SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 74 - Part 7.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 74 - vasu-manAh, havih.

 

702. vasu-manAh - a) He Who has a Mind which thinks of His devotees as

a treasure.

b) He Whose mind is always with vasu-deva.

c) He Who has a golden mind - pure, without any afflictions.

d) He Who has a pure mind (He dwells in every thing without

distinction)

e) He Who has a mind which is filled with vAtsalyam to His devotees.

f) He Who has a mind that leads to His removing the difficulties of His

devotees.

g) He Who has complete knowledge of the type of body and other needs of

all beings.

h) He Whose mind was with bhIshma as he lay in his death-bed of arrows.

 

Om vasu-manase namah.

 

We encountered this nAma earlier as nAma 106. The sequence vasuh and

vasu-manAh occurred as nAma-s 105 and 106, and now we see the two

nAma-s consecutively as nAma-s 701 and 702.

 

a) In Slokam 12, where SrI BhaTTar interpreted the nAma vasuh as "He

Who dwells in His devotees' minds" even when they display the slightest

of devotion, he explained the next nAma - vasu-manAh, as indicating

further that bhagavAn considered these devotees as a treasure which is

hard to find (vasuh interpreted as wealth, and manas interpreted as

mind; vasu-manAh - He Who treasures the devotees in His mind). SrI

BhaTTar gave the reference to gItA 7.19 - sa mahAtmA su-durlabhah,

indicating how the pure devotees are a hard treasure for Him to find.

SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN comments that all that bhagavAn look for is

the wealth of pure devotion to Him from His devotees - aki'ncana

bhakta dhaneshu mano yasya sa vasu-manAh.

 

In his first pASuram of tiruvAimozhi, nammAzhvAr refers to perumAL's

tiruvaDi as "tuyar aRu SuDar aDi". The traditional meaning given for

this is: The glorious tiruvaDi that removes the sufferings of His

devotees. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives this as a support for the current

nAma, and comments that perumAL's tiruvaDi shines brightly when He is

relieved of His sorrow on finding His devotee. SrI B. R. Purushottam

Naidu explains this in his work on IDu vyAkhyAnam in tamizh. bhagavad

rAmAnuja has given this alternate explanation for this phrase of

nammAzhvAr: It is bhagavAn whose tuyar or sorrow is removed, and His

Divine Feet shine brilliantly, as they get in contact with His dear

devotees. Such is the importance of the devotees and their happiness

to bhagavAn. Bhagavad rAmAnuja's anubhavam is that He suffers when the

devotees suffer, and He feels happy when the devotee feels happy, as

described in SrImad rAmAyaNam, ayodhyA kANDam, 2.42: vyasaneshu

manushyANAm bhRSam bhavati duhkitah | utsaveshu ca sarveshu piteva

paritushyati ||

 

SrI rAmAnujan also gives support for this interpretation of SrI BhaTTar

from tiruma'ngai AzhvAr's tiruneDuntANDakam (1) - endai taLir puraiyum

tiruvaDi en talai mElavE. SrI periyavAccAn piLLai explains that it is

only after coming into contact with AzhvAr's head that His tiriuvaDi

got their life; until that time they were like dried leaf. The point

to be noted is that for bhagavAn, association with His devotee is the

most important treasure, which He longs for - hence His nAma as

vasu-manAh.

 

b) For the current occurrence of the nAma vasu-manAh, SrI BhaTTar

follows up on his interpretation of the previous nAma (701) - vasuh,

which he interpreted as "One Who dwells in the Milk-Ocean ready to take

the different incarnations for the benefit of mankind". He

interprets the current nAma as indicating that though He was resting in

the Milk-Ocean, His manas was with vasu-deva - vasu-manAh (the term

vasu in this nAma referring to vasu-deva), to whom He decided to be

born as the son for His kRshNa incarnation. SrI BhaTTar points out

that just as the term 'datta' without any other qualification always

refers to deva-datta, and the term 'bhAmA' refers to satyabhAmA, so

also scholars in mhaA-bhAshya have interpreted the name vasu to refer

to vasu-deva. Even though He resides in the Milk-ocean, the birth

place of lakshmi, His mind is with vasu-deva, and this is why He

chooses to be born as vasu-deva's child.

 

c) d) For this nAma in Slokam 12, SrI Samkara gives the interpretation

that He has the nAma vasu-manAh since He has a manas which is vasu

(pure, excellent, superior); His mind is not polluted with desire,

aversion, pride, etc. (raga-dveshAdibhih kleSaih madAdibhih

up-kleSaiSca yato na kalushitam cittam tatah tan-manah praSastam;

praSastam mano yasya sah vasu-manAh). For the current occurrence of

this nAma, SrI Samkara gives the interpretation that He is has a mind

which is pure and excellent in the sense that He dwells in everyone's

mind without distinction, and treats everyone equally - a-viSesheNa

sarveshu vishayeshu vasati iti vasuh, tAdRSam manah asya iti

vasu-manAh.

 

The dharma cakram writer explains that while most people are used to

think of only their own selves and their own welfare, a person who

strives to put vedAnta into practice will have the broad mind to think

of the welfare of others, and will see God in everything he encounters.

He realizes that bhagavAn is the only One who is worthy of worship.

He acquires unshakable devotion to Him. This is not easy to attain,

and it may take several births to achieve. Meditation on the current

nAma, with an understanding of its significance, will help us all move

closer to this objective in life.

 

e) f) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj uses yet other meanings for the word

vasu (vas - snehe - to love, and vas- apaharaNe - to take away, based

on vas - snehac-cheda apaharaNeshu - to love, to cut, to take away).

His first interpretation is that this nAma signifies bhagavAn's

vAtsalyam (vasu snehah vAtsalyam tan manasi yasya iti vasu-manAh).

His second interpretation, based on vas - apaharaNa - to take away, is

that He has this nAma because He has a mind which makes Him take away

or remove the sufferings of His devotees - vAsayati apaharati vipadah

sva-janAnAm iti vasu; tAdRSam mano yasya iti vasu-manAh).

 

g) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the root man - j~nAne - to know, to

think, and gives the interpretation that this nAma signifies that

bhagavAn is the Knower of the type of body, and the relative

requirements of heat, air, water, etc., for the different kinds of

beings, and so He is vasu-manAh - One Who knows the various needs,

constitution, etc., of all the creatures (yena prakAreNa nivasitum

arhati, pRthak pRthak SarIra-kRte katham vidhasya aushNyasya, kim vA

Sitasya, kim vA jalasya, kim vA vAyoh AvaSyakatA astiiti sarvam vishNuh

jAnAti, tasmAt sa vasu-manAh ukto bhavati).

 

h) SrI baladeva vidyA-bhUshaN specifically takes the reference to

"vasu" as a reference to bhIshma, and gives the interpretation for the

nAma as "He Who had bhIshma in His mind". bhIshma is one the

ashTa-vasu's who was born to ga'ngA devi with santanu. SrI vidyA

bhUshaN quotes the following in support:

 

Saratalpo gato bhIshmah Samyanniva hutAsanah |

mAm dhyAyati purusha-vyAghra tato me tad-gatam mana ||

 

703. havih -a) The Sacrificial Offering.

b) He Who is satisfied or pleased.

 

Om havishe namah.

 

The word havih is derived from the root hu - dAnAdanayoh - to offer, to

perform a sacrifice. The derivation and the different interpretations

for the nAma mahA-havih (nAma 683 - Slokam 72), has been given before.

Briefly, the term havis refers to any material offered in a sacrifice

in general.

 

a) In the context of kRshNa incarnation, SrI BhaTTar's anubhavam for

this nAma is that it signifies that bhagavAn was given away

(sacrificed) by devaki and vasudeva to yasodA and nandagopa as soon as

He was born. Even though child kRshNa did not have anything to fear

from kamsa, He let Himself be given away to nandagopa just for the

peace of mind of vasudeva and yasodA.

 

The dharma cakram writer observes that when something is offered in

sacrifice by one person to another, both benefit in the process. In

the case of Lord kRshNa, devaki and vasudeva who gave Him away were

released from the atrocity of kamsa, and yaSodA and nandagopa who

received Him derived immense joy by having Him with them. That is the

greatness of sacrifice. However, it is important to note that

sacrifice should be performed without the feeling of ownership, and

without the desire for benefit.

 

In a more general sense, bhagavAn describes Himself as havih in gItA

Slokam 4.24. This Slokam and its meaning have been explained under

nAma 683 in detail. SrI Samkara gives his interpretation for the

current nAma as "He Who is the Oblation in the sacrifice", and gives

the above-referenced gItA Slokam in support. His explanation is that a

Brahman-knower knows that the havis is nothing but Brahman - brahma

arpaNam yena karaNena brahma-vit havih agnau arpayati tat brahmaiva iti

paSyati.

 

b) A different derivation is given by SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj and

SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN. They derive their interpretations based on

the root hu (hinv) - prINane - to please, and thus give the

interpretation for the nAma as "He Who is pleased or satisfied" -

hUyate prIyate iti havih. Following on his explanation for the nAma

vasu-manAh in terms of bhIshma, SrI vidyA bhUshaN observes that He was

pleased with bhIshma's meditation as He was lying on the bed of arrows,

and bestowed moksham on him, and this is what is signified by the nAma

"havih".

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

 

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