SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokma 85 - udbhavah.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam – Slokam 85 - udbhavah.

 

udbhavah sundarah sundo ratna-nAbhah su-locanah |

arko vAja-sanah SR'ngI jayantah sarva-vij-jayI ||

 

om udbhavAya namah

on sundarAya namah

om sundAya namah

om ratna-nAbhAya namah

om su-locanAya namah

om arkAya namah

on vAjasanaye namah

om SR'ngiNe namah

om jayantAya namah

om sarva-vij-jayine namah

 

796. udbhavah – a) He Who rose above samsAra.

b) He Who is of a superior birth, taking birth as He

likes, where He likes, when He likes.

c) He from Whom everything originated.

d) He Who resides in an exalted place ( SrI

vaikunTham).

e) He Who created the exalted gods and goddesses.

f) He Who is born again and again for the protection

of dharma.

 

om udbhavAya namah

 

We had the anubhavam of this nAma in Slokam 41 (nAma 375). SrI

BhaTTar's interpretation of nAma 375 was in the context of bhagavAn

as para vAsudeva, lakshmI-pati.

 

ud is an upsarga; the root for bhava is bhU – sattAyAm – to be, to

live, to be born. The term udbhava refers to origin, source,

creation etc. The difference in the different interpretations mostly

arises from the different ways in which the vyAkhyAna-kartA-s

interpret the upasarga "ut" (e.g., udgata – rising above, utkRshTa -

excellent, uttama – best or superior, uccaih – high, etc.).

 

SrI BhaTTar interprets both the instances of the nAma as "udgatah

bhavAt iti udgatah" – "He Who pulls us out of the cycle of

samasAra". He distinguishes between the two instances of the nAma as

follows: In Slokam 41, he interprets the nAma in terms of bhagavAn's

act of releasing His true devotees from samsAra. In the current

instance, his interpretation in terms of the Buddha incarnation is

that He misled the asura-s on the path of release from samsAra.

 

In the context of Slokam 41, SrI BhaTTar points out that by

meditating on His being released from the bondage to which He

subjected Himself when yaSoDA tied Him to the mortar, we will be

released from our bondage of samsAra – "dAmodaram bandha haram".

 

a) SrI BhaTTar's interpretation for the current instance

is "muktyupadeSa nATitakena bhavAt udgata iti udbhavah" – He was

preaching the wrong way to attain salvation, and then pretended that

He has indeed achieved the objective of rising above samsAra through

these wrong means.

 

b) SrI Sa'nkara's vyAkhyAnam is – "utkRshTam bhavam janma svecchayA

bhajati it udbhavah" – He Who is of superior birth, being born of His

free will, wherever He likes.

 

SrI Sa'nkara's interpretation for this nAma in Slokam 41 was: 1.

bhagavAn is called udbhavah because He is the Origin of the Universe,

being its material cause – prapa'nca utpatti upAdAna kAraNatvAt

udbhavah; Or, 2. udgato bhavAt iti udbhavah – He Who is free from

birth or worldly existence is udbhavah.

 

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives the interpretation – "uttamo bhavo yasya

sa ud-bhavah" – He Whose birth is superior, which is similar to the

above. He gives the support from SrImad bhAgavatam 10.3, which

describes child kRshNa's birth to devaki in the prison. His birth is

superior because it is unlike any other birth that is known, and is

accompanied by wonderful and uncommon events. Unlike other children

who are born, His eyes were not closed at birth, but He appeared with

beautiful lotus eyes open; He was not connected to His mother

through the umbilical cord at birth; He was not covered with the

signs of being inside a mother's womb, but appeared with a clean and

beautiful body, bearing the conch, the cakra etc.; the waves dashing

against the shore sounded like the beautiful beat of the drum as an

auspicious sound at the time of His birth; and all kinds of other

unusual and auspicious things that happened when this One Who has no

birth, "was born" to devaki.

 

c) An alternate interpretation by SrI Sa'nkara is – udgatam apagatam

janmA asya, sarva kAraNatvAt – He Who has no birth or origin, since

everything originated from Him.

 

SrI satya sandha yatirAja conveys a similar idea. His interpretation

is: "bhavAt samsArAt utpatter vA udgata iti ud-bhavah – He Who is

beyond samsAra, birth etc., is udbhavah.

 

SrI cinmayAnanda gives the meaning "source or origin" for the word

udbhava, and gives his interpretation for the nAma as "The ultimate

source" – He from Whom everything originated – the very spring of

Creation. He gives the gItA Slokam 14.4 in support:

 

sarva yonishu kaunteya mUrtayah sambhavanti yAh |

tAsAm brahma mahad-yonih aham bIja-pradah pitA || (gItA

14.4)

 

"Whatever forms are produced in any womb, O arjuna, the prakRti is

their great womb, and I am the sowing father". The meaning is that

bhagavAn is the One who decides the birth of each individual

according to each one's karma – He decides whether one is born a

deva, a gandharva, an animal, etc., according to their karmA.

 

d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the meaning uccaih for the upasaraga

ut – ud upasarga uccaih arthe. Using the root bhU – sattAyAm, he

gives the interpretation – uccaih bhavanam yasya sa udbhavah – He

Whose place of existence is at a high level. SrI vAsishTha gives

the example of sun moving around in a high position as a

manifestation of bhagavAn being in a high position. The meaning is

more enjoyable if we take the reference to the "high place" as SrI

vaikunTham.

 

e) Among the alternate interpretations that are given by SrI satya

sandha yatirAja is one which describes this nAma as referring to His

being the Creator of exalted beings such as pArvati – utkRshTah

pArvatyAdibhyo bhavo yena iti udbhavah.

 

f) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives another interpretation – He has

this nAma because He is born again and again to protect dharma –

dharma samsthAnapArthAya sambhavAmi yuge yuge (gItA 4.8).

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan