SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokma 87 - amRta-vapuh.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokma 87 - amRta-vapuh.

 

820. amRta-vapuh – a) He of a Nectar-like body.

b) He Who has an immortal form.

c) He Who sows and cuts the lives of this Universe continuously

irrespective of time.

 

Om amRta-vapushe namah.

 

The term amRta was explained for the previous nAma. The term amRta

means "undying, non-decaying". It is also used to refer to nectar,

or amRtam. vapuh is derived from vap – bIjasantAne chedane ca – to

sow, to scatter, to weave, to cut, to shave. The term vapu is used

to refer to the body, appearance, etc. In their interpretation for

this nAma, SrI BhaTTar uses the meaning "Nectar" for the term amRtam,

and SrI Sa'nkara uses the meaning "undying".

 

a) SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is – bhagavAn has a body that is like

Nectar. His devotees meditate on His divya ma'ngala vigraham – His

tirumEni, and never get satiated. BhagavAn is called ArAvamudan (of

tirukkuDantai fame). nammAzhvAr dedicates tiruvAimozhi pASuram 5.8.1

to 5.8.11 to sing the praise of ArAvamudan – the Nectar that never

gives fulfillment of satisfaction, no matter for how long we stand in

front of Him and worship Him. He again calls out to His ArA Amudam

in pASuram-s in 2.5.4 (appozhudukku appozhudu en ArA amudamE), 2.5.5

(ArA amudamAi al AviyuL kalanda), 10.10.5 (enakku ArA Amudu AnAyE) ,

10.10.6 (enakku ArA amudamAi), etc. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan remind us of

emprumAnAr's SrI vaikunTha gadyam, where he describes the experience

of bhagavAn in SrI vaikunTham – amRta sAgarAntar-nimaghnah

sarvAvayavah sukhamAsIta.

 

b) SrI Sa'nkara's vyAkhyAnam is – mRtam maraNam tad-rahitam vapuh

asya iti amRta-vapuh – He Who has an immortal form is amRa-vapuh.

Immortal means "unconditioned by time". BhagavAn's tirumEni is not

made of the perishable material that our bodies are made of, but

instead, its constituent is Suddha-sattva material, that is eternal

and non-decaying. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri's anubhavam is that

bhagavAn who took incarnations as rAma, kRshNa etc., is giving His

darSanam to us still in that form, even after the passage of time,

with that same tirumEni (this is precisely the concept behind the

arcA rUpam of perumAL in our temples).

 

c) One of the interpretations given by SrI satya devo vAsishTha ues

the meaning "one who sows" for vapuh – va – bIjasantAne chedane ca –

to sow, to cut. His interpretation is bhagavAn pravAhanityam idam

viSvam vapati santanoti tathA sarvam antakAle cchinatti – bhagavAn

has this nAma signifying that He is the One Who sows the seed of life

continuously in this Universe, and when the time comes, He is the One

who cuts it also. He is the One Who propagates the vistAra dharmA –

of propagation of each species from other members of the same

species, with no violation of this rule anywhere.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan