SrI vishNu sahasra nAma - Slokam 84 - su-tantuh.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 84 - su-tantuh.

 

790. su-tantuh – a) He who has a powerful net of threads to capture

the asura-s and retain them from escaping.

b) He Who has expanded this Universe starting from

Himself.

c) He Who has progeny such as brahmA.

d) He Who expanded the yAdava race in auspicious way

by being born as the son of vasudeva.

 

Om su-tantave namah.

 

su is an upasarga. tantu is derived from the root tanu – vistAre – to

spread, to go. Among the meanings for the term tantu are thread,

cord, wire, string, etc.

 

a) SrI BhaTTar uses the meaning "a net of threads" for the

term "tantu", and gives the meaning "One Who has such a net to

capture the evil-minded folks", for the term tantuh. BhagavAn puts

in an appearance of tranquility and meditation in this deceitful

role, and the asura-s are caught up in this net, and could never get

out of it. This interpretation is a continuation of SrI BhaTTar's

elucidation of the nAma-s 787 – 810 in terms of the Buddha

incarnation. SrI SAstri explains that the net is beautiful and

attracts the asura-s, and at the same time is very strong, and so

they can't out once get caught in this net.

 

b) SrI Sa'nkara gives the interpretation – Sobhanah tantuh vistIrNah

prapa'nco'sya iti su-tantuh. One translator gives the meaning as "He

Who is beautifully expanded, like the universe", and another gives

the meaning "He, through whom this universe is beautifully and

auspiciously expanded as a thread". SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri explains

that since bhagavAn created everything started from Him, like a long

piece of thread from a small ball of cotton, He is called su-

tantuh.

 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha develops his interpretation based on the

meaning "to expand" for the root tanu – vistAre, consistent with the

second translation above – tanyata iti tantuh Sobhanah tantuh yasya

sa su-tantuth vishNuh; Sobhanam tanyate viSvam yena sa su-tantuh iti

arthah. Consistent with this act of the beautiful expansion that He

does, we see that right from the start of creation, and up to the

time of pralaya, the different species remain the same and keep

expanding at the same time. They have expanded before, they are

expanding now, and they will continue to expand in the future

(expansion here is to be understood in terms of new members of each

species being created, while old members die).

 

c) SrI satya sandha yatirAja uses the sense of visTara or expansion

for the term tantu, and interprets the nAma as signifying that

bhagavAn has the nAma su-tantuh because He has the likes of brahma as

His son – Sobhanas-tantuh catur-mukhAdi santAno yasya sa sau-tantuh.

 

d) SrI ananta kRshNa SAstry uses a similar approach, but gives the

interpretation that because bhagavAn expanded the race of yAdava-s in

an auspicious way being the progeny of vasudeva, He is called su-

tantuh.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan