SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 59 - Part 3.

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SrI vishNu sahasranAma stotram - Slokam 59 - Part 3.

 

558. varuNah - He Who envelops.

 

om varuNAya namah.

 

The word is derived from the root vr~nj varaNe to envelop. SrI BhaTTar

gives the example of "yena AvRtam kham ca divam mahIm ca - He by Whom

are covered the Ether, the svarga, and the Earth" - taittirIya

upanishad 1.1. In other words, He surrounds all the three worlds (SrI

rAdhAkRshNa SAstri).

 

varuNa is also the term used for the evening sun. Like the sun who

withdrawing his scorching rays unto himself in the evening, the Lord

withdraws all the pluralistic world unto Himself. The Eternal Reality

, functioning through the sun as the sun's energy and light, is

described in the upanishads as the "Golden One", and hence the

appropriateness of using this term varuNa for nArAyaNa (e.g., the

designation sUrya nArAyaNa (SrI cinmayAnanda).

 

The dharma cakram writer lists the following anubhava-s related to this

mantram (note how the learned people view the nAma-s of the Lord that

occur in sahasranAmam): varuNa is the the Lord of the waters; He is

also the setting sun in the evening; He is also the Lord of the western

direction. Just as darkness envelops us when the sun sets, those who

do not have the thought of bhagavAn fall into darkness. As long as

they have the thought of bhagavAn in their mind, there is the

brightness of j~nAna guiding them.

 

559. vAruNah - a) He Who is with those who have sought Him as their

Lord or svAmi.

b) The Son of varuNa.

c) He Who removes the adversities of His devotees

 

om vAruNAya namah

 

a) SrI BhaTTar interprets the nAma as: tam svAmitvena vRNute iti

varuNah; tatra bhavo vAruNah - varuNa refers to one who seeks Him as

his master; bhagavAn is called vAruNa since He is always with this

seeker. The nirukti author gives the following interpretation of SrI

BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam - svAmitvena vRNAneshu sthito vAruNa Iritah. SrI

v.v. rAmAnujan gives references to the following from divya prabandham

which convey the thought consistent with this interpretation - "vandAi

en manam pugundAi manni ninRAi" - tirumozhi 1.10.9; "unnaik koNDu ennuL

vaittEn" - periAzhvAr tirumozhi 5.4.5).

 

b) SrI Sa'nkara bhAshyam is "varuNasya Apatyam vasiThah agastyo vA

vAruNah - vAruNa refers to the son of varuNa, viz. vasishTha or

agastya, who are both incarnations of bhagavAn

 

c) SrI kRshNa datta bharadvAj gives the interpretation c above:

vArayati nivArayati vipadam svajanAnAm iti vAruNah.

 

560. vRkshah - a) He Who provides shade like a tree (i.e., He is the

Resort) for the wise.

b) He Who is firm like a tree.

 

om vRkshAya namah.

 

a) vRksha is derived from the root vRj varaNe to seek or resort to (SrI

BhaTTar). SrI BhaTTar points out that like a shady tree, bhagavAn is

possessed of all things required by those who resort to Him, and He

gives shade to even those who insult Him, just as a tree gives shade to

even those who cut it. SrI P. B. aNNa'ngarAcArya svAmi points out that

bhagavAn is waiting for the devotee to come to Him with His protection

always available to them. So He is called vRksha. SrI BhaTTar gives

the following references in support of his interpretation - nivAsa

vRkshah sAdhUnAm ApannAnAm parA gatih - He is the one Resort for the

good and the supreme refuge in distress (rAmA. kishkindA. 15.19);

vRksha iva stabdho divi tishThatyekah - Like an unmoving and firm tree

He stands in the Heavens - mahA nArA. u. 10.4). SrI v.v. rAmAnujan

observes that there are several who get saved by this "vAsudeva taruc

chAyA" or the shade from the tree by name vAsudeva. He also refers us

the prabandham - "tan oppAr illppan tandanan tana tAL nizhalE"

(tiruvAimozhi 6.3.9).

 

b) SrI Sa'nkara uses the same upanishad passage we referred to above

(vRksha iva stavdho divi tishThatyekah) and interprets it to mean that

bhagavAn is referred to vRksha because He is firm like a tree. SrI T.

S. kRshNamUrti elaborates on this and suggests that the firmness here

refers to bhagavAn being firmly established in the spiritual realm.

 

SrI cinmayAnanda explains the nAma in terms of the world itself

emerging out of bhagavAn being described as a "tree" in the upanishads

- Urdhva mUlam adhah SakhAm Asvattham prAhuravyayam (gItA 15.1); Urdhva

mUla avAk Sakha esha Asvatthah sanAtanah (kaTho. 2.6.1).

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives different examples from the Sruti-s where

the term vRksha is used to refer to a tree (vRksho na pakvah - Rg.

4.20.5), to the sun (kah svid vRksho nishThito madhye arNasah - Rg.

1.182.7), a woman (maryo na yoshAmabhi manyamAnah - Rg. 4.20.5),

prakRti (dvA suparNA sayujA sakhAyA samAnam vRksham parishasvajAte…

(Rg. 1.164.20), paramAtmA (yasmin vRkshe madhvadah suparNAh niviSante

stuvate cAdhi viSve (Rg. 1.164.22) etc. Since bhagavAn appears in all

these forms of vRksha, His nAma is vRksha.

 

SrI vAsishTha also gives another anubhavam for this nAma. vRksha could

also mean tearing apart, separating - based on vraSc - chedane - to

cut, to tear. The jIvAtmA separates the bodies, bhagavAn separates the

different jIva-s in His creation, He keeps the starts and the planets

separated, the sun tears apart the darkness, the tree separates out the

fruits from the leaves and the branches, etc. So these are all

vRksha-s viz. those that separate out different things. BhagavAn has

thus manifested Himself in His vRksha aspect and expanded this world in

its variety. SrI vAsishTha proceeds to comment that one who

understands this secret behind bhagavAn who is a vRksha, will succeed

in tearing apart from the tree of desire and reach bhagavAn the vRksha

from all aspects and dimensions.

 

The dharma cakram writer points out that the lesson to take from this

nAma is not to just seek the shade alone from this Tree as duryodhana

did, but to really benefit from the fruit from this Tree as arjuna did.

If one only wants the temporary shade, then the shade of the tree

keeps shifting with time relative to the sun's position, and so seeking

the shade in the form of temporary benefits is not what will lead to

permanent God realization. Instead of asking for the kRshNa's army and

rejecting kRshNa as duryodhana did, one should seek Him as arjuna did,

which will then take care of all the other needs.

 

561. pushkarAkshah - a)He Who has nourishing eyes.

b) He Who has beautiful lotus-like eyes.

c) He Who pervades all space.

d) He Who has the Sun and the Moon as His eyes.

e) He Who shines as the light of consciousness when meditated upon in

the lotus of the heart.

 

om pushkarAkshAya namah.

 

a) SRI BhaTTar derives the interpretation based on the root push -

pushTau - to nourish. svAmi deSikan describes His eyes in SrI bhagavd

dhyAna sopAnam as "svAgata udAra netram" - Lord ra'nganAtha's Merciful

and welcoming eyes always look at the devotee who is approaching Him.

The beauty of His eyes are again described in SrI daSAvatAra stotram as

resembling a forest of beautiful lotus flowers - aravinda gahanAni

tanvan iva datta kshaNair vIkshaNaih (Slokam 2).

 

b) pushkara refers to a lotus, and aksha means eyes. So pushkarAkashah

refers to One with lotus-like eyes. SrI kRshNadatta bhAradvAj gives

the SrI rAmAnuja-fame quote "tasya yathA kapyAsam puNDarIkam eva

akshiNi" from chAndogyopanishad 1.6.7.

 

c) pushkara also means Universal Space, and akshu means pervading, and

SrI cinmayAnanda follows SrI Sa'nkara in interpreting the nAma as "He

Who pervades all space".

 

d) In addition to c), SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses a variant of the

above, and also gives the interpretation that bhagavAn has the two

eyes in space, viz. the sun and the moon (yasya sUryaS cakshuS

candramASca punarNavah - atharva. 10.7.33).

 

e) When pushkara is interpreted as the heart-lotus, pushkarAksha can be

interpreted as referring to One who illumines the heart-lotus when

meditated upon (SrI Sa'nkara). The dharma cakram writer, whose name is

not given but who is a sanyAsin of the SrI rAmakRshNa tapovanam Order,

observes that for a beginner who wants to practise meditation,

concentrating on the heart-lotus is easier than concentrating on the

space between the two eye-brows etc. (The later can cause a head-ache

for a novice who is not used to meditation!).

 

562. mahA-manAh - a) The Broad-minded.

b) He Who has a great (highly capable) mind.

c) He Who has a mind (intellect) with unlimited capability

 

om mahA-manase namah.

 

a) SrI BhaTTar: Since bhagavAn has a generous, deep, and broad mind

towards His devotees, He is called mahA-manAh. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan

gives reference to peria tiru antAdi 53 - un aDiyArkku en Seyvan enrE

irutti nI (note the emphasis in enrE isntead of just enru!), and also

to tiruvAimozhi 9.4.10 - aDiyAn ivan enRu enakku Ar aRuL Seyyum

neDiyAn. The instance of His feeling forever that He had not done

enough to help draupadi after she cried out for Him and He saved her

from being defamed by duryodhana also comes to mind. His Nature is

that He forgives even the worst of sinners when they surrender to Him -

such is His broad-mindedness.

 

b) SrI Sa'nkara: By His mind alone, He performs the creation,

preservation, and withdrawal of the world - such is the capability of

His mind. The karmendriya-s are not involved in this process. SrI

Sa'nkara quotes the vishNu purANa in support - manasaiva jagat-sRshTim

samhAram ca karoti yah (5.22.15).

 

c) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha: BhagavAn is mahA manAh because He has

knowledge which supercedes anyone else's knowledge in this Universe,

and also as antaryAmI in everything that exists, He knows everything

there is to know. All great ones pray to Him for knowledge - yAm

medhAm devagaNAh pitarSca upAsate | tayA mAm adya medhayA agne

medhAvinam kuru || (yajur. 32.14).

 

The dharma cakram writer observes that in the sequence "body,

indriya-s, and mind", body is the sthUla or bigger one, and mind is the

subtle one or sUkshma. The subtler one is the more capable in this

sequence, and without the mind the indriya-s don't function, and

without the indriya-s the body does not function.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

 

 

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