SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 76 - Part 1.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 76.

 

bhUtA-vAso vAsu-devah sarvAsu-nilayo'nalah |

darpa-hA darpa-do'dRpto dur-dharo'thA'parAjitah ||

 

om bhUtA-vAsAya namah

om vAsu-devAya namah

om sarvAsunilayAya namah

om analAya namah

om darpaghnAya namah

om darpadAya namah

om dRptAya namah

om dur-dharAya namah

om aparAjitAya namah

 

713. bhUtA-vasah - a) He Who is the abode of all creatures.

b) He Who dwells in the hearts of His devotees.

c) The dwelling place of the Great Elements.

 

Om bhUtA-vAsAaya namah.

 

The word bhUtAh can be derived from the root bhU - bhav - to be;

bhavanti iti bhUtAni. The word vAsAh is derived from the root vas -

nivAse - to dwell. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the derivation -

samantAd vasanti bhUtAni yasmin sah bhUtA-vAso vishNuh - He in Whom all

beings everywhere live is bhUtA-vAsah.

 

The nirukti description (a summarization of SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam)

for the nAma is "yasmin vasanti bhUtAni bhUtA-vAsa sa kathyate" - He in

Whom all beings reside is called bhUtA-vAsah. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan

comments that Lord kRshNa revealed through several viSva rUpa darSana-s

that He is bhUtA-vasah, One in Whom all beings reside. SrI rAmAnujan

gives references to the gItA and to divya prabandham in support:

 

paSyAmi devAns-tava deva dehe sarvAns-tathA bhUta viSesha sa'nghAn

|

brahmaNam Isam kamalAsanastham RshiNSca sarvAn uragAnSca dIptAn ||

(gItA 11.15)

 

"O Lord, I behold in Your body all the gods and all the diverse hosts

of beings, brahma, Siva, the seers, and the lustrous snakes" -

(arjuna's words as he has the viSva rUpa darSanam).

 

mattah parataram nAnyat ki'ncidasti dhana'njaya |

mayi sarvam idam protam sUtre maNigaNA iva || ( gItA 7.7)

 

"There is nothing higher than Myself, O arjuna. All this is strung on

Me, as rows of gems on a thread".

 

- nammAzhvAr refers to perumAL as "uyirgaL ellA ulagum uDaiyavan"

(tiruvAi. 3.2.11); He is the Soul of all souls.

 

- periAzhvAr describes yaSOdA's anubhavam of finding all the universes

inside His mouth - "vaiyam Ezhum kaNDAL piLLai vAyuLE" (periAzhvAr

tiru. 1.1.6)

 

SrI Samkara vyAkhyAnam is: bhUtAni atra abhimukhyena vasanti iti

bhUtA-vAsah - He in whom all beings, in essence, dwell, is

bhUtA-vAsah.

 

b) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj interprets the nAma as "He Whose dwelling

is dwells in the devotees who perform His worship and sing His praise"

- bhUteshu bhajana parAyaNeshu prANishu AvAso yasya iti bhUtA-vAsah.

 

c) SrI cinmayAnanda interprets the terms bhUtAh as referring to the

five Great Elements, and thus interprets the nAma to mean "He Who is

the very dwelling place for the Great Elements". He quotes the

following from hari vamSa as support: "vasanti tvayi bhUtAni

bhUtAvAsas-tato bhavAn" (279.52).

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives some examples to illustrate His guNa of

bhUtA vAsah in the context of His being the Controller of the five

great elements. Even though we human beings are constituted of the

five great elements, our principal nature is that of pRthvI, while that

of the fish is primarily the nature of water. The fish is created such

that its lungs don't fill with water as it lives in water, whereas the

fish cannot live outside the water and on the land. Those that fly in

the air are primarily of the nature of vAyu. He says that if the ashes

from burnt cowdung are let stand for 50 years, there will be an insect

that originates from this that will be fire-proof, and thus has fire as

its principal nature. Thus, bhagavAn has created the different

creatures in different ways, and associated them with the pa'nca mahA

bhUta-s in different ways. There is variety also in the way the

different creatures reproduce themselves. Some creatures that live in

water lay their eggs outside water, on land, because of the need for

heat in hatching the egg. Even in poison, there are germs that survive

and live and thrive. All these are illustrations of the fact that He

is bhUta AvAsah - One in Whom everything lives, and One Who lives in

everything. SrI vAsishTha reefers us to the Rg vedic hymn - vishNoh

karmANi paSyata (1.22.19) - Look at vishNu's works, whereby He has let

His great ways be seen.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

 

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