SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 88 - nyag-rodhodumbarah - Part 1.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 88 - nyag-rodhodumbarah - Part 1.

 

827. nyag-rodhodumbarah – He Who has the Supreme Abode with Lakshmi

and everything that is magnificent, but Who is at the command of the

devotees who approach Him with folded hands.

 

om nyagrodhodumbarAya namah.

 

This is another nAma which is treated as two separate nAma-s by most

vyAkhyAna-kartA-s except SrI BhaTTar and his followers. This nAma is

an outstanding example that illustrates the uniqueness of SrI

BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam. But first, let us look at the individual

meanings of the two parts:

 

nyagrodhah – a) He Who is controlled by those who stand below, bowing

to Him with folded hands.

b) He who controls those below Him.

c) He Who is Primordial, and is above all.

d) He Who is firmly rooted, and extends in all

directions in the form of the universe.

e) He to Whom those below make a plea for benefits

that they desire.

f) He Who subjugates the enemies of His devotees, and

punishes them

g) He Who is desired in their hearts by those who

worship Him (rudh – kAme – to desire).

 

SrI vAsishTha indicates the derivation of the word nyak from the root

a'nc – gatipUjanayoh – to go, to worship. ni is an upasarga or

prefix. nIcaih a'ncati iti nyak – One who bows low; The word rodhah

is derived from the root rudh, which has a couple of different

meanings – rudh – kAme – to obey; rudh – AvaraNe – to oppose. The

term nyag-rodah is also used to denote the vaTa vRksham – the banyan

tree. Some vyAkhyAnakartA-s look at the nAma as nyag-rohah, using a

grammar rule that says that the `ha' can be replaced by `gha'. The

different interpretations are the results of the above variations.

 

a) SrI BhaTTar's interpretation is: nyag-bhUtaih – adhah-

kRtA'njalibhih, rudhyate – svaprasAdaunmukhyena vyasthApyate iti nyag-

rodhah – He Who is controlled by those who stand below, bowing to Him

with folded hands. SrI BhaTTar stresses the influence of a'njali on

bhagavAn – a'njalih paramA mudrA kshipram deva-prasAdinI (vishNu

dharmottara 33.105) - The sight of the a'njali (the act of joining

hands in supplication), immediately pleases the Lord at once without

delay. ALavandAr points to this in stotra ratnam 28 (SrI v.v.

rAmAnujan):

 

tvad-anghrim uddiSya kadA'pi kenacit yathA tathA vA'pi sakRt

kRto'njalih |

tadaiva mushNAtyaSubhAnyaSeshatah SubhAni pushNAti na jAtu

hIyate || (stotra. ratna 28)

 

"If anyone worships Your Feet with folded hands even once at any time

under any pretence, at that very moment all the sins of this person

are driven away, and infinite auspices accumulate for this person".

 

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan refers to the instance of His being tied to the

mortar by yaSodA – "kaTTuNNap paNNiaya peru mAyan", as an example of

this Supreme ParamAtman being subservient to yaSodA's affection.

 

b) In one if his interpretations, SrI vAsishTha uses the same roots,

and comes up with the interpretation that "He is One who controls

those below" – nyag ruNaddhi iti nyag-rodhah.

 

c) SrI Sa'nkara looks at the nAma as nyag-rohah for the purposes of

interpretation, and then invokes the grammatical

rule "pRshodarAditvAt hakArasya dhakArAdeSah" which allows for the

replacement of ha with gha in the above, resulting in nyag-rodhah.

His vyAkhyAnam is: nyak arvAk rohati sarveshAm upari vartata iti

nyagrodhah – which is generally translated as "One Who is Primordial,

and is above all". This meaning can be derived by using the root

ruh – bIja janmani prAdurbhAve ca – to grow, to increase, to rise, to

reach.

 

SrI satya sandha yatirAja also looks at the nAma as nyag-rohah

(similar to SrI Sa'nkara above), but comes with a different

interpretation. He uses the meaning ruh – to grow, and gives the

explanation that the nAma signifies that "He makes all beings obey

Him, and grows or develops all the beings" – sarvANi bhUtAni nyakRtya

rohati vardhata iti.

 

In the tamizh translation for SrI Sa'nkara's vyAkhyAnam by SrI

kAmakoTi kOSa sthAnam in 1948, one of the meanings given for the nAma

is: ""ellA uyirgaLaiyum kIzhp paDuttit tan mAyaiyAl mUDik kaTTup

paDuttukiRAn" – The nAma signifies that He controls all beings that

are below Him, and envelops them with His mAyA. This interpretation

can be derived by using the meaning "below" for "nyak", and the

meaning "obey" for the word rodhah (rudh kAme – to obey).

 

d) The term nyagrodhah also refers to the banyan tree, since this

tree grows in the downward direction as much as it grows in the

upward direction. (ruh – to grow) – nIcair-gatau parohair-vardhate;

nyag rohati – grows downwards. Because of this, this tree is very

strongly rooted, and is extremely stable. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri

interprets the nAma as referring to this attribute of bhagavAn,

namely, that He is firmly rooted, and extends in all directions in

the form of the universe.

 

e) Another interpretation of SrI vAsishTha is – nyagbhih anurudhyate

= prArthyate IpsitAptaya iti nyag-rodhah – "He to Whom those below

make a plea for benefits that they desire".

 

f) SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN gives the interpretation that "He is

One who subjugates the enemies of His devotees, and oppresses or

punishes them" – nyak-kRtya ruNaddhi niraye nikshipati sva-bhakta-

drohiNa iti nyag-rodhah. (The root used is rudh – AvaraNe – to

oppose, to oppress; nyak-kRtyua - subjugating).

 

g) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the interpretation: nyagbhih

praNataih rudhyate hRdaya-pradeSe iti nyag-rodhah – He Who is desired

in their hearts by those who worship Him (rudh – kAme – to desire).

 

-To be continued.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan