SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 78 - Part 7.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 78 - loka-nAthah.

 

740. loka-nAthah – a) The Protector of the world.

b) He Who bestows aiSvaryam on all as a result of His unlimited

aiSvaryam

c) He Who is sought after or prayed by all

d) He Who shines in the world, or He Who regulates the world by

energizing

e) He Who comforts or blesses the world

f) He Who rules over the world

g) He Who gives troubles as needed to those who need to be

disciplined.

 

Om loka-nAthAya namah.

 

The roots involved in the nAma are: lok – darSane – to see, to

perceive, or lok – bhAshAyAm dIptau ca – to behold, to shine, to know,

to seek; and nAth – yAc, upatApaih, aiSvaryASIhshu – to ask, to be

master, to harass. Bases on these, the word lokam signifies the world,

and the word nAtha is interpreted in the sense of nAthyate – One Who is

sought, or nAthate – One Who seeks. In the former sense, He is One Who

is sought by the people of the world, and the latter sense, He seeks

His devotees and blesses them. The different interpretations below are

combinations of the above meanings.

 

a) SrI BhaTTar’s vyAkhyAnam is that He is addressed as loka nAthah

because of His unique relationship to all the creatures, which is the

cause of His attachment which is natural to Him, as their Master –

tan-mUlam asAdhAraNam svAbhAvikam ca sambandham Aha – loka nAthah. His

interpretation is that through this nAma, the specific relationship

between bhagavAn and us, that is the cause of His natural attachment to

us, is delineated – He is our svAmI or Master, and we are His

belongings, and so He is naturally attached to us. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan

gives references from prabandham, that reflect this concept:

 

- iv Ezh ulagai inbam payakka iniduDan vIRRirundu AlginRa e’ngaL pirAn

(tiruvAi. 7.10.1) – BhagavAn is seated together with pirATTi in all the

divya deSam-s only to ensure that His creations in all the seven worlds

are happy.

- j~nAlattUDE naDandum ninRum kiDandu irundum SAlap pala nAL ugandu Or

uyirgaL kAppAnE – (tiruvAi. 6.9.3) – “You have appeared in various

Forms in this world at various times only for the protection of the all

the creatures in Your creation”.

- “ulagam mUnRu uDaiyAi! ennai AlvAnE” (tiruvAi. 6.10.10) – You Who is

My Lord, and Who owns the three worlds (the three types of cetanas

–baddha, nity, mukta, and the three types of acetana-s – time, prakRti,

Suddha sattva).

 

b) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the following interpretation: lokam

nAthati – sva aiSvarya yogena aiSvaryavantam karoti iti loka nAthah –

He Who bestows aiSvaryam on all as a result of His unlimited aiSvaryam,

is loka nAthah.

 

SrI Samkara gives four explanations for the nAma (b, c, d, e):

 

c) lokaih nAthyate yAcyate – He Who is sought after or prayed by all;

(SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives a similar explanation – that they

pray to Him for dharma, artha, kAma, and moksha – lokhaih nAthyate

yAcyate dharma artha kAma mokshAn iti loka nAthah); SrI satyadevo

vAsishTha gives the explanation – lokaih prANibhih svartha-siddhaye

nAthyate prArthyata iti loka nAthah – He Whose favor is sought by the

beings of the world for the fulfillment of their desires is loka

nAthah.

 

d) lokAn upatapati – One Who shines in the world, or Who regulates the

world by energizing;

 

e) ASAste – One Who comforts or blesses the world; or

 

f) lokAnAm IshTa – One Who rules over the whole world.

 

g) SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri interprets upatapati (see c above for SrI

Samkara) as “One Who gives punishments as needed”, and gives the

meaning that this nAma can be interpreted as “One Who gives punishments

as needed and disciplines the world (ulagai vATTi nal vazhi

paDuttubavar).

 

The dharma cakram writer weaves all the above explanations under the

general concept that bhagavAn is the Lord of the world. In this role,

He ensures that the evil is destroyed and good is established. He

ensures that all the creatures, who are His belongings, attain Him

ultimately. If anyone transgresses dharma, He ensures that they are

adequately disciplined and brought back to the proper way of life.

Those who follow dharma always live in peace, and those follow a-dharma

live a life of unrest. This is the constant rule in His role as

loka-nAthah.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

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