SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 80 - Part 5.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 80 - su-medhAh, medha-jah.

 

758. su-medhAh – The Well-Intentioned.

 

Om su-medhase namah.

 

medhA means memory or intellect. su is a prefix or an upasarga which

means “superior”. So the nAma means “One Who has a Superior intellect

or memory”. The different interpretations involve different

anubhavam-s of what “good intellect” means.

 

a) SrI bhaTTar’s anubhavam is that His buddhi is su-medhA or “Superior

buddhi”, because He constantly thinks of the good of His devotees –

ArAdhaka su-sAdhu buddhih su-medhAh. SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj

gives the derivation – SobhanA medhA dhAraNavatI dhIh asya iti

su-medhAh, which also conveys the above idea.

 

SrI Sa’nkara bhAshyam is “SobhanA medhA pra~jnA asya iti su-medhAh – He

of bright intelligence. SrI rAdhakRshNa SAstri elaborates that

“superior intellect” consists in anticipating future events or

outcomes, not being disturbed or impacted by surrounding events, etc.

SrI cinmAyananda points out that when applied to us, the term su-medhA

can refer to the ability of the self to realize its true nature,

something that is not new information, but that has been temporarily

forgotten by us. So he interprets the nAma as meaning “Divine memory

Power”.

 

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the meaning to medhA as “the intellect

that gives protection or support”, and explains the nAma as referring

to the memory of bhagavAn that is always aware of everything that is

going on everywhere, as well as events associated with all beings –

past, present, and future. He comments that the intellect of each of

us is directly proportional to the extent to which we are able perceive

the medhA of bhagavAn.

 

The dharma cakram writer explains medhA as that power which enables us

to understand and realize “That which is the biggest of the big and the

smallest of the small”. All of us have this power potentially, and can

realize it once we know how to control our thought, word and deed and

realize the potential power that we have in us.

 

759. medha-jah – a) He Who was born as a result of a sacrifice.

b) He Who is realized as a result of sacrifices.

c) He Who makes His presence in the gatherings of bhakta-s.

 

Om medha-jAya namah.

 

The term medha refers to ya~jna or sacrifice. SrI bhaTTar’s vyAkhyAnam

is: ato medhe – devakI putrIya vrata rUpe ya~jne jAtah iti medha-jah –

He has this nAma indicating that He was born to devaki as a result of

the medhA or sacrifice in the form of austerities performed by her to

get Him as son. This was revealed by Lord kRshNa Himself as soon as

He was born to devaki (vishNu purANam 5.3.14):

 

stuto’ham yat tvayA pUrvam putrArthinyA tadadya te |

saphalam devi! Sa’njAtam jAto’ham yat tavo’darAt ||

 

“O Revered Lady! You praised Me before, desirous of having Me as Your

son. Your prayers have been fruitful today since I have taken birth

out of your womb”.

 

SrI bhaTTar also gives support from vishNu dharma:

 

sabyagh-ArAdhitenoktam yat prasannena te Subhe! |

tat kRtam saphalam devi! …

|| (vishNu dharma 33.39)

 

“O Auspicious Lady! When you worshipped Me in the proper manner before,

I became pleased and made a promise to you (that I would be born as

your son). That has been carried out now”.

 

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives other instances where bhagavAn has taken birth

as the child of devotees, as a result of their yAga, vrata, etc. He

was born in His incarnation of vAmana as aditi’s son as a result of her

payo-vratam; it is well-known that Lord rAma was born as a son to

daSaratha as a result of the putra kAmeshTi yAgam; yaSodA and

nandagopan had Lord kRshNa as their son because of their tapas. SrI

rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives the additional instances of Lord varadarAja,

Who manifested Himself from the sacrificial fire of brahmA in kA’nci.

 

b) SrI cinmayAnanda comments that because bhagavAn makes His appearance

in every yaj~na in His pure Form, we can say that He is born in yaj~na.

Based on the gItA, he gives the definition for yaj~na as a

co-operative endeavor wherein we offer our capacity into a field of

chosen work invoking in it the unmanifested Lord, who pours His

blessings in terms of profit”. In this sense, when all the personality

layers are offered in an act of total surrender, the spiritual

experience of the Self is born. Thus bhagavAn is the result of the

medha or sacrifice (medha-jah), and to the student of vedAnta, the term

is rich in its suggestiveness.

 

The dharma cakram writer describes the five types of yaj~na-s that each

of us should be observing, and indicates that the realization of the

Self is a result of observing these pa’nca mahA yaj~na-s, and this is

the significance of this nAma for us. In other words, He becomes

accessible and available to us as a result of our observing the pa’nca

mahA yaj~na-s (medha-jah). The pa’nca mahA yaj~na-s are: bhUta

yaj~na, pitR yaj~na, nara yaj~na, Rshi yaj~na, and deva yaj~na. These

have been described before, under nAma-s 449 and 682.

 

c) SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN uses the root med, medh – sa’ngame – to

meet, as the basis for his interpretation: medha – bhakta sa’ngame

jAyate prAdur-bhavati iti medha-jah – He Who makes His presence in the

gatherings of bhakta-s.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

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