SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 88 - nyag-rodhodumbarah - Part 2.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 88 - nyag-rodhodumbarah - Part 2.

 

udumbarah:

 

a) He Who has the most auspicious SrI vaikuNTham as His own.

b) He Who is `above the sky', i.e., superior to all.

c) He Who nourishes the world in the form of food etc.

d) One Who has the best of sounds – the veda-s, as His form.

e) He Who is praised by the highest and best of sounds -

bhajans, nAma-sa'nkIrtana-s etc.

f) He Who has the superior pItAmbaram as His garment (ud-

ambarah).

 

ut is an upasarga (prefix). ambaram refers to the sky (derived from

am – gati Sabda sambhaktishu – to go, to eat, to sound). ut + ambara

= ud-ambara, which becomes ud-umbara because of a grammatical rule -

pRshodarAdi lakshaNam.

 

a) SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is: sarva-guNaih udgatam ambaram – param

dhAma asya iti ud-umbarah – He Who has as the Supreme Abode, SrI

vaikuNTham, is udumbarah. This abode is Supreme because it has

Lakshmi, and it rises above all other things by its magnificent

qualities (ut).

 

b) SrI Sa'nkara's vyAkhyAnam is that "He is `above the sky' i..e., He

is superior to all – amabarAt udgatah ud-ambarah. SrI cinmayAnanda

adds that the cause is subtler than the effect, and thus, the

essential principle, nArAyaNa, transcends even the concept of space.

 

c) SrI Sa'nkara gives an alternate interpretation using the

meaning "food" for the word "Urk", and gives the explanation for the

nAma as "Urk annam, tad-AtmanA viSvam poshayan udambarah – He Who

nourishes the world in the form of food etc. He gives the support

from Sruti – UrgvA annAd yad udumbaram (tait. brAh. 1.2.7, 1.3.8).

 

d) SrI vAsishTha uses the root am – Sabde – to sound, and interprets

the nAma ud-umbarah as "One Who has the best of sounds – the veda-s,

as His form" – uccaih sarvata uttamo veda-rUpah Sabdo yasya sa ud-

umbarah sarveSvaro vishNuh.

 

e) Based on the same root, SrI vAsishTha gives another explanation –

He Who is praised by the highest and best of sounds: bhajans, nAma-

sa'nkIrtana-s etc., – ut sarvata utkRshTatvena ambyate = Sabdyate =

sa'nkIrtyata iti ud-umbarah.

 

f) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the interpretation: ut utkRshTam

ambaram pItAmbaram yasya sah udumbarah - He Who has the superior

pItAmbaram as His garment is ud-ambarah. Here, he uses the word

ambaram with the meaning "garment".

 

nyag-rodha-udumbarah:

 

Now that we have seen the separate meanings of the two nAma-s nyag-

rodah and udumbarah, let us revisit the interpretation of SrI BhaTTar

for this as one nAma. We note that SrI BhaTTar's explanation for the

part nyag-rodah was that "bhagavAn is One who is subservient to the

devotees who stand in front of Him with their folded hands", and

for "udumbarah", the interpretation was that "He is One Who has the

Supreme Abode as His, with Lakshmi and with all that is

magnificent". The reasons for combining the two into one nAma now

stands out at us: "Even though bhagavAn is One Who is endowed with

everything that is Supreme, He is just at the command of His devotees

when they stand in front of Him with folded hands". SrI BhaTTar's

words are: atyucchrita-sevyo'pi atyanta-nIcAnAmapi anuvartana-

sAdhyah – Though He is worshipped by the highest of the gods, He is

within easy reach of the lowliest of persons (because it is possible

to please Him easily. No language or words can capture this

saulabhyaam of emperumAn. This nAma in SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is

perhaps one of the best examples of the uniqueness of his

contribution through his vyAkhyAnam, appropriately titled

as "bhagavad guNa darpaNam", where he repeatedly brings out the two

supreme qualities of bhagavAn – His saulabhyam and His sauSeelyam.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan