SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 59 - Part 1.

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SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 59 - Part 1.

 

vedAh svA'ngo'jitah kRshNo dRDhah sa'nkarshaNo'cyutah

|

varuNo vAruNo vRkshah pushkarAksho mahaAmanaAh

||

 

om vedhase namah

om svA'ngAya namah

om ajitAya namah

om kRshNAya namah

om dhRDAya namah

om sa'nkarshaNAya namah

om acyutAya namah

om varuNAya namah

om vAruNAya namah

om vRkshAya namah

om pushkarAkshAya namah

om mahA-manase namah

 

551. vedhAh - a) The Provider.

b) The Doer (of auspicious happenings).

c) The Creator.

 

om vedhase namah.

 

SrI BhaTTar derives the meaning from "vidadhAti iti

vedhAh" - He is the Giver or Provider of unlimited and

varied objects of splendor. SrI kRshNa datta

bhAradvAj gives the derivation "vidadhAti kAmAn

svajanAnAm iti vedhAh". He also gives the reference

to kaThopanishad - "eko bahUnAm vidadhAti kAmAn"

(2.2.13).

 

SrI P. B. aNNa'ngarAcArya svAmi gives the second

interpretation - "anbargaLukku ma'ngalamAna

vibhava'ngaLiac ceibavar".

 

SrI Sa'nkara bhAshyam is vidadhAti sRjati iti vidhAtA

vedhAh - The Creator. In amarakoSa we have srashTA

prajApatir vedhA vidhAtA viSvasRT vidhih (1.17), and

the explanation vidadhAti karoti iti vedhAh, offered

by li'ngAyasUrin.

 

552. svA'ngah - a) He who has the marks of sovereignty

which are His own.

b) He who is both the Instrumental Cause and the

Material Cause of the Universe.

c) He who has beautiful, well-proportioned limbs.

d) He who, in the form of the Universe, moves by

Himself.

 

The term a'nga here refers to the celestial marks of

sovereignty such as the chatra (umbrella), cAmara and

other things which are His own and unique (sva

a'ngah). He is the Supreme King of all the worlds,

and has the unique marks associated with this. SrI

kRshNadatta bhAradvAj gives the following explanation:

"svanyante Sabdyante sUktibhiriti svAni; tAdRSAni

a'ngAni yasya iti svA'ngah".

 

SrI Sa'nkara bhAshyam is "svayameva kAryasya karaNe

a'ngam sahakaroti iti svA'ngah" - He is Himself the

instrument in accomplishing His works. The idea

communicated is that bhagavAn is the Material Cause as

well as the Instrumental Cause of this Universe (SrI

cinmayAnanda). SrI cinmayAnanda also indicates that

the nAma can be interpreted to mean that bhagavAn has

beautiful, well-proportioned a'nga-s or limbs.

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the meaning a'ng - to go

(agi - gatyarthaka dhAtu), and gives the

interpretation that bhagavan has His movement by

Himself, unlike all the other life forms which move

only because He is present in them as the antaryAmi.

When the self leaves the body, the body loses the

ability to move. Unlike these, e.g., in the form of

the Sun, bhagavAn moves by Himself without the need

for any other external source.

 

The dharma cakram writer gives the meaning that He is

One who helps Himself. He observes that meditation

on this nAma of mahAvishNu should reveal to us that

when we worship Him, there is no need for any external

help for us from anyone or anything in this world,

since all the things we need will be met from within

ourselves. It is only when we go after material

pursuit that we need the support of others. BhagavAn

is in the ultimate state where He needs nothing from

anyone or anything.

 

553. ajitah - a) He who is unconquered, and

unconquerable.

b) He who is the Chief of the Unconquerable place

called ajita or SrIvaikunTha.

c) He who took the amSAvatara in the 6th manvantara

as ajitah to help in churning the Milk Ocean.

d) He who is unconquered in His vow to protect those

who have surrendered to Him.

 

(SrI BhaTTar): ajitA, aparAjitA, etc. are also names

for paramapadam, and He is the Chief of SrIvaikunTham,

and so also He is called ajitah. He and His abode SrI

vaikunTham and everything therein are composed of

celestial matter called Suddha sattva, which is not

under the sway of birth and death. He is thus

unconquered by the sway of birth, aging, decay, and

death which are characteristic of those that pertain

to the world of prakRti. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives

reference to SrI rAmAyaNam yuddha kANDam where

bhagavAn's nAma ajita occurs (120.16 -ajitah

khaDgadhRg vishNuh kRshNaScaiva bRhad balah). Here

ajitah is interpreted by SrI P. S. kRshNasvAmi

iye'ngAr as referring bhagavAn being undefeated in His

ASrita samrakshNam or His vow to protect those who

have surrendered to Him even once).

 

(SrI Sa'nkara): na jita iti ajitah - One who has

never been conquered, and can never be conquered, is

ajitah. SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the

interpretation - na jitah kenApi tribhuvane iti

ajaitah - One who has never been conquered by anyone

ever in all the three worlds. He has never been

conquered by anyone in any of His incarnations, and so

also He is ajitah.

 

He is satya svarUpi and dharma svarupi, and so also He

is unconquered and unconquerable (dharma cakram) -

satyameva jayate. The dharma cakram author gives

innumerable examples to illustrate that satya and

dharma are unconquerable, including those involving

prahlAda, hariScandra, the pANDavas, etc. The lesson

to take from meditating on this nAma is the greatness

of dharma and satya, and the life led conforming to

these values.

 

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives yet another

interpretation based on SrImad bhAgavtam. BhagavAn

SrIman nArAyaNa appeared as ajitah in the sixth

manvantara as the son of sambhUti and helped in the

churning of the Milk Ocean to get the amRta for the

deva-s. He also took the kUrmAvatAra to support the

mandara mountain in the process - tatrApi devah

sambhUtyAm vairAjasya abhavat sutah | ajito nAma

bhgavAn amSena jagatah patih || (SrImad bhAgavatam

8.5.9).

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha points out that there is a

question of one being conquered by another only when

they can be compared to each other. In the case of

mahAvishNu, there is no one else to compare to Him,

and so there is no question of His being conquered by

any other, and so He is ajitah or unconquerable and

unconquered.

 

554. kRshNah - a) One who is always in a state of

Bliss (with His sport of creation etc.).

b) The Dark-hued.

c) He who irresistibly attracts His devotees to Him

through His infinite kalyANa guNa-s.

d) He who cultivates the Earth like a plough and makes

it suitable for life forms to form and nourish.

e) He who appeared as veda vyAsa or kRshNa dvaipAyana.

f) He who cultivates the minds of devotees by

providing the veda-s in His incarnation as kRshNa

dvaipAyana.

g) The Dark, Mysterious, and Unknowable except by deep

devotion.

 

This nAma occurred earlier as nAma 58. Please refer

to the detailed interpretation provided there as well.

The first four interpretations were covered there.

Some additional details are provided here.

 

In support of interpretation (a), SrI v.v. rAmAnujan

observes that unlike in rAma incarnation where

bhagavAn went through enormous difficulties - nATTil

piRandu paDAdana paTTu - nammAzhvAr tiruvAimozhi

7.5.2, in kRshNa incarnation it was "inbuRum

iv-viLaiyATTuDaiyAnaip peRRu (tiruvAimozhi 3.10.7)",

"kanRinai vAlOlai kaTTi (periAzhvAr tirumozhi 2.4.8)",

etc. Another anubhavam of SrI v.v. rAmAnujan is that

bhagavAn is laughing at us mockingly, seeing that we

are not putting to good use the hands and legs and all

the indriya-s He gave us to help us attain Him, but

instead we are misusing these and getting into the

cycle of birth and rebirth.

 

Under the current nAma, SrI ParASara BhaTTar gives one

more of his anubhava-s of this nAma, and indicates

that the Suddha sattva material which His body is made

of has a fascinating complexion dark like the blue

cloud. One of the grammar rules (uNAdi sutra 3.4)

states that when the root kRsh - to plough is followed

by affix nak, it means one of the colors - kRsher

varNe. It is interesting to note that one name for

grapes is kRshNA because of this connotation of color.

So also, iron is called kRshNA because of its black

color. This latter meaning is used to explain the

significance of bhagavAn's nAma as kRshNa in

mahAbhArata SAnti parva 143.49 -

 

kRshAmi medinIm pArtha! bhUtvA kRshNAyaso mahAn

|

kRshNo varNaSca me yasmAt tena kRshNoham arjuna

||

 

This is a slight variation of the Sloka also quoted

from mahAbhArata under the explanation given under

nAma 58. The two Sloka-s are too similar to each

other to suggest that these are variants of the same

reference. I do not have the original version of

mahAbhArata to check the authenticity of the

references.

 

In support of interpretation (b), SrI v.v. rAmAnujan

gives references to the following: kaNNan enum karum

daivam (nAcciyAr tirumozhi 3.1), kariyAn oru kALai

(tirumozhi 3.7.), etc.

 

SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the following

explanation along the lines of interpretation ©:

karshati bhagavAn AtmAnam prati vayovarNa rUpaa

lAvaNya madhurI rasotkarsheNa iti kRshNah, or kRshate

AtmAnam prati bhaktAn sa-soundaryeNa iti kRshNah,

based on (kRsha vilekhanam AkarshNam ca). SrI

satyadevo vAsishTha and others also support this

interpretation along with the other two.

 

SrI Sa'nkara interprets this instance of the nAma of

kRshNah as referring to veda vyAsa (e), who is none

other than an incarnation of bhagavaAn according to

SrI vishNupurANa - kRshNadvaipAyanam vyAsam viddhi

nArAyaNam prabhum | ko hyanayh puNDarIkAkshAn

mahAbhAratakRt bhavet (VP 3.4.5).

 

The dharma cakram writer uses the concept of bhagavAn

being like a plough (the basis of interpretation d),

combines this with SrI Sa'nkara's interpretation (e),

and offers a new interpretation (f). His anubhavam

is that in the form of veda vyAsa, bhagavAn cultivates

the minds of people by providing to us the veda-s, and

so vyAsa, who is none other than nArAyaNa, is referred

to by the nAma kRshNa here.

 

SrI cinmayAnanda uses the meaning "dark" for the word

kRshNa, and suggests that this nAma of bhagavAn

signifies the "unknown factor" that expresses through

us - whose manifestations are all our physical,

mental, and intellectual capabilities. Except by deep

and sincere devotion, He cannot be comprehended, and

so He is kRshNah - Dark and Mysterious.

 

-To be continued.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

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