SrI vishNu sahasera nAmam - Slokam 78 - Part 1.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 78 - ekah.

 

eko naikah sa vah kah kim yat tat padam-anuttamam |

lika-bandhur_loka-nAthah mA-dhavo bhakta-vatsalah ||

 

om ekAya namah

om naikAya namah

om sAya namah

om vAya namah

om kAya namah

om kime namah

om yate namah

om tate namah

om padaya anuttamAya namah

om loka-bandhave namah

om loka-nAthAya namah

om mA-dhavAya namah

om bhakta-vatsalAya namah

 

730. ekah - One Who is Unique and matchless in all respects.

 

Om ekAya namah.

 

SrI BhaTTar gives his interpretation of the nAma ekah based on the root

iN - gatau - to go, with the addition of the affix kat per uNAdi sUtra

326 - iNa bhI kA …kan, with the meanings "one, chief, alone" for the

word ekah. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha explains ekah as "eti - gacchati

sarvatra iti ekah" - He Who is present everywhere. When we have more

than one of anything with similar attributes, we refer to them as "two

brAhmaNa-s, five kshatriya-s", etc.; however, in the case of bhagavAn,

there is no one else to compare to Him, and so He is ekah. SrI

BhaTTar's actual words are - ukte mahimni sajAtIya samkhyeya asambhavAt

advaitam gacchati iti ekah - With reference to His Supreme greatness,

there is no one who can be compared with Him, and so He is called ekah.

SrI BhaTTar gives the Sruti vAkhyam "eka id-rAjA jagato babhUva (tait.

yaju. 4.1.8)" - "He was the only King of the whole world" in support.

SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the following references:

 

- dyAvA bhUmI janayan deva ekah - Rg. 10.81.3 - "He, the Sole God,

producing earth and heaven ,…";

- yadi no bhagavAn prIta ekah sarva-guNASrayah - bhAga. 9.5.11 - "If

it is true that bhagavAn who is the antaryAmi of all the beings and the

abode of all kalyANa guNa-s is pleased with us, then let this braAhmin

be relieved of his suffering".

 

nammAzhvAr refers to Him as "oruvan" (One without a second) in many

places. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives the following references:

 

- arakkarai uruk keDa vALi pozhinda oruvanE (tiruvAi. 8.6.2);

- kaNgaL Sivandu periyavAi, vAyum Sivandu kanindu,…., oN Sa'ngu gadai

vAL AzhiyAn oruvan aDiyEn uLLAnE (tiruvAi. 8.8.1);

- ilanadu uDaiyan idu ena ninaivu ariyavan …an-nalanuDaiya oruvanai …

(tiruvAi. 1.1.3); …

- j~nAlam uNDu umizhnda endai eka-mUrtikkE (tiruvAi. 1.1.3)

 

b) SrI Samkara gives the interpretation - "paramArthatah sajAtIya

vijAtIya sva-gata bheda vinirmuktatvAt ekah - "The One, being devoid of

any distinction such as sajAtIya, vijAtIya, and svagata". The

concepts of sajAtIya, vijAtIya, and the svagata bheda are explained

under nAma 706 in Slokam 75. BhagavAn is unique in not discriminating

between the different members of the same species, members of different

species, etc., and so He is ekah (Unique). SrI Samkara gives the

support from chAndogya upanishad - ekameva a-dvitIyam (6.2) - He is One

without a second.

 

c) SrI baladeva vidyAbhUshaN links this nAma to the nAma-s of the

previous Slokam, and comments that even though He has many forms, many

faces, etc., (Sata-Murtih, SatAnanah), He is still One and Only One,

and so He is referred to as ekah in this nAma.

 

d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the analogy of the one father for the

many children; BhagavAn vishNu is the One Father who creates

everything in this Universe, and so He is called ekah.

 

In the sahasra nAmAvaLi, the mantra is "Om ekAya namah" according to

the followers of viSishTAdvaitam and dvaitam, and "Om ekasmai namah"

according to the adviata sampradAyam. Similar difference exists in

many nAma-s: viSvAya namah vs. viSvasmai namah (First nAma of SrI

vishNu sahasra nAmam); naikAya namah vs. naikasmai namah for nAma 731,

etc. The difference seems to arise as a result of the fundamental

difference in the philosophies of the vyAkhyAna kartA-s.

 

When a word is a pronoun or a sarvanAma, (and the words viSvam, ekah

etc. are sarvanAma-s when they have their traditional meanings), then

it is declined similar to the word sarva, and the dative singular is

"sarvasmai, viSvasmai, ekasmai etc." (pANini sUtra 1.1.27). However,

when this same words is not treated as a pronoun, and instead refers to

something special, like the specific name of a person (e.g., ekah as a

person's actual name), then the word is declined like an ordinary noun

such as narah, and not as a pronoun. Then the dative singular is

declined as sarvAya, viSvAya, ekAya, etc. The example given in

explanation of this sUtra by SrISa Candra Vasu in his "AshTAdhyAyI of

pANini" is that of the word "sarva" meaning "everything" (a pronoun)

vs. sarva being the name of a person (an ordinary noun). The former is

declined as a pronoun, and the latter is declined as an ordinary noun

like narah. The followers of the advaita sampradAyam seem to consider

the different sarvanAma-s that occur in SrI vishNu sahasra nAma as

pronouns representing Brahman, whereas the followers of the

viSishTAdvaita sampradAyam seem to treat each of the nAma-s as a

distinct personification of bhagavAn in His different Forms, and thus

each sarvanAma word that occurs as a nAma in sahasra nAmam is treated

as a special nAma of bhagavAn with its own special meaning, each a

proper noun in its own right, and not treated as a pronoun standing for

Brahman. This seems to explain the difference in the nAmAvaLi, based

on grammar as well as the difference in the different philosophies.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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