SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 69 - Part 4.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 69 - keSi-hA and harih.

 

 

655. keSi-hA - a) He who killed the asura by name keSi.

b) He who directs agni, sUrya, indra, vAyu etc. in their functions.

 

Om keSighne namah.

 

a) keSi-nAmAnam asuram hatavAn iti keSi-hA. kamsa sent the asura keSi

to destroy child kRshNa, and keSi who took the form of a horse to

destroy kRshNa was destroyed by kRshNa. The references in tiruppAvai

to "mA vAi kINDAn", and in 2nd tiruvantAdi to "kUndal vAi KINDAn" are

to this incident.

 

b) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha takes the meaning of the root hA- to go, and

derives his interpretation for the nAma based on the Rg-vedic

description of keSi referring to agni, vAyu, and sUrya (see the mantra

below. KeSi is one who has keSa or hair. smoke is the "hair" of the

fire; the rays of sUrya are the keSa-s of sUrya; indra (lightning) is

the keSi which is not seen - the reference to dadRSe na rUpam in the

mantra (Ralph Griffith translates this as referring to vAyu instead of

indra in his traslation); These are explained in Yaska's niruktam in

detail (12-24,25).

 

The Rg-vedic mantra he quotes in support is:

 

trayah keSina RtuthA vicakshate samvatsare vapata eka eshAm |

viSvameko abhicashTe SacIbhirdhrAjirekasya dadRSe na rUpam ||

(1.144.44)

 

Thus, in this interpretation, bhagavAn is called keSi-hA because He

directs agni, sUrya, indra, or vAyu perform their functions.

 

SrI vAsishTha has given several other interpretations for this nAma

(e.g., keSi referring generically to a horse, keSi referring to AtmA,

heart, etc.), which are not being covered here. Those interested can

refer to his original vyAkhyAna in samskRt, with translation in hindi.

 

656. harih - a) The Green-hued.

b) He Who removes the distress of His devotees

c) He Who wards off samsAra with its cause from His

devotees.

d) The Destroyer of the Universe at the time of pralaya.

 

 

Om haraye namah.

 

a) The term hara refers to green color. BhagavAn's words from mahA

bhArata are given in support by SrI BhaTTar:

 

iDopahUtam …….

varNaSca me harih SreshThah tasmAd harir-iti smRtah || (mahA. SAnti.

343.39)

 

"My superior complexion is green, and therefore I am called Hari".

 

One is reminded of the familiar pASuram "paccai mA-malai pOl mEni…)

(tirumAlai 2).

 

b) SrI aNNa'ngarAcArya gives the interpretation "ArtigaLai harippavar"

- He who removes the distress of His devotees.

 

c) (samsAram) harati iti harih - He who wards off samsAra with its

cause from His devotees is harih (SrI Samkara). Alternatively, pApAnAm

harati iti harih - He who wards off the sins of His devotees.

 

d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha extends the anubhavam to include bhagavAn's

destruction of the world at the time of pralaya, and His destruction of

the darkness in our minds always.

 

The dharma cakram writer observes that the sight of green gives a

feeling of peace to the mind; the thought of Hari, the green-hued One,

similarly gives peace to the mind. The "hari nAma" is chanted whenever

one starts anything auspicious, and this is to remove all obstacles and

sins that may be committed in the process. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri

notes that in kali santaraNa Upanishad, the repetition of the 16 nAma-s

in the following familiar chant is prescribed for the removal of all

sins caused by kali.

 

hare rAma hare rAma rAma rAma hare hare |

hare kRshNa hare kRshNa kRshNa kRshNa hare hare || (kali santaraNa

upa. 6.2)

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

 

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