SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 86 - mahA-hradah.

[Guest guest]

SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 86 - mahA-hradah.

 

809. mahA-hradah – a) The Vast Lake in which the sinners drown never

to rise again, and the devotees dip again and again to get relief.

b) He Who is associated with the deep waters, as in

kAlIya mardanam, or in His reclining in the Milk Ocean.

c) He Who has created the great oceans so that the

earth does not become completely dry and perish.

 

Om mahA-hradAya anamah.

 

The root from which the word hrada is derived is hrAda – avyakte

Sabde – to sound, to roar. That which makes indistinct, undefined

sounds is called hradah. That which is huge, and makes this sound is

mahA-hradah. The term is used to refer to a deep lake, an ocean

etc. – hRadate iti hradah.

 

a) SrI BhaTTar's explanation for the nAma is that bhagavAn as Buddha

was like a deep lake in which the evil-doers sank, never to rise

again – yatra pApa-karmaNah a-punar-utthAnam nimajjanti. He refers

us to Lord kRshNa's words in the gItA:

 

tAn aham dvishatah krUrAn samsAreshu narAdhamAn |

kshipAmi ajastram aSubhAn AsurIshveva yonishu ||

(gItA 16.19)

 

"Those haters, cruel, the vilest and the most inauspicious of

mankind, I hurl forever into the cycles of births and deaths, into

the wombs of demons".

 

SrI BhaTTar also points out that while He is the deep lake where the

sinners will drown, He is also the deep lake where the devotees will

find their great comfort, and will bathe again and again without ever

getting satisfied – pApa-karmANah apunar-utthAnam nimajjanti, puNya-

kRto gAham gAham tRpyanti, sa mahA-hrAdah. One is reminded of the

nRsimha incarnation, where bhagavAn was simultaneously a cause of

terror for hiraNyakaSipu, and with that same form, He was the cause

of great delight for prahlAda.

 

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan describes the term hradah as eddy, the deep ditch

that sometimes lies in the path of running waters. If one gets

caught in one of these, it is well near impossible to get out of it

alive. BhagavAn is like one of these for the asura-s. nammAzhvAr

refers to bhagavAn as "vallarakkar pukkazhunda tayaradan peRRa

marakata maNit taDam" in tiruvAimozhi 10.1.8 – bhagavAn is described

as the large cool tank in which so many devotees immerse and benefit,

and He is also the large tank in which the cruel asusra-s fall and

drown, never to return (val arrakar pukku azhunda). The reference to

bhagavAn as the "cool reservoir of waters" for the devotees is common

in AzhvArs' aruLic-ceyal-s and other works: tiruma'ngai AzhvAr in

tirunenDum tANDakam (19) – poRRAmaraikkayam neerADap ponAL, and the

reference in SrImad bhAgavatam – esha brahma pravishTosmi grIshme

Sitamiva hradam, are given as examples.

 

SrI Sa'nkara's interpretation is that He is like the great lake since

the yogi-s remain peacefully in His bliss by plunging into it –

avagAhya tadAnandam viSramya sukham Asteyogina iti mahA-hradah. SrI

rAdhAkRshNa SAstri explains the nAma in tamizh as "aNDa muDiyAda

Azhnda nIrt tEkkam pOnRu uLLa Anandak kaDal".- The not-so-easily

accessible deep reservoir of water that is the Bliss of Ocean

personified.

 

b) SrI satya sandha yatirAja gives the explanation as `One Who is

associated with the deep waters in kALIya mardana, or as He reclines

in the Milk Ocean" – mahAn hrado yasya kAlIya mardana kAle vA,

samudra Sayana kAle vA sa mahA-hradah.

 

c) SrI satya devo vAsishTha explains the nAma as referring to His

creating the great oceans so that the world does not become

completely dry and perish. Here is his vyAkyAnam in his traditional

Sloka form:

 

mahA-hrado vishNur-amogha karmA karoti viSvam bahu-

sAdhanAptam |

mahA-hradam sa kurute samudram Sushyen-na bhUh sUrya-

kharAmSupAtaih ||

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan