yAdava-s, there was a group who were called

the SUra-s. Since vasudeva was from this group, kr*shNa is Saurih.

 

343. janeSvarah - The Lord of the people.

 

om janeSvarAya namah.

 

janAnAm jantUnAm ISvarah janeSvarah - The Lord of all things that are born

or created. The dharma cakram writer points out that bhagavAn is the Leader

of everything by guiding them always as appropriate. When there is

suffering, those that meditate on Him benefit by those sufferings by

reaching higher levels, and those that don't benefit fall to lower levels

till they reach a point when they feel they need to seek Him. At this point

He guides them appropriately to the higher levels. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha

gives the interpretation that He is janeSvarah because He gives aiSvarya or

wealth to people.

 

344. anukUlah - One who is within bounds.

 

om anukUlAya namah.

 

kUlam means shore. kUlam anuvartate iti anukUlah - One who is constrained

by the limits. Lord rAma had great valor, but was not was conscious and

wonder-struck about that - "vIryavAn na ca vIeyeNa mahatA svena vismitah".

SrI P.B. aNNa~ngarAcArya svAmi explains that in spite of His enormous and

unbounded greatness, He is easily accessible to those who seek Him. He is

bound by bhakti, and this is His AnukUlya svabhAva or ability to be within

bounds. SrI v.v.rAmAnujan points out the incident of His being bound by

yaSodA - being within the bounds of what a child is supposed to be -

kaNNInUN SiruttAmbinAl kattuNNap paNNiya peru mAyan. Aycci kaNNIk

kayiRRinAl kaTTat tAn kaTTuNDirundAn - mUnRAm tiruvantAdi - 91. Without

knowing His identity, YasodA challenges Him - Make yourself free if you can!

- "yadi Saknoshi gaccha tvam ati ca~ncala ceshTita!" - and He just remains

tied, because He is anukUlah.

 

SrI cinmayAnanda gives the interpretation that He is anukUlah because He

always goes along with whatever anyone does. Thus a murderer commits his

murder, and another helps humanity, and bhagavAn just is the Observer in

both cases. He keeps Himself within His bounds. SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri

gives the meaning that anukUla means going towards the shore, based on kUla

= shore. bhagavAn is anukUla because He helps His devotees go towards the

shore when they try to cross the ocean of samsAra.

 

The dharma cakram writer points out that bhagavAn is always acting His role

as an anukUlah to everyone (including the murderer in the above para) by

being the internal conscience of everyone and telling them what is right.

The inner conscience is always pointing to what is right and what is wrong.

Those who obey their inner conscience do not do anything that will be

negative to their path of progress towards Him, and those who disobey their

inner conscience deteriorate and move away from Him. But He does His job of

being the anukUlah in everyone's case all the time by being their inner

conscience.

 

345. SatAvartah - a) He who has several incarnations to sustain dharma

b) He whose wealth is bubbling but not overflowing (like vortices)

c) He who maintains and manages several cycles - the cycle of

samsAra for all the beings, the cakra-s of graha-s, nakshatra-s etc.

 

om SatAvartAya namah.

 

Sata means hundred. Here it means innumerable. For the protection of

dharma in the world, He takes infinite varieties of forms or incarnations,

and so He is called SatAvarta (SrI Sankara). Recall "dharama

samsthApanArthAya sambhavAmi yuge yuge". Another interpretation, also by

SrI Sankara, is that it refers to the 100 nADi's or vessels that proceed

from the heart and maintain prANa or life in the body - nADI-Sate prANa

rUpeNa vartata iti vA.

 

dharma cakram: There are several examples which illustrate His guNa of

SatAvarta. He appears in the form of the sun everyday in order to sustain

life in this world. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the reference to atharva

veda - sUryasya Avr*tam anvAvarte - 10.5.37. His repeated incarnations in

human form to protect dharma in this world is another example. His

protection of pAnDava-s and draupadi repeatedly when they were in distress

is another example. He protected draupadi from duryodhana's evil act of

stripping her in public, from durvAsa's curse when he tested her by

appearing in her house and asking for food after she had cleaned the akshaya

pAtra, etc. He protected prahlAda from all cruelties meted out to him by

hiraNyakaSipu. He did many wonders by protecting the yAdava people in His

incarnations as kr*shNa.

 

Avarta also means vortex. Since His riches (aiSvarya) are so enormous that

they keep expressing themselves without overflowing like hundreds of

whirlpools, He is called SatAvarta (SrI BhaTTar). In spite of this, He is

easily accessible to His devotees. This corroborates the Mantra of the

para-aspect of the Lord - SAntodita vij~nAna prANAya - Unto Him of tranquil

and ever-growing knowledge and life.

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the meaning "many" for Sata, and cycle (cakra)

for Avarta, and gives the explanation that bhagavAn has this nAma because He

rotates or cycles the lives through cycles of samsAra. Another way to look

at this nAma is that He controls different kinds of cycles - nakshatra

cakra, rASi cakra, graha cakra, etc.

 

The aspects of para-vAsudeva with reference to His qualities have been

described so far (from the 334th nAma - vAsudeva). Now begins the rUpa or

form of para-vAsudeva in SrI BhaTTar's interpretation.

 

346. padmI - He who carries the lotus in His hand.

 

padmam is what He carries in one of His four hands (Sankha, cakra, and gadA

are in the other three hands). The lotus signifies the sAttvic qualities of

bhagavAn viz. dharma, j~nAna, vairAgya, and aiSvarya (SrI rAdhAkr*shNa

SAstri). He refers us to SrImad bhAgavatam - itareNa dhunAnam abjam - with

the other hand He is playing with the lotus (10.23.22). The padmam is

suggestive of His always being ready to welcome anyone who comes to Him.

 

SrI cinmayAnanda points out that bhagavAn first blows His conch and invites

us to offer His "knowledge" - signified by His padma, and if they don't

listen to this, He uses His gadA to give a gentle knock, and if this does

not yield results, then there is the cakra, which annihilates the evil and

restores order again. One is reminded of sAma, dAna, bheda, and danDa.

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the meaning "knowledge" for the word padma, and

suggests that one who gives True Knowledge or one who has True Knowledge is

padmI.

 

347 - padma-nibhekshaNah - One who has eyes which resemble the lotus.

 

om padama-nibhkshaNAya namah.

 

This nAma describes the cool, benevolent, kind, inviting, consoling,

appearance of His eyes, which look like the lotus flowers. SrI

v.v.rAmAnujan provides references from prabandham - "un mugam maiyyal ERRi

mayakkum mAya mandiram tAn kolO? ceyya tAmaraik kaNNinAi" - nAcciAr

tirumozhi 2-4; "uvagaiyAl ne~njam uLLurugi un tAmaraik kaN vizhigaLin aga

valaip paDuppAn" - tiruvAi mozhi 6.2.7.

 

SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri points out that the sequence of nAma-s anukUlah

SatAvartah padmI padma-nibhekshaNah all refer to the quality of bhagavAn's

helping nature when one seeks His help.

 

The dharma cakram writer reminds of the saying "The face is the index of the

mind". In this case, bhagavAn's lotus-eyes are conveying to us His Inner

Nature. The equivalent of this nAma in tamizh is "tAmaraik kaNNan".

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks.

Narasimhan Krishnamachari (Krish)

3-7193

IH 6H-413