SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 36.

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SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 36.

 

skandah skanda-dharo dhuryo varado vAyu-vAhanah |

vAsu-devo br*had-bhAnuh Adi-devah purandarah ||

 

om skandAya namah

om skanda-dharAya namah

om dhuryAya namah

om varadAya namah

om vAyu-vAhanAya namah

om vAsudevAya namah

om br*had-bhAnave namah

om Adi-devAya namah

om purandarAya namah

 

329. skandha - He who dries up (destroys).

 

om skandAya namah.

 

skandayati Soshayati iti skandah - One who destroys the asura-s and other

evil-doers (SrI BhaTTar). skanda also can mean One who melts like butter

when it comes to helping His devotees, or flows like nectar in the thoughts

of His bhakta-s - skandati iti skandah (This is one interpretation that SrI

Sankara gives). SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri gives reference to gItA - senAnInAm

aham skandah (gItA 10.24) - I am skanda among the chiefs of armies. Here

skanda refers to subrahmaNya, who is considered the chief among the chiefs

of armies.

 

330. skanda-dharah - The Supporter of skanda.

 

om skanda-dharAya namah.

 

(SrI BhaTTar) - BhagavAn is the supporter of skanda, the commander-in-chief

of the army of gods. The above quote from gItA thus states that skanda is a

part of bhagavAn's vibhUti or glory.

 

SrI Sankara's interpretation for the term skanda is "righteous path - dharma

patham", and so the vyAkhyAna he gives is that bhgavAn is the upholder of

the path of dharma.

 

331. dhuryah - The Supporter.

 

om dhuryAya namah.

 

One of the meanings for the word 'dhur' is load. He bore the weight of the

mandara mountain in His kUrma incarnation, and so He is the Supporter. He

is also the Supporter of the Universe - bhuvana-bhr*te. SrI satyadevo

vAsisshTha gives an alternate meaning also for the word "dhur" - the front

part of an object, and interprets the nAma to mean that bhagavAn is the

mArga-darSi or one who shows the path for everyone.

 

332. vara-dah - The Grantor of boons.

 

om varadAya namah.

 

varAh abhIpsitah arthah, tam dadAti iti vara-dah. varam also means "the

best", and so One who gives the best to those devotees who pray to Him with

detachment is vara-da. The dharma cakram writer reminds us that the best

for us is "nalam tarum Sollai nAn kaNDu konDEn nArAyaNA ennum nAmam" per

tirumangai AzhvAr. Needless to say what one gets by chanting the nAma of

nArAyaNa - "kulam tarum Selvan tandiDum aDiyAr paDu tuyar Ayina ellAm nilam

taram Seyyum.... peRRa tAyinum Ayina Seyyum".

 

333. vAyu-vAhanah - He who has vAyu as His vehicle.

 

om vAyu-vAhanAya namah.

 

BhagavAn rides on and drives vAyu, the life-breath of the world. In

tiruvezhukkURRirukkai, we have - mEdagum aim-perum bhUtamum nIyE - He

controls the pa~nca bhUta-s such as air etc.

 

The dharma cakram writer points out that while air is very important for us

to live, this nAma should remind us that mahA vishNu who makes the air move

is just as important to us, and thus we should learn to meditate on Him.

 

SrI Sankara gives the vyAkhyAna that bhagavAn controls the atmosphere in the

seven regions of space. SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri describes in detail about

these seven regions which are controlled by seven different sons of kaSyapa

and diti, because of the powers given to them by bhagavAn. They are called

the sapta-maruta-s. Six of these regions are listed by many of the authors.

These regions are: the space between earth and the clouds, that between the

clouds and the sun, that between the sun and the moon, the moon and the

stars, the stars and the planets, and the planets and the sapta-r*shi

manDala. It is said that it is because of the pressure exerted by these

regions of air that the various stellar objects keep from colliding with

each other.

 

The next 12 nAma-s are interpreted by SrI BhaTTar as referring to adhyAtma

vAsudeva or para vAsudeva form of bhagavAn. Prof. A. SrInivAsa rAghavan

notes that coincidentally, the vAsudeva mantra also has 12 akshara-s in it.

 

 

334. vAsu-devah - He who pervades and sports.

 

om Vasu-devAya namah.

 

This nAma occurs again as nAma 701. The name indicates that bhagavAn is

vAsu and He is deva. vAsu is derived from vas - to reside and to envelope.

sarvam vasati - everything lives in Him, and sarvatra vasati - He lives

everywhere. He is vAsu since He lives in the world making it live within

Himself like a mother and also protects it by covering it like a bird that

protects its young ones with its out-spread wings. He is deva because He

plays, wishes to conquer, and shines. He also protects the beings as

described above (vAsu) as a leelaa, and so He is vAsu-deva. The word deva

is derived from div - krIDAyAm - to play. So all His acts are leelaa-s.

 

The following quotes are given by SrI Sankara and SrI BhaTTar to support the

interpretation:

 

"chAdayAmi jagad-viSvam bhUtyA sUrya ivAmSubhih |

sarva-bhUtAdhi-vAsaSca vAsu-devah tatah smr*tah ||

-moksh dharma 12-328-36)

 

"Like the sun with his rays, I am covering the whole universe, and

also I am residing in all beings; hence I am called vAsudeva".

 

"vasanAt sarva-bhUtAnAm vasutvAt deva-yonitah |

vAsudevastato j~neyah yogibhis_tattva darSibhih || (udyoga

69-3)

 

"I am the abode of all beings, and with a divine form I live in all

of them. Therefore I am known as vAsudeva by the yogi-s who have realized

the truth".

 

"sarvatrAsau samastam ca vasatyatreti vai yatah |

tatah sa vAsudeveti vidvadbhih paripaThyate || (vishNu

purANam 1.2.12)

 

"Learned men declare that bhagavAn is called vAsudeva because He

abides in all things, and al things abide in Him".

 

"sarvANi tatra bhUtAni vasanti paramAtmani |

bhUteshu ca sa sarvAtmA vAsudevastatah smr*tah || (vishNu purA.

6.5.80)

 

"All beings remain in the paramAtman, and He is in all beings; hence

the omnipresent is called vAsudeva".

 

SrI v.v.rAmAnujan points out that bhagavAn got this name also by His

incarnation as the son of vasudeva. The dharma cakram writer brings out

the subtle point that bhagavAn is in everything and everywhere, and yet

successfully conceals Himself from all except His devotees. He

successfully conceals Himself while being present in everything as the

antaryAmi, controlling the air, the sun, the planets, etc., having

svayam-prakASa, etc.

 

SrI BhaTTar points out that like the nAma nArAyaNa, this nAma is also a

rahasyam whose meaning should be learnt from an AcArya, and so is not

discussed in further detail.

 

335. br*had-bhAnuh - He of profuse luster.

 

om br*had-bhAnave namah.

 

br*hat means huge, very large. bhAnu means rays. SrI Sankara gives the

following reference:

 

"br*hanto bhAnavo yasya candra sUryAtigAminah |

tair-viSvam bhAsayati yah sa br*had-bhAnurucyate || (udyoga

70.4)

 

"He, whose great rays surpass the sun, moon, and others, and He who

illuminates the universe through them, is called br*had-bhAnuh".

 

SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri gives the support from muNDakopanishad - na tatra

sUryo bhAti na candra tArakam nemA vidyuto bhAnti kuto'yamagnih | tameva

bhAntam anubhAti sarvam tasya bhAsA sarvamidam vibhAti (2.2.10). The sun

and moon get their luster from Him.

 

The dharma cakram writer points out that while the sun gives light to the

external world, BhagavAn gives light to the Sun as well as the light needed

for us to realize our internal self.

 

336. Adi-devah - The First Deity.

 

om Adi-devAya namah.

 

That He sports with the worlds as He pleases is indicated by the nAma

Adi-devah. As was seen earlier in "vAsu-devah", the term deva refers to His

leelA or sport in creation, protection, and destruction of all the beings.

He plays with the act of creation etc. just like a child playing on the

seashore by building and smashing sand-castles (SrI v.v.rAmAnujan). "akhila

bhuvana janma sthema bhangAdi leele" - It is His sport to go through this

cycle of creation, protection and destruction.

 

SrI Sankara's vyAkhyAnam is "Adih kAraNam" - The First Cause.

 

SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri gives the definition from niruktam - "devo dAnAdva

dIpanAdvA dyotanAdvA dyusthAno bhavati (7.25) - deva is one who gives in

plenty, one who shines and makes others shine, and one who dwells in space".

BhagavAn is Adi-deva in this sense.

 

337. purandarah - The destroyer of cities (of asura-s etc.).

 

om purandarAya namah.

 

puram dArayati iti purandarah. In tripura samhAram by Siva, bhagavAn became

the arrow for Siva, and in addition, being the antaryAmi for him, helped in

the destruction of the three cities. "puramoru mUnRerittu" - tiruvAi mozhi

1.1.8 (SrI v.v.rAmAnujan). SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri points out that the

term puram is also used to refer to the three SarIra-s viz. the sthUla,

sUkshma, and kAraNa sarIra-s. He is purandara because He has torn apart

these three and is the AtmA beyond these three SarIra-s.

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan