SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 52 - Part 1.

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SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 52 - Part 1.

 

SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 52.

 

gabhastinemih sattvasthah simho bhUta-maheSvarah |

Adi-devo mahA-devo deveSo deva-bhr*t guruh ||

 

om gabhastinemaye namah

om sattvasthAya namah

om simhAya namah

om bhUta-maheSvarAya namah

om Adi-devAya namah

om mahA-devAya namah

om deveSaya namah

om deva-bhr*te namah

om gurave namah

 

487. gabhasti-nemih - a) He who has the effulgent cakra as His weapon.

b) He who enlightens everything by His effulgence.

c) He who is the Center of the planetary system (viz. the Sun)

 

om gabhasti-nemaye namah.

 

a) SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is "gabhastih dIpyate jyotir-mayam, nemi-lakshitam

cakram yasya iti gabhasti-nemih - He who possesses the effulgent cakra. His

cakra is bhAsvara-sahasrAra-cakrah - the effulgent cakra with a thousand

spokes. yama and yama-dhUta-s don't even come anywhere close to those who

bear

the mark of cakra on their bodies (see SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam for the

previous nAma), since their savior is gabhasti-nemih who has as His weapon the

thousand-spoked effulgent cakra. Note the words from tiruppallANDu - tIyil

poliginRa Se~n-cuDarAzhi tigazh tiruc-cakkarattan (SrI v.v.rAmAnujan). The

dharma cakram writer comments that this cakram in bhagavAn's Hand denotes the

dharma cakram which controls, guides and directs everyone towards the path of

dharma, and is the kAla cakram which shows the never-ending nature of time

which is His manifestation.

 

b) SrI satyadevo vAsisTha derives the meaning of the nAma from the roots bhas

dIptyoh to shine, and nI prApaNe to lead. The word gabhasti is derived from

the root bhas bhartsana dIptyoh - to censure or to shine. The latter meaning

is relevant for this nAma. The word nemi is derived from the root nI

prApaNe -

to lead. nemi is given the meaning "the circumference or rim of a wheel".

Thus gabhasti-nemih means He who by His Effulgence enlightens everything. We

all know that the Sun gives light to everything. But it is bhagavAn the

gabhasti-nemih, who gives light to the Sun. He is br*had-bhAnu or "many suns

all in one".

 

c) SrI Sa~nkara bhAshyam is that bhagavAn is the Center of the planetary

systems - gabhasti-cakrasya madhye sUryAtmanA sthita iti gabhastinemih. SrI

rAdhAkr*shNa Sastri refers us to the Sruti - Adityo vA esha etan-maNDalam, ya

esha etasmin maNDale'rcidIpyate | ya esha etan-maNDale'rcishi purushah ||

(tait. AraN. 10.14), and also to "dhyeyas-sadA savitr*-maNDala madhyavartI

nArAyaNah" - He who is meditated upon as Lord sUryanArAyaNa at the centre of

and controlling the sUryamaNDala".

 

488. sattva-sthah - a) He who is in the hearts of the devotees.

b) He who abides in sattva-guNa.

c) He who resides in all beings.

 

om sattva-sthAya namah.

 

The dictionary gives the meanings entity, mind, goodness, etc. for the word

sattvam. The three interpretations below are based on these different

meanings.

 

 

a) SrI BhaTTar points out that when bhagavAn is in the heart of the devotees,

there is no karma in them since darkness does not exist where there is sun.

The nirukti description for this nAma is "sattve hr*di sthitatvAt sa

sattvasthah samudIritah - As He stays in the heart of beings, He is known as

sattvasthah. "When Lord Hari, who is imperishable and eternal, and who wields

the discus and the mace, abides in the heart of a person, how can sin exist

there?" - sphatika maNi SilAmalah kva vishNuh | manasi nr*Nam kva matsarAdi

doshah? - vishNu purANam 3.7.22. He stays in the hearts of the devotee with

His cakra and thus makes sure that yama and yama-paTa-s don’t come near this

devotee - "ki~nkarA daNDa pASau vA na yamo na ca yAtanAh | samarthAh tasya

yasyAtmA keSavAlambanah sadA || " (vishNu purA. 2.2.28).

 

b) SrI Sa~nkara interprets sattva here as referring to the sattva-guNa, and

gives the meaning that bhagavAn abides in the sattva guNa - sattvam guNam

prakASakam prAdhAnyena adhitishThati iti - He who chiefly presides over the

quality of sattva guNa which is radiant.

 

dharma cakram: Of the three guNa-s that are reflected in everyone, sattva guNa

is the one that results in the clarity of mind that is necessary for realizing

the Absolute Truth. The food we eat, the thoughts we think, etc., should

all be

directed towards development of this sattva guNa in us. Habits like getting up

in the brahma muhUrta (~ 4 a.m.), observing japa, dhyAna, etc. at this time,

performing one's prescribed duties with the welfare of the fellow-beings in

mind, never harming anything else, etc, are habits that will foster the

development of sattava guNa in us. This nAma teaches us that leading our life

with sattava guNa is the path to the realization of bhagavAn.

 

c) SrI Sa~nkara's alternate interpretation is that sattva-s refers to all

beings, stha means residing, and sattva-sthah can mean that He resides in all

beings.

 

489. simhah - a) He who punishes (those who harm His devotees).

b) He who took the nr*simha form.

c) He who is most powerful.

 

om simhAya namah.

 

This nAma has occurred earlier (nAma 202). There SrI BhaTTar had interpreted

the nAma as referring to bhagavAn's nr*simha incarnation. For the current

nAma, he continues his interpretation in terms of bhagavAn protecting His

devotees by punishing if necessary anyone who even tries to harm His devotee.

Thus He punishes yama and his servants if they approach a vaishNava with the

intent of harming him without realizing that he is vishNu's devotee. SrI

BhaTTar gives examples from vishNu tattva, vhshNu dharma, and lai~nga

purANa to

illustrate this.

 

SrI Sa~nkara's earlier interpretation was that bhagavAn is the Destroyer of

sins. His vyAkhyAnam for the current nAma is that bhagavAn is like the lion

when it comes to His Power, and so He is referred to as simha. SrI

rAdhAkr*shNa Sastri suggests that bhagavAn is the lion that gets rid of the

deer in the form of asura-s. Alternatively, SrI Sa~nkara points out that

simhah may considered a short form for His full nAma - nr*simha.

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha derives the meaning from the root sic - ksharaNe to

sprinkle, to impregnate, and interprets simhah as He who bestows the

karma-phala to everyone impartially. His alternate interpretation is that

bhagavAn is of infinite Power, which is indicated by His nAma of simhah. He

takes away the life of everything in their due time, including the

manvantara-s, the kalpa-s, and the mahA-kalpa-s, and merges them all into

Himself. Just as we refer to a great medical doctor as vaidya kesari,

bhagavAn

is the kesari of all kesari-s or lions.

 

490. bhUta-maheSvarah - The Supreme Lord of all beings.

 

om bhUta-maheSvarAya namah.

 

SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is that BhagavAn is the Supreme Lord of all

beings, as

evidenced by His being the Lord of the likes of brahma, yama etc. who are

themselves the lords of beings. SrI v.v.rAmAnujan refers us to divya

prabandham

in support -

 

- niruttinAn deiva~ngaLAga ad-deiva nAyakan tAnE - He, the Lord of all the

other

gods, established these other gods (tiruvAimozhi 5.2.8);

 

- mUvar mudalvan Or mUvulagALi - The foremost among the trinity, and the

Supreme

ruler of all the three worlds - tiruvAimozhi 8.9.8;

 

- peria appanai, piraman appanai, uruttiran appanai, munivarkku uriya appanai,

amarar appanai, ulagukkOr tani appan tannai - He is the Father and Lord of all

including brahma, rudra, the sages, all the gods, ane everything in all the

worlds - tiruvaimozhi 8.1.11.

 

SrI Sa~nkara interprets the nAma as bhUtAnAm mahAn-Isvarah - He who is the

Great Lord of all beings. His alternate interpretation is bhUta - truly,

maheSvarah - nArAyaNa is the Supreme Lord. bhUtena - satyena, sa eva

paramAtmA

mahAn Isvara iti bhUta-maheSvarah. SrI rAdhAkr*shNa Sastri refers us to the

gItA where bhagavAn points out that sadly the foolish people do not recognize

His glory as the bhUta-maheSvara because they think He is just a human even

though He has assumed the human form out of sheer Mercy towards to them so

that

He is easily accessible to them (gItA 9.11).

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives several references to the Sruti-s:

 

- bhavASavau mr*Datam mAbhi yAtam bhUtapatI paSupatI namo vAm (atharva

21.2.1).

- ya Ise asya dvipadaS-catuspadah kasmai devAya havishA videma (yaju. 23.3)

- yo bhUtAnAm adhipatir yasmin loke adhiSritAh | ya Ise mahato mahAns-tena

gr*hNAmi tvAm aham (yaju. 20.32).

- hiraNyagarbhah samavartatAgre bhUtasya jAtah patireka AsIt - r*g. 1.121.1.

 

- To be continued.

 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan