SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 87 - sarvato-mukhah.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 87 - sarvato-mukhah.

 

822. sarvato-mukhah – a) He Who can be approached from many paths.

b) He Who has faces on all sides.

 

Om sarvato-mukhAya namah.

 

sarvatah means "from all sides, in every direction, everywhere".

mukham means mouth, face, and in a generic sense, to an opening.

 

a) SrI BhaTTar gives the interpretation that the nAma signifies that

there are many ways of accessing and attaining Him. He has not laid

down any rule that He can be attained only by a particular means and

not by another. On the other hand, He can be easily attained by

means that are sometimes inexplicably simple – yena kenApi vyAjena

supraveSatvAt sarvato-mukhah.

 

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan refers us to SaraNAgati gadyam 17, where emperumAn

tells bhagavad rAmAnuja: yena kenApi prakAreNa dvaya vaktA tvam

kevalam madIyayaiva dayayA – As long as one surrenders with the

utterance of the dvaya mantra with or without sincerity, the natural

Divine Grace of bhagavAn will protect this person. Be it with

sincerity (sa-hRdaya), or with feigned sincerity (a-hRdaya), one who

needs immediate help (Arta), or one who may need support sometime in

the future (dRpta), one who is His friend or one who is His sworn

enemy (such as rAvaNa), as long one approaches Him in the name of

SaraNagati, it is His vow to protect that person. During

vibhIshaNa saraNAgati, Lord rAma tells sugrIva that He considers it

the sworn duty of a dharmishTan to protect anyone who surrenders to

him, even by giving up his own life if needed – Arto vA yadi vA

dRptah pareshAm SaraNAgatah | arih prANAn parityajya rakshitavyah

kRtAtmanA || (yuddha kANDam 18.28).

 

b) SrI Sa'nkara's vyAkhyAnam is that the name signifies that bhagavAn

has faces on all sides –

 

sarvatah pANi-pAdam tat sarvato'kshi Siro mukham |

sarvatah Srutiman loke sarvam AvRtya tishThati

|| (gItA 13.13)

 

"Everywhere are Its hands and feet; Its eyes, heads and mouths are

everywhere; Its ears are on all sides; and It exists encompassing

all things".

 

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives references to the Sruti in support:

 

- viSvataS-cakshuruta viSvato-mukhah (tai. AraN. 10.1)

- pratya'ng-janAs-tishThati sarvato-mukhah (SvetASva. 2.16)

- pratya'ng-mukhAs-tishThati viSvato-mukhah (tait. AraN. 10.1)

 

SrI cinmayAnanda gives the analogy of the sun whose light shines in

all directions, or the light from a lamp that shines in all

directions simultaneously.

 

Yet another anubhavam is given by SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj – Bhakta-

s are singing His praise from all sides simultaneously, and He has

faces on all sides to listen to all of them simultaneously - sarvAsu

diSAsu bhajamAnaih bhaktair-hi SrImad bhagavato mukham avalokyate

| A similar interpretation is given by SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN –

atah sarvato-mukhah sarva-dig-deSa-vartishu bhakteshu mukham asya iti

sarvato-mukhah.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan