SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 79 - Part 4.

[Guest guest]

SrI vishNU sahasra nAmam - Slokam 79 - vIra-hA.

 

747. vIra-hA - a) The Slayer of the strong demons.

b) The Destroyer of those who indulge in vain arguments and distract

others from

meditating on Him.

c) The Destroyer of the bonds of yama.

d) He Who leads the jIva-s to moksha by showing them the right path.

e) He Who provides different ways for His creations to move around.

f) He Who is accompanied by garuDa and vAyu when destroying the

asura-s.

g) He Who ends the various paths that go from birth to birth.

 

Om vIraghne namaH.

 

We have delved into the anubhavam of this nAma earlier (nAma 168 –

Slokam 18), and we will se the nAma again in Slokam 99 – nAma 927).

 

The term vIra is traditionally used to refer to the attribute of a

person who is heroic and exhibits valor towards his enemies in war.

Based on amara koSa vyAkhyAnam: viruddhAn rAti hanti iti vIrah (rA –

dAne, chedane ca) – One who destroys his enemies; vIrayati iti vA

vIrah (vIr - vikrAntau - to display valor) – He who displays valor.

So the nAma literally means “He Who destroys the vIra-s”. To

understand the interpretation of the nAma, we should remember that all

vIra-s are not followers of dharma. In this nAma, bhagavAn’s guNa of

destroying the vIra-s who resort to a-dharma is what is addressed. SrI

satyadevo vAsishTha elaborates that it is only where vishNu is that

victory is, and it is not necessarily where a vIra is. Victory is

where dharma is. A person who has the strength, but who tortures the

innocent, is called an “aparAdhI” or one who has committed an

aparAdham. It is these people that are destroyed by bhagavAn in the

end without a trace.

 

Grammatically, words such as vIra-hA kAma-hA, etc., signify a past

action (one who has destroyed) – pANini sUtra 3.2.87).

 

a) SrI bhaTTar gives examples of the “vIra-s” covered under this nAma:

It is the likes of pUtanA, SakaTa, the twin arjuna trees, and such

others who tried to kill child kRshNa deceitfully.

 

nammAzhvAr describes some of these instances in his tiruvAimozhi

pASuram 5.3.8) (SrI v.v. rAmAnujan):

 

peI mulai uNDu SakaTam pAindu marudiDaip

pOi mudal SAittu puL vAi piLaNdu kaLiraTTa

tU muRuval toNDai pirAnai…………….

 

(References to pUtanA, SakaTAsuran, the twin maruda trees, bakAsuran,

kuvalayApIdam, etc. He killed all these, and then just smiled with His

bright teeth showing through the red lips in a mild artistic smile that

is characteristic of Him whenever He achieves a feat).

 

tiruma’ngai AzhvAr refers to Him as “the vIra beyond all vIra-s” - vem

tirAl vIraril vIrar oppAr (peria tirumozhi 2.8.2).

 

SrI vAsishTha gives the derivation – viruddha gatIn hanti iti vIra-hA.

Along the same lines, SrI kRshNa datta bhArdvAj gives the

interpretation: viSesheNa Irayanti kshipanti dharma mArgam iti vIrAh

kamsa rAvaNa prabhRtayah; tAn vIrAn hanti iti vIra-hA – He destroys

those that discard the path of dharma, such as kamsa, rAvaNa etc..

 

b) Another interpretation that SrI bhaTTar gives for the term vIrAh in

the context of this nAma are those that are proficient in words, but

misuse their skill to give fallacious arguments and prevent people from

meditating on Him. He destroys them, and so also He is referred to as

vIra-hA (sva-vedana vihantRRn haituka-vIrAn hatavAn iti vIra-hA).

 

c) For the third instance of the nAma, SrI bhaTTar explains the nAma as

referring to “One Who removed the strong bonds with yama for

gajendra”. bhagavAn removed the bonds of yama from gajendra by

releasing him from the crocodile’s jaws – mokshayAmAsa nagendram

pASEbhyah SaraNAgatam (vishNu dharma 69). The nirukti author

summarizes the vyAkhyAnam: vIram tad-bAdhakam mRtyum hatavAn vIra-hA

matah.

 

d) One of the interpretations that SrI Sa’nkara gives is that bhagavAn

is called vIra-hA because He destroys the asura vIra-s (covered under

a). In addition, he gives an alternate interpretation that bhagavAn

has this nAma because He shows the right path to the samsArin-s and

gives them salvation, by taking them away from following the various

wrong paths – vividhAh samsAriNAm gatIh mukti-pradAnena hanti iti

vIra-hA. Here the root han – to go is used.

 

e) In addition to the interpretation a), SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses

the roots Ir –gatau – to go, and hamm – gatau – to go, to give another

interpretation: vividham Irati iti vIrah – referring to all the

different creatures which move in different ways; tAnsca yo hanti –

gamayati – He Who makes it possible for them to go, is vira-hA –

sarveshAm bahudhA irANAm jantUnAm gamayitA vishNuh.

 

f) One of the interpretations given by SrI satya sandha yatirAja is:

vih = garuDah, Irah = vAyuh; tAbhyAm hanti gacchati iti vIra-hA -

vishNu is called vIra-hA because He goes along with garuDa and vAyu in

destroying the asura-s.

 

g) In one of the interpretations, SrI cinmAyananda takes the term vIra

to mean “various or different paths or ways”, (this is derived from

the root iN – gatau – to go, and the word irA means that which moves),

and gives the interpretation to the nAma as “He Who ends the passage

from birth to birth”.

 

The dharma cakram writer observes that just as there are those who

follow the path of

a-dharma and are destroyed by bhagavAn, there are the internal enemies

in each one us in the form of kAma, krodha, moha and lobha. The lesson

to take from this nAma is that the chanting and meditation on the

mantra derived from this nAma will result in His destroying these

internal enemies in us, that obstruct us from realizing Him.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.

http://mailplus.