SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 73 - Part 4.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 73 - Part 4.

 

688. stotA - a) He Who praises those who extol Him.

b) He Who is also the form of the Eulogizer of bhagavAn.

 

Om stotre namah.

 

SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is "sva-stotAram stotum Seelam asya iti stotA"

- He Whose nature it is to praise those who praise Him is stotA. He

quotes from vishNu dharma in support: "yam stuvan stavyatAmeti

vandamAnaSca vandyatAm" (75.55) - "He Who praises bhagavAn is praised

by bhagavAn Himself, and he who adores bhagavAn becomes an object of

adoration for Him". SrI BhaTTar gives the example of bhagavAn's

kailAsa yAtra in His kRshNa incarnation. The incident referred to is

Lord kRshNa's praise of Siva in the form of a hymn during the kailAsa

yAtra. Siva constantly meditates on bhagavAn through the tAraka

mantra, and so He becomes an object of stuti by bhagavAn, as He says in

hari vamSa - "One who praises Me becomes praiseworthy". SrI kRshNa

datta bhAradvAj gives the same interpretation as SrI BhaTTar - stauti

sva-janAn iti stotA. SrI baladeva vidyAbhUshan gives the reason for

bhagavAn praising His devotee - He wants to bring out the greatness of

such a devotee. He quotes from the gItA - j~nAnI tvAtmaiva me matam

(7.18). Solkam 7.17 of the gItA also conveys this idea:

 

teshAm j~nAni nitya-yukta eka-bhaktir viSishyate; |

priyo hi j~nAnino'tyartham aham sa ca mama priyah ||

 

where Lord kRshNa declares that the devotee who has exclusive devotion

to Him is extremely dear to Him. SrI cinmayAnanda refers us to the

gItA Slokam 12.14 - mayyarpita mano-buddhir yo mad-bhaktah sa me

priyah.

 

The dharma cakram writer elaborates on the attributes or qualities of

the devotee whom bhagavAn praises. This devotee shows kindness to all,

has overcome anger, considers pleasure and pain as equal, is pure in

thought, word and deed, dedicates all his actions to bhagavAn, is

neither happy when he obtains objects of pleasure nor unhappy when he

is faced with objects of displeasure, is neither positively influenced

by praise nor negatively influenced by unkind words, etc. Lord kRshNa

describes such a devotee in Chapter 16 of the gItA among other places.

 

b) SrI Samkara's vyAkhyAnam is - stotA api sa eva, sarva AtmakatvAt -

so He is the Eulogizer as well. SrI cinmayAnanda obsrves that the true

devotee who sings the divine hymns of the Lord dissolves in the Lord

(becomes one with the Lord), and is in at-one-ment with Him.

 

689. raNa-priyah - a) He Who delights in battle.

b) He Who delights in the auspicious sounds in places of worship.

c) He Who moves around happily in the form of the Sun etc.

 

Om raNa-priyAya namah.

 

The word raNa has two meanings - raNa gatau, raNa Sabda arthah- it can

mean motion or sound. The different interpretations draw on these two

different meanings.

 

Generically, raNa-priyah thus means one who delights in moving around,

accompanied by sound. Thus, the term raNa is used to refer to battle,

where a vIra purusha moves around with joy in confronting his enemies.

SrI Samkara and SrI BhaTTar use this meaning (battle) in their

interpretations. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the meaning "movement",

while SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj uses the meaning "sound".

 

He is raNa-priyah when it comes to dealing with the enemies of those

who have surrendered to Him and sought His protection. He delights in

battle for the purposes of protection those who seek refuge in Him, and

for protection of righteousness. The fight against rAvaNa in His rAma

incarnation, and the destruction of duryodhana and other demons in His

kRshNa incarnation are among the widely known examples of His guNa of

raNa-priyah. These are for the protection of the good and the

destruction of the evil - paritrANAya sAdhUnAm vinASAya ca dushkRtAm

dharma smasthApaNArthAya….

 

SrI BhaTTar quotes sage vAlmIki in yuddha kANDa:

 

tatah sakAmam sugrIvam a'ngadam ca mahA-balam |

cakAra rAghavah prIto hatvA rAvaNamAhave || (yuddha. 111.31)

 

"Sri rAma killed rAvaNa in the fight and felt happy that He fulfilled

the desires of the powerful sugrIva and a"ngada".

 

SrI Samkara refers to His carrying the great pa'ncAyudha-s ever ready

for the protection of the world - yatah pa'nca mahAyudhAni dhatte

satatam loka rakshaNArtham ato raNa-priyah.

 

b) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives an interpretation which is

different from the other vyAkyAna kartA-s: raNo ravah mandireshu

ma'ngala dhvanih; sa priyo yasya iti raNa-priyah - The auspicious sound

in the temples is called raNah or ravah; since these are pleasant to

Him, He is referred to as raNa-priyah.

 

c) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the meaning of movement for raNa, and

gives the interpretation that He is called raNa-priyah because He

delights in moving around in the hearts of everyone and removing the

darkness in them and enlightening them, or He delights in moving around

in the form of the Sun and removing the darkness in the world.

 

The dharma cakram writer points out that life intrinsically is a

struggle of one thing vs. another. For one life to live, some other

life or some aspect of another life is destroyed. For us to be

relieved from evil influences, we have to fight to overcome the evil.

bhagavAn has the big task of fighting against the evils of the world,

and this is what He signifies by carrying the pa'ncAyudha-s. This nAma

of bhagavAn should remind us that our life is a big struggle and a

fight to keep the bad from us, and to constantly assert the good in us.

 

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

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