SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 75 - Part 4.

[Guest guest]

Dear SrI Mani:

I had submitted the following on 7/9/02, but I suspect it did not make it to the

list because of some related problem at my end. So I am re-sending

it. I hope it is not a repeat.

Regards,

-Krishnamachari

Narasimhan Krishnamachari <champakam wrote: SrI vishNu sahasra

nAmam - Slokam 75 - sad-bhUtih, sat-parAyaNam.

 

708. sad-bhUtih - a) The wealth, in all forms, for the good.

b) He Who is endowed with rich glories (aiSvaryam)

c) He Who alone truly exists.

d) He Who manifests Himself in infinite forms.

 

om sad-bhUtaye namah.

 

The term bhUti can refer to wealth, prosperity or existence (amara

koSam) - bhavatyanayA SrImAn iti bhUtih; bhavatAt iti vA.

 

a) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the derivation - satAm mahAtmanAm

bhUtih sampattih iti sad-bhUtih - The wealth for the good. SrI BhaTTar

points out that for the true devotee, He is the son, friend, messenger,

charioteer, and everything else also. SrI aNNan'ngarAcArya svAmi

points out that this means that He is their help in all forms.

 

b) SrI cinmayAnanda gives the interpretation that this nAma means "One

Who has Rich Glories". He interprets bhUti as referring to His

aiSvaryam - wealth, power, happiness, etc. Alternatively, he gives the

interpretation that the nAma refers to "One Who has taken different

incarnations", exhibiting in all of them the glories of the Supreme.

 

c) SrI Samkara gives the meaning bhAsamAnatvam (Effulgence) to the term

'bhUti", and "true existence" to the term sat, and thus gives the

interpretation that this nAma of bhagavAn signifies that He alone truly

exists, and has the effulgence which is revealed without any other

external object. Without Him nothing else exists, and without His

Effulgence, nothing else is revealed. One translator has translated

SrI Samkara's original vyAkhyAnam as follows: "As the supreme Self is

ever-existing as Consciousness and shining, He is unsublated being".

 

d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the root bhU - sattAyAm - to be, to

live, for the term bhUti, and thus gives the interpretation suggestive

of "His truly existing in different forms" (sati = SASvatI, bhUtih =

bhavanam = vividha bhAvena pariNAmah, sad-bhUtih). He gives as an

illustration the fact that the tree exists in the seed, and the seed

exists in the tree, and both are real and true. Time does not destroy

this relationship, and this relationship is eternal. This same

relationship extends to everything in the universe. Thus, bhagavAn is

both the nimitta kAraNam and the upAdAna kAraNam (tathaiva idam brahma

jaDa cetana rUpasya asya viSvasya nimittam kAraNam na tu upAdAna

kAraNam, bIjAnAm vapte ca).

 

708. sat-parAyaNam - a) The Support for the good.

b) The supreme Goal for the good.

c) He Who has the good people as His support.

 

om sat-parAyaNAya namah.

 

SrI BhaTTar gives two alternate versions for this nAma - sat-parAyaNam

or sat-parAyaNah. The first version is in neuter gender, and the

second one is in masculine gender. SrI BhaTTar's interpretation

corresponds to the meaning "BhagavAn is the supreme support for the

good" for the first version, and for the second, he gives the

interpretation "The good are His supreme support".

 

a) sat-parAyaNam: satAm parama ayanam iti sat-parAyaNam (SrI kRshNa

datta bhAradvAj) - "He Who is the Supreme Support for the good". In

support of the interpretation of the nAma as "sat-parAyaNam", SrI

BhaTTar quotes the mahA-bhArata Slokam 173.24 from droNa parva:

 

kRshNASrayAh kRshNa balAh kRshNa-nAthASca pANDavAh |

kRshNah parAyaNam teshAm …..

||

 

"The pANDava-s have kRshNa as their resort, kRshNa as their strength,

kRshNa as their savior. In short, kRshNa is their great support". So

He is their sat-parAyaNam. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan quotes nammAzhvAr's

well-known agagillEn pASuram "pugal onRu illA aDiyEn un aDi-kIzh

amarndu pugundEnE" (tiruvAi. 6.10.10), as support for SrI BhaTTar's

interpretation.

 

b) Among those who have provided translations for SrI Samkara's

vyAkhyAnam, some have used the version "sat-parAyaNah" and some have

used "sat-parAyaNam". SrI Samkara's vyAkhyAnam is - satAm tattva

vidAm param prakRshTam ayanam iti sat-parAyaNam or sat-parAyaNah,

depending on the source. Translators have interpreted the nAma as

meaning that He is the supreme Goal for the good people. SrI Samkara

elaborates that "satAm" here refers to those who are the knowers of

Reality, or the true nature of God - satAm - tattva vidAm.

 

c) sat-parAyaNah: If the version "sat-parAyaNah" is used, SrI BhaTTar

gives the interpretation "santoh asya parAyaNam" - The good are His

supreme support. For this interpretation, SrI BhaTTar quotes the

following in support: mama prANA hi pANDavAh (mahAbhA. Uttara. 90.33)

- "The pANDava-s are verily my life-breath"; j~nAni tvAtmaiva me matam

(gItA 7.8) - "It is My view that the wise men are my inner soul".

tirumazhiSai AzhvAr sings this dependence of bhagavAn on His bhakta-s -

"nAraNanE! nee ennai anRi ilai! (nAnmugan tiru. 7), which has been

referenced before (e.g., under nAma 706 in this Slokam).

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

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