SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 70 - kAma-devah, kAma-pAlah.

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SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 70 - Part 1.

 

kAma-devah kAma-pAlah kAmI kAntah kRtAgamah |

anirdeSya-vapur_vishNur_vIro'nanto dhana'njayah ||

 

om kAma-devAya namah

om kAma-pAlAya namah

om kAmine namah

om kAntAya namah

om kRtAgamAya namah

om anirdeSya-vapushe namah

om vishNave namah

om vIrAya namah

om anantAya namah

om dhana'njayAya namah

 

657. kAma-devah - a) The One who grants all desires.

b) The Lord who is desired by those who seek the four purushArtha-s.

 

Om kAma-devAya namah

 

a) SrI BhaTTar derives his interpretation kAmAn dIvyati iti kAma-devah

- One who gives as a gift all that His devotees desire. The term

"dIvyati" signifies dAna-karmA. He gives the support for this

interpretation from mahA bhAratam:

 

kAmadevastu bhagavAn sarveshAm sarva-kAmadah | (bhA. Santi. 343.39)

 

" The Lord has the name kAma-deva as He grants all the desires of all

beings".

 

b) SrI Samkara gives the interpretation that bhagavAn has this nAma

because He is the God (deva) who is desired (kAma) by those who seek

the four kinds of goals - dharma, artha, kAma, and moksha. (kAmyata iti

kAmah - kAma because He is desired, and devaSca - God).

 

kAmam or desire can be that which is consistent with dharma, or that

which is contrary to dharma. The kAma that one should seek is the one

that is consistent with dharma. BhagavAn refers to this in gItA 7.11 -

dharma aviruddho bhUteshu kAmo'smi bharatarshabha - In all beings, I am

the kAma which is unopposed to dharma. The dharma cakram writer points

out that by worshipping bhagavAn, the kAma-deva, one can develop the

enrichment of the desire that is consistent with dharma, and move away

from the kAma that is opposed to dharma. He points out that those with

the right kind of kAma see God in the world, and those who have the

wrong kind of kAma see the world in God. To win over the worldly kAma

and to grow the godly kAma, one should chant the nAma of kAma-deva with

this meaning in mind.

 

658. kAma-pAlah - a) The Protector of the gifts that He bestows.

b) The Protector of those who desire Him.

 

Om kAma-pAlAya namah.

 

a) In the previous nAma, SrI BhaTTar interpreted kAma-devah as One who

bestows the gifts that the devotee desires, thus kAma referring to the

gifts desired by the devotee. He interprets the current nAma as

referring to bhagavAn's guNa of protecting that which He has bestowed -

sa eva datta (kAmAn) anupAlanAt kAma-devah.

 

SrImad baladeva vidyAbhUshaN, a follower of the gauDiya vaishNava

sampradAyam, specifically refers to bhagavAn fulfilling the wishes of

the deva-s by killing keSi - keSi vadhena teshAm kAmam abhilAsham

pAlayati pUrayati iti kAma-pAlah.

 

b) In one of the interpretations that SrI cinmayAnanda gives, he

interprets kAma as referring to those who desire Him, and then assigns

the meaning to kAma-pAlah as One who protects those who desire Him.

 

-To be continued.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

 

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