SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 85 - SR'ngI.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 85 - SR'ngI.

 

803. SR'ngI – a) He Who appears like one having a horn (with a bunch

of peacock feathers in his hand).

b) He Who had a horn in His matsya and varAha inbcrnations.

c) He With the peak of govardhana mountain on His hand.

d) He Who has provided every creature with the means to

express its SR'nga or expression of power.

e) He Who destroys the fear of birth in His devotees.

 

Om SR'ngiNe namah.

 

The word SR'ngam refers to a horn. It also refers to the top of a

mountain, sovereignty, etc. The root and the different meanings and

interpretations for the word SR'gan have been covered previously in

nAma 540, Slokam 57 - mahA-SR'ngah; and nAma 869, Slokam 81 -

naika-SR'ngah.

 

a) SrI BhaTTar interprets the nAma as One who has a horn, and

associates it with His carrying a bunch of peacock feathers in his

hand in His incarnation to delude the asura-s, as a symbol of his

doctrine of ahimsA. He gives support from vishNu purANam:

 

tato digambaro muNDo barhi-patra-dharo dvija |

mAyA moho'surAn SlakshNam idam vacanam abravIt || (VP

18.2)

 

"Approaching the daitya-s engaged in ascetic penances, He approached

them in the semblance of a naked mendicant, with his head shaven, and

carrying a bunch of peacock's feathers, and addressed them in gentle

accents thus". H. H. Wilson adds a footnote in his translation,

that "a bunch of peacock feathers is still an ordinary accompaniment

of a Jain mendicant. According to the Hindi poem, the pRthu rAi

caritra, it was borne by the Buddhist amara sinha".

 

b) SrI Sa'nkara interprets the nAma in terms of the matsya

incarnation, where bhagavAn had a horn with which He guided the boat

with satya vrata in it – pralaya ambhasi SR'ngavAn matsya viSesha

rUpah SR'ngI – He Who is horned, during pralaya when He assumes the

form a special fish.

 

SrI ananta kRshNa SAstry comments that the nAma can also be a

reference to His varAha incarnation, where He supported the earth at

the tip of His horn. (see nAma 542, Slokam 58 – mahA-varAhah).

 

c) SrI satya sandha yatirAja uses the meaning "summit of a mountain"

for the word SR'nga, and gives the interpretation that the nAma is a

reference to His carrying the govardhana mountain – SR'ngANi

govardhana SR'gANi asya santi iti SR'ngI.

 

d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha interprets the term SR'nga as meaning a

ray or emanation, or any kind of energy, and gives the interpretation

that the nAma signifies that bhagavAn has enabled all beings with

different ways of giving expression to their energy, and so He is

SR'ngI – the fangs of a serpent are the SR'nga-s of the serpent, and

the tail of a scorpion is the SR'nga of the scorpion, as examples.

 

e) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj interprets SR'nga as "destroying", (The

root is SR – himsAyAm – to hurt, to kill), and gives the

interpretation for the nama as "He Who destroys the fear of re-birth

in His devotees" – SRNAti bhava-bhayam iti SR'ngam avicintya-

sAmarthyam; tad-asya asti iti SR'ngI.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan