SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 74 - Part 2.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 74 - tIrtha-karah.

 

696. tIrtha-karah - a) He Who is the source of the holy waters.

b) He Who makes us cross over the ocean of samsAra.

c) He Whose touch of hand is purifying.

d) He Who has provided simple steps to access Him through His various

incarnations.

 

Om tIrtha-karAya namah.

 

The word tIrtham is derived from the root thRR - plavana taraNayoh - to

swim, to cross over. That through which one crosses over or swims is

tIrtham. The term tIrtham is used to refer to sources of water that

purify a person. The term is also used to refer to the sacred

scriptures which purify a person through their learning - taratyanena

pApam aj~nAnam iti tIrtham, or making it easier for us to reach Him

through His various incarnations (para, vyUha, vibhava, arcA,

antaryAmi). The "crossing over" can also refer to crossing over the

ocean of samsAra, the crossing over of all sins, etc.

 

nammAzhvAr''s tiruvAimozhi pASuram 7.10.1 captures the full

significance of the word "tIrtham":

 

tIrthanukkaRRa pin maRROr SaraN illai enRu eNNi, tIrthanuukE

tIrtta manattanan Agi, Sezhum kurugUr SaThakOpan Sonna

tIrtha'ngaL AyirattuL ivai pattum vallArgaLai, dEvar vaikal

tIrtha'ngaLe enRu pUSittu nalgi uraippar tam dEviyarkkE (tiruvAi.

7.10.11)

 

The reference to "tIrthan" in the first line is to perumAL; the

"tIrtham" in the 3rd line refers to nammAzhvAr's pASuram-s which are

purifying to those who chant them, and are even more purifying than Him

; the reference to tIrtham in the 4th line is to those who have learned

the purifying pASuram-s, who are even more pure than the pASurams

themselves (SrI V. N. vedAnta deSikan from ARAyirap paDi). Thus,

tIrtham here refers to the three levels - perumAL, the sacred AzhvAr's

pASurams, and the devotees who chant them. bhUtattAzhvAr also refers

to those who sing His praise as "tIrtha-kara-s" - eN tiSaiyum pErtta

karam nAngu uDaiyAn pEr Odip pediagAL - tIrtha karar Amin tirindu

(iraNDAm tiruvantAdi - 14). - reference from SrI v.v. rAmAnujan.

 

The term karah is used in two ways by the vyAkhyAna kartA-s: The Doer,

from the dhAtu kR - karaNe - to do; or to refer to karah - hand.

 

Thus, tIrtha-karah means tIrtham karoti iti tIrtha-karah - He Who

creates the tIrtha-s is tirtha-karah (SrI satyadevo vAsishTha), or He

Who creates the SAstra-s etc. that purify the person who resorts to

them, or He has the divine hands whose touch purify the devotee -

tIrthah tArakah karo yasya iti tIrtha karah (SrI kRshNa datta

bhAradvAj).

 

a) SrI BhaTTar gives three interpretations:

 

1) He has this nAma because He is the source of the holy rivers such as

the ganges, and the holy lakes such as the pushkara, which purify those

that mediate on them or recite their names, just as His nAma purifies

them.

2) He is the Originator of yoga, j~nAna, sAmkhya (science, craft and

other arts, Vedas, SAstra-s, and music) - yogo j~nAnam tathA

sAmkhyam…(mahA bhArata, Anu. 150.141).

3) He, Who is deep like an unreachable ocean, but makes it possible for

the devotees to reach Him through a series of incarnations that are

like steps to reach Him.

 

In dayA Satakam, svAmi deSikan prostrates to the AcArya paramparA as

the steps that make it possible to have access to Him who is otherwise

inaccessible like the deep ocean (Slokam 2 - vigAhe tIrtha

bahulAm.SitalAm guru-santatim…). One is reminded of the sAmyam of

AcArya-s with bhagavAn that svAmi deSikan refers to in nyAsa vimSati

Slokam 2. I feel that, along the lines of SrI BhaTTar's third

interpretation above, bhagavAn is tIrtha-karah also in the sense that

He has provided this great AcArya paramparA starting with Him, followed

by pirATTi, vishvakesenar, etc., all the way down to our current AcArya

in order to enable us to reach Him.

 

b) SrI Samkara uses the meaning "vidyA" for tIrtham, and gives the

interpretation - caturdaSa vidyAnAm bAhya-vidyA-samayAnAm ca praNetA

pravaktA ca iti tIrtha-karah - He is the Teacher of the fourteen

vidyA-s and the auxiliary sciences, and so He is called tIrtha-karah.

These include the veda-s and other vidyA-s which He taught to brahma

and the deva-s, as well the other sciences that are contradictory to

the vedic teachings that He gave to the asura-s to deceive them. SrI

rAdhAkRshNa SAstri refers to the 14 or 18 vidyA-s or the "ghats of

knowledge - kalvit tuRaigaL" - the four veda-s, the six vedA'ngga-s

(SikshA, vyAkaraNa, chandas, niruktam, jyotisham, kalpam), the two

darSana-s (mImAmsA, nyAaya), dharma SAstra, and purANa-s, and the four

additional ones - Ayurveda, dhanurveda, gAndharva, artha SAstra. Among

the vidyA divisions that are non-vedic in nature and meant for

misleading those who are Asuric are the bauddha, jaina, etc. branches.

 

SrI cinmayAnanda comments that He is tIrtha-karah because He is the

most ancient Teacher of vidyA-s or tIrtha-s.

 

c) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj uses the meaning "hand" for the word

karah, and gives the interpretation that He is called tIrtha-karah

because He has hands whose mere touch alone can purify anyone or

anything - tIrthah tArakah karo yasya iti tIrtha-karah. He gives

support from SrImad bhAgavatam where we find that the mere touch of

bhagavAn was able to lift gajendra from his a~jnAnam, to which he had

been subjected through a previous curse (SApam) from agastya muni..

 

gajendro bhagavad-sparSAt vimuktah aj~nAna bandhanAt |

prApto bhagavato rUpam pItavAsAS-caturbhujah || ( bhAga. 8.4.6)

 

"By the touch of bhagavAn the elephant-king was relieved from the

bondage of a~jnAnam, and attained sArUpyam with bhagavAn, wearing the

yellow silk garment and endowed with four hands".

 

d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha comments that the nAma signifies that He is

the One who makes the Sun and all the other planets move around

(tIrtham is used in the sense of crossing over, and karah in the sense

of making this possible for the graha-s).

 

-To be continued.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

 

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