SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 85 - sundarah.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 85 - sundarah.

 

797. sundarah – a) He Who is handsome.

b) He Who has the beautiful conch – pA'ncajanyam.

c) He Who killed sunda through upasunda (sunda-rah)

d) He Who is exceedingly well regarded and worshipped

e) He Who has separated or divided the different creatures

well in many ways.

 

Om sundarAya namah.

 

The word sundara means "handsome". The word dara by itself means "a

conch shell". Most interpreters use the former meaning; SrI satya

sandha yatirAja uses the second meaning and gives an alternate

interpretation.

 

a) SrI BhaTTar explains that He was handsome in the eyes of the asura-

s, and so He is described as sundarah in the context of the Buddha

incarnation – tad-dRshTi manoharah sundarah. SrI V.N.

veDantadeSikan gives the explanation in English as "He Who had a

captivating form so as to impress and attract a large following."

 

SrI Sa'nkara gives the interpretation that He is of a handsome form,

as one of His inherent and natural qualities – viSvAtiSayi

saubhAgyaSalitvAt sundarah. tiruma'ngai AzhvAr describes this beauty

of bhagavAn in periya tirumozhi 9.2.4 "vambu avizhum tuzhAi mAlai tOL

mEl;…..accO! oruvar azhagiyavA!" _ "Oh! What a bewitching beauty He

is! How can I describe this beauty!". In fact, in all the ten

pASurams under periya tirumozhi 9.2, AzhvAr just keeps wondering

about this indescribable beauty of emperumAn. tirumazhiSai AzhvAr

describes His beauty as "ari po'ngik kATTum azhagu (nAnmugan tiru.

21) – The beauty of nRsimha form looked like beauty bubbling and

spilling over because it can't be contained anywhere. tiruppAN

AzhvAr is unable to contain His exuberance at the beauty of Lord

ra'nganAtha, and in two of the total of ten pASuram-s that are

attributed to him, he exclaims at His beauty by crying out "aiyO!" –

What a Beauty! (Seyya vAi aiyO – amalanAdipirAn 7; nIla mEni aiyO –

amalanAdi pirAn 9).

 

SrI cinmayAnanda relates the term "beauty" here to the mental peace

that is derived from the meditation and contemplation on SrIman

nArAyaNa. He observes that when the meditation leads to the joy of

ecstasy, the mind feels the peace, and it is at these moments of

supreme inner satisfaction that the flashes of beauty-experiences

flood the bosom. This is nothing but the manifestation of SrIman

nAraAyaNa, and this is why He is referred to as "Peace-Auspiciousness-

Beauty" – "SAntam Sivam, sundaram" in the upanishads.

 

b) SrI satya sandha yatirAja gives his first interpretation

as "sundarah soundarvAn". Using the meaning "a conch shell" for the

word dara, he gives the additional interpretation – Sobhanam darah

Sa'kho yasya iti sun-darah – "He Who the beautiful conch –

pA'ncajanyam".

 

c) Another interpretation by SrI santya sandha yatirAja is "sundam

upasundena repayati nASayati iti sunda-rah" – He Who killed sunda

through upasunda". The story related to this incident is given in

Apte's dictionary under the meaning for the word `sundah". sunda

and upasunda were sons of the demon nikumbha, and had managed to get

a boon from brahmA that they would be not be killed unless they

destroyed each other. They became very oppressive, and ultimately

indra had to send a nymph named tilottamA, and while fighting for her

between each other, they killed each other. Since all creation and

destruction is because of bhagavAn, and since He made sure that sunda

was destroyed through upasunda, He is called sunda-rah – The

Destroyer of sunda.

 

d) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives yet another anubhavam – sutarAm

driyate praSasyata iti sundarah – He Who is exceedingly well regarded

and worshipped (using the meanings sutarAm – exceedingly, dRyate from

the root dR – to worship, to regard). He gives the support from

SrImad bhAgavatam:

 

prasAdAbhimukham SaSvat prasanna vadanekshaNam |

su-nAsam su-bhruvam cAru-kapolam sura-sundaram || (bhAga.

4.8.45)

 

"He Who is always interested in bestowing His blessings on His

devotees, He with a happy countenance, beautiful eyes, nose, cheeks,

He who is the most beautiful of all gods, … should be meditated upon

with single-minded devotion."

 

e) SrI satya devo vAsishTha derives the meaning based on the root dR –

vidAraNe – to tear, to divide. Using su an upasarga meaning "well",

he gives the meaning "He Who divides or separates well" for the nAma –

su = sushTu "nirdosham" vidAraNam yah kurute sa su-darah sanneva

varNAgamena sundra ityukto bhavati. His interpretation is in terms

of all the parts of the bodies of the different creations being

properly divided or separated (such as the two wings of the birds,

the branches of the trees, etc. Part of the Slokam that he has

composed to explain this nAma is – "sa sundaro vishNur-ananta rUpo

yonIh samagram vividham dRNAti" – vishNu who has many forms, has

separated or divided the different creatures in different ways.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan