SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 79 - Part 2.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 79 - hemA'ngah, varA'ngah.

 

744. hemA’ngah – He of golden-hued limbs.

 

Om hemA’ngAya namah.

 

SuvarNa and hema are equivalent words that refer to gold. The word

hema is derived from the root hi - gatau, vRddhau ca – to go, to

promote. SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the following derivation for

the nAma : hinvanti vardhayanti SobhAm iti hemAni | taDRSAni a’ngAni

yasya iti hemA’ngah | - He Who has limbs that promote the beauty of His

tirumeni, or He Who has limbs that resemble gold in promoting His

beauty.

 

SrI bhaTTar interprets the nAma as referring to the limbs of His body

which are eternal, celestial, and composed of suddha-sattva material.

nityam, divyam, sattva mayam a’ngam asya iti hemA’ngah. This nAma is a

logical extension of the previous one – Since He has a body which is

golden-hued, His a’nga-s likewise are golden-hued. All the pramANa-s

quoted in support of the interpretation for the previous nAma are

applicable here as well. Additional supports given under this nAma,

which equally apply to the previous nAma, are:

 

- “dhyeyas-sadA, savitR-maNDala madhyavartI nArAyaNa ….. hiraNmaya

vapuh dhRta sa’nkha cakrah………….” (in sandhyAvandana mantram)

- pon AnAi! Pozhil Ezhum kAval pUNDa pugazh AnAi! …. ImayOrku enRum

mudal AnAi! (tirumangai AzhvAr, tiruneDum tANDakam 10)

 

745. varA’ngah – a) He Who displayed His Divine Form to devaki in

response to her

prayers.

b) He Who has beautiful limbs.

c) He Who has a lovable Form that is pleasing to those who meditate

on

Him.

 

Om varA’ngAya namah

 

Among the dictionary meanings for the term vara are: i) best,

excellent, most beautiful; ii) boon; iii) a wish; etc. Different

interpretations use these different meanings.

 

a) SrI bhaTTar uses the meaning “wish” or “prayer” for the term vara,

and gives the interpretation that because He manifested the form with

celestial marks etc., that are concealed from mortal eyes, to devaki in

response to her prayer, therefore He is named varA’ngah: tadetat

aupanishadam devakyA vriyamANam atinihnuta divya cihnam AvishkRtam iti

varA’ngah. SrI bhaTTar refers us to SrI vishNu purANam 5.3.8, which

describes this beauty of child kRshNa in vasudeva-s words:

 

phullendIvara patrAbham catur-bAhum udIkshya tam |

SrIvatsa vakshasam jAtam tushTAva Anakadundhubhih ||

 

“Anakadundhubhi (vasudeva) beheld the Child, of the complexion of the

petal of a full-blown blue lilly, having four arms, and the mystic mark

of SrIvatsa on His chest, and started praising Him”.

 

b) SrI Sa’nkara uses the meaning “beautiful” for the word vara, and

gives the interpretation for the nAma as “varANi SobhanAni a’ngAni asya

iti varA’ngah” – One Who has beautiful limbs.

 

c) SrI cinmayAnanda interprets the nAma as: He Who has a Form that is

pleasing (lovable) to those who meditate on Him. Thus he gives the

meaning “lovable” to the term vara.

 

We have seen three nAma-s above in sequence, which all describe the

beauty of His form: suvarNa-varNah, hemA’ngah, varA’ngah. SrI

rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives his anubhavam of the subtle difference in the

ideas conveyed by the three nAma-s.

 

- suvarNa-varNah – One Who has the natural form of sheer exquisite

brilliance

- hemA’ngah – One Who has beautiful limbs that attract and hold the

attention of everyone.

- varA’ngah – One Who has all the sAmudrikA lakshaNa-s brought together

in one place, in His Form.

 

The dharma cakram writer comments that even as beauty in human form

tends to evoke kAmam, the beauty of the divine form evokes bhakti. The

three nAma-s that we have just gone through, convey to us the beauty of

the Divine Form of Lord vishNu, that evoke bhakti in those who mediate

on His Form.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

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