SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 40.

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SrI vishNu sahasranAma stotram - Slokam 40.

 

viksharo rohito mArgo hetur_dAmodarah sahah |

mahI-dharo mahA-bhAgo vegavAn amitASanah ||

 

om viksharAya namah

om rohitAya namah

om mArgAya namah

om hetave namah

om dAmodarAya namah

om sahAya namah

om mahI-dharAya namah

om mahA-bhAgAya namah

om vegavate namah

om amitASanAya namah

 

365. viksharah - He who never wanes.

 

om viksharAya namah

 

SrI Sankara bhAshyam is "vigatah ksharah (nASo) yasya asau viksharah" - One

who has no decay. SrI BhaTTar gives the interpretation that bhagavAn's love

for His devotees never diminishes, and He is vikshara by this reason.

 

366. rohitah - He who is of red complexion.

 

om rohitAya namah.

 

kamala garbhAbatvAt rohitah - He who has the red color of the inside of a

lotus. SrI v.v.rAmAnujan gives reference to tiruvAimozhi - 8.4.7: "tiruc

ceyya kamalak kaNNum Sev-vAyum SevvaDiyum Seyya kaiyum tiruc-ceyya kamala

undiyum Seyya kamala mArbum". Seyya here means reddish colored, kamala

means lotus.

 

rohita also refers to a species of fish, and SrI Sankara has given the

alternate interpretation that it can refer to His matsya incarnation, in the

form of a reddish hued fish.

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha derives the meaning from the root ruh - bIja janmani

prAdurbhAve ca - to grow, to increase, to rise, to reach, and gives the

interpretation "prAdurbhavati iti rohitah - One who expresses Himself or One

who causes all beings to express themselves is rohitah.

 

367. mArgah - He who is sought after.

 

om mArgAya namah.

 

mArgyate iti mArgah - He is mArgah because He is always sought after by His

worshippers. SrI v.v.rAmAnujan gives reference to tiruvAi mozhi nURRandAdi

91 - "tAL aDaindAr ta~ngatku tAnE vazhit-tuNaiyAm kALa-megattai" - He

accompanies and shows the way to those who have surrendered to Him. SrI

Sankara gives an additional intepretation - He is mArga because He shows the

way for the attainment of Supreme Bliss. SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri gives

another aspect - After the Universe disappears at the time of praLaya, it is

He who is the way for the world's re-appearance.

 

368. hetuh - The Cause.

 

om hetave namah.

 

He is the cause for the realization of the desires of His devotees. Sri

Sankara gives the interpretation that He is both the instrumental and

material cause of the Universe.

 

The dharma cakram writer nicely distinguishes between bhagavAn the Cause,

and bhagavAn the effects. He points out that in general we see the effects,

but we don't see the cause behind the effects as easily. This is true in

the different aspects of life - we use the Universe, but we don't understand

bhagavAn who is the Cause of the Universe. We see the body, but we don't

see the five elements which are the constituents of this body. He is

visible only to the yogi-s and the j~nAni-s as the Cause of the Universe.

 

369. dAmodarah - 1) He who has the worlds in His belly.

2) One who was tied around His waist by ropes by YaSodA

3) One who has happiness for His devotees

4) One who is attained by observances such as damA.

 

om dAmodarAya namah.

 

The word dAma can refer to a rope, the worlds, happiness, etc. The word

udaram means belly. Based on these, there are different interpretations.

 

1) udare dAmAni asya iti dAmodarah - One who has all the worlds in His

belly. This interpretation is supported by vyAsa's words:

 

"dAmAni loka nAmAni tAni yasya udara antare |

tena dAmodaro devah SrIdharah Sri-samASritah || (attributed to

vyAsa but no reference given)

 

2) dAmnA udare baddha iti dAmodarah - One who was tied around His waist with

a cord. The support for this interpretation is from brahma purANa:

 

"tayor madhya-gatam baddham dAmnA gADham tayodare |

tataSca dAmodaratAm sa yayau dAma bandhanAt || (brahma

puRaNa 76.14)

 

(Note: The reference to the above is given differently in the different

vyAkhyAna-s as stanzas 5.6.20, 184.41, and 76.14. Since I do not have a

copy of brahma purANa with me, I could not verify the correct reference. If

any of our readers have the original source, please verify the correct

reference and let me know. I would sincerely appreciate it).

 

SrI v.v.rAmAnujan refers us to divya prabandham - veNNei vizhu~nga veguNDu

Aicci kaNNik kayiRRinAl kaTTat tAn kaTTuNDirundAn - mUnRAm tiruvantAdi.

 

SrI A. SrInivAsa rAghavAcArya svAmi in his interpretation in tamizh in SrI

nr*simha priyA points out that the act of bhagavAn willingly getting Himself

tied around with a rope just demonstrates that He becomes a

bhakta-para-tantran i.e., He subjects Himself to His devotees' wishes. In

this case, He subjected Himself to yaSodA's wish that He be constrained by

the rope. He even shed tears when He was tied in order to please her.

 

3) SrI BhaTTar gives an additional interpretation based on "devAnAm sukha

samSitvAt dAmAt dAmodaram viduh" (udyoga parva 71.9)- They know Him as

dAmodara because He has "dAma" or joy, indicating happiness for the gods.

 

4) SrI Sankara has given the additional interpretation - damAdi sAdhanena

udarA (utkr*shTA) matih (yA tayA gamyata) iti dAmodarah - One who is known

through the mind which is purified (udarA or utkr*shTA) by means of

self-control (dama) and other qualities. He gives the support from

mahAbhArata - damAt dAmodaro viduh (udyoga parva 5.69.8).

 

The dharma cakram writer very nicely remarks that the One who was tied by

the rope can be known only by "tieing" or controlling the pa~nca indriya-s

and directing them towards Him and His service. SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri

points out that this nAma has the greatness that at the same time it shows

the greatness of bhagavAn in having the whole Universe inside Him and the

simplicity of being tied by a rope and contained by His devotee.

 

370. sahah - He who has patience.

 

om sahAya namah.

 

sahate iti sahah. SrI BhaTTar links this nAma to the previous one by

pointing that He patiently accepted being tied by the rope as dAmodara.

nammAzhvAr sings this patience of Lord kr*shNa - ettitRam! uralinODu

iNaindirundu E~ngiya eLivE (tiruvAimozhi 1.3.1) - referenced by SrI

v.v.rAmAnujan. SrI Sankara vyAkhyAna is that He forgives the lapses of His

devotees - sahate sarvAn abhibhavati iti sahah. SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri

points out that He bears the burden of the Universe for the sake of the

welfare of the creatures in the Universe. The dharma cakram writer points

out that He patiently waits till we attain the maturity needed to reach Him

and be united with Him. He also refers to the incident where He put up with

SiSupAla's abusive words more than a hundred times and had given word to

SiSupAla's mother to that effect.

 

371. mahIdharah - The Supporter of the Earth.

 

om mahIdharAya namah.

 

This nAma occurred earlier as nAma 319. There the meanings given were that

He supports the earth by ridding it of evil-doers, or that He accepts the

pUjA from the devotees.

 

Under the current nAma, SrI Sankara gives the interpretation that He bears

the Earth in the shape of mountains. He gives reference to vishNu purANa -

vanAni vishNur girayo diSaSca - 2.12.37) - The forests, mountains, and

directions are all vishNu. He bears the earth by propping it up in the form

of mountains. SrI v.v.rAmAnujan refers to His bearing the Earth between His

teeth in His varAha incarnation - eyiRRu iDai maN koNDa endai - periyAzhvAr

tirumozhi 5.2.3.

 

372. mahI-bhAgah - He who is extremely Fortunate.

 

om mahA-bhAgAya namah.

 

SrI BhaTTar explains that Lord kr*shNa has the good fortune (mahA bhAgya) of

being chosen for service as their Lord by the cowherdess nILa, sixteen

thousand celestial damsels, rukmiNi, satyabhAmA, jAmbavati, and others. SrI

v.v.rAmAnujan refers us to tiruvAomozhi - vaDivu iNai illA malar-magaL

maRRum maN-magaL piDikkum mel-aDiyAn - 9.2.10.

 

SrI Sankara gives the vyAkhyAna that He is fortunate in being able to take

any form He likes, or He who gets the best of everything in His

incarnations.

 

SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri points out that He is mahAbhAgah because He gets the

major (mahA)portion (bhAga) of any offering as He likes. He refers us to

the incident of the offering by the gopa-s to the govardhana giri instead of

to indra at the insistance of kr*shNa. Lord kr*shNa appeared at the top of

the govaradhana mountain and accepted all the offerings.

 

373. vegavAn - He who is quick.

 

om vegavate namah.

 

SrI BhaTTar points out that even when He was child kr*shNa, His actions were

displaying His irresistible supremacy and Lordship. SrI v.v.rAmAnujan

refers us to the

incident of pUtanA, SakaTAsura, lifting of govardhana giri at the tip of the

finger, etc. tiruvAi mozhi 6.4 is full of these incidents. SrI

rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri points to the incident of rukmiNi svayamvaram as an

example of the quickness of action that He displays. SrI cinmayAnanda gives

the interpretation that He reaches His devotees fast the moment they think

of Him because He is everywhere and all-pervading.

 

SrI Sankara interprets the nAma in terms of the ISopanishad declaration (4)

"anejadekam manso javIyah - He is unmoving, but at the same time faster than

the mind". The context here is that He is inside us, but no amount of

reasoning with our mind can decipher Him and figure Him out. He cannot be

understood by reason and logic alone, since even a lifetime of reasoning

with the mind that is faster than anything that is known will not result in

realizing Him.

 

374. amitASanah - a) The voracious Eater.

b) He who gives unlimited supply of food to His creations.

 

om amiTaSanAya namah.

 

amitam aSnAti iti amitASanah - One who eats huge quantities. SrI BhaTTar

points out that Lord kr*shNa displayed His greatness, among other acts, by

swallowing the unlimited quantity of food offered to govardhana giri, making

the cowherds exclaim in wonder - "devo vA dAnavo vA tvam" - "Who are you - a

deva or an asura?" - vishNu purANam 5.13.121. SrI v.v.rAmAnujan refers us

to divya prabandham - aTTuk-kuruvi SORRup-paruppadamum tayir vAviyum

neyyaLarum aDa~ngap poTTattuRRu - One who in a fraction of a second consumed

a huge amount of rice heaped like a mountain, a huge amount of curd that

looked like a canal, ghee that was poured like a big puddle, plenty of

vegetables, etc. (periyAzhvAr tirumozhi 3.5.1), and to "kArEzh kaDalEzh

malai Ezhulagu uNDum ArA vayiRRAn - tiruvAi mozhi 10.9.2. This nAma is

similar to nAma 304 - mahASanah.

 

SrI Sankara interprets the nAma in terms of His swallowing the whole

Universe at the time of praLaya. SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri points out that

there is nothing that He cannot digest, since He is the jATarAgni that

digests the food that every being consumes - aham vaiSvAnaro bhUtvA ....

pacAmyannam caturvidham (gItA 15.14). The dharma cakram writer points out

that we can neither live and grow without eating, nor live without digesting

the food we eat, and both are made possible by Him, and this is siginified

by this nAma.

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the above interpretation, as well as an

alternate interpretation - amitAn prANinah ASayati = bhojayati iti

amitASanah - He is amitASanah because He gives unlimited supply of food to

His creation, which is itself immeasurable.

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan