SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 90 - bRhat.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 90 - bRhat.

 

840. bRhat – The Great.

 

This nAma describes His aiSvarya or power called mahimA – of becoming

greater than anything that we know of as great. The reference here

is to His power of vastness, in contrast to the aNutva that we saw

referenced in the previous nAma. The root from which the nAma is

derived is bRh – vRddhau – to grow, to increase.

 

SrI BhaTTar describes His greatness in terms of His pervasion. Even

the vast Transcendental World (parama padam) can be contained in a

corner of His palm. Note that parama padam is tripAd-vibhUti – three

times as large as the Universe that we are aware of. tiruma'ngai

AzhvAr refers to bhagavAn as "aLattaRku ariyAy" (tirumozhi 3.8.1) –

He who cannot be measured. SrI BhaTTar gives the purusha sUkta –

sa bhUmim viSvato vRtvA atyatishTat daSA'ngulam – He pervaded the

Earth in all its entirety and stood up beyond by daSa-a'ngula. daSa

here means endless, and a'ngula means yojanA. He gives other

supports from the Sruti:

 

- mahato mahIyAn (tait. upa. 6.10) – Greater than the great.

- varshIyAnSca pRthivyAh – He is greater than the Earth.

 

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives additional Sruti references:

 

- abjA gojA RtajA adrijA Rtam bRhat (kaTha. 2.2.2) – …The water-

born, the earth-born, the sacrifice-born, the mountain-born, the

Truth, the Great….

- tatah param brahma param bRhantam (SvetASva. 3.7) – After

thus praying unto Him and then knowing (through meditation) the

infinitely great Supreme Brahman..

 

Note that this aiSvarya of mahimA is exactly opposite of the aiSvarya

we dealt with in the previous nAma – aNimA. We will see a few more

of these pairs of extremes in the next few nAma-s. It is to be

understood that there is nothing that is beyond His ability. SrI

cinmayAnanda captures the idea as follows: "These two may seem

paradoxical, but the apparent contradiction dissolves into an

illuminating experience for the contemplative mind". In fact, the

upanishad talks of these two qualities in the same breath – aNor-

aNiyAn mahato mahIyAn AtmA'sya jantor-nihitam guhAyAm (kaTho. 2.20) –

Subtler than the subtle and great than the great… is lodged in the

cave of the heart….

 

SrI Sa'nkara vyAkhyAnam is – bRhatvAt bRmhaNantvAt ca bRahma bRhat –

Because of the hugeness and because of the ability to expand at will

indefinitely, He is called bRhat.

 

SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj continues his interpretation outside of

the context of the ashTa aiSvarya-s: barhati vardhate pratipadam

SobhAyAm iti bRhat – He Who enhances or increases the beauty of

everywhere. Whatever beauty exists in anything, is because of Him.

 

SrI satya sandha yatirAja interprets the nAma as: guNaih vRddha – He

Who is enhanced in His guNa-s. or auspicious qualities.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan