Fw: SrI vishNu sahasranAma stotram - A Comparison of the bhAshya-s of SrI Samkara and SrI BhaTTar.

[Guest guest]

Namaste!

 

As desired by Sri Gummuluru Murthy,I am resending this.

 

 

 

 

Mohan Sagar <msagar wrote:

An excellent article that brings out the fundamental difference

between advaita and visistadvaita based on interpretations of Sri

Vishnu Sahasranamam. Note that both views are needed to fully

enjoy the true wonder of God.....

 

-

Narasimhan Krishnamachari

To:

Sunday, February 25, 2001 5:02 PM

SrI vishNu sahasranAma stotram - A Comparison of the

bhAshya-s of SrI Samkara and SrI BhaTTar.

 

> SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - A Comparison of the bhAshya-s of

> SrI Samkara and SrI BhaTTar.

>

>

> In this write-up, we will look at a comparison of the bhAshya-s

of SrI

> Samkara and SrI BhaTTar for SrI vishNu sahasranAmam, using a

few select

> nAma-s (about 10) as examples. The examples are drawn mostly

from SrI

> P. B. aNNa'ngarAcArya svAmi's Introduction to his vyAkhyAnam on

SrI

> vishNu sahasranAmam, even though I have added some examples

from other

> references. Admittedly, an analysis based on less than 1% of

the total

> nAma-s can be viewed as incomplete. A project wherein a

systematic

> analysis of all the nAma-s is undertaken, is a major

undertaking, which

> has to be deferred for the future.

>

> For those who do not wish to go through the whole write-up,

here is a

> brief summary of the trend of thought of this write-up:

>

> 1. As SrI PBA has clearly pointed out, SrI BhaTTar'v vyAkhyAnam

> emphasizes the guNa-s of saulabhyam and sauSIlyam of bhagavAn

that are

> so much in favor of His devotee, whereas SrI Samkara tends to

emphasize

> the parattvam of Brahman in his bhAshyam.

>

> 2. I also echo sentiments of SrI N. Raghunathan in his

Foreward to

> "SrI vishNu sahasranAmam" by SrI P. Samkaranarayanan, namely,

that

> when we get the benefit of different interpretations from

different

> vyAkhyAna-s, we should view these as as complementing each

other to

> enhance the richness of the whole. (In my regular write-ups,

I draw

> information from about 10 vyAkhyAna-s which all have some

unique

> aspects as explained later). Thus, when we get the anubhavam

of

> different writers, what we derive is a "multiple bonus" by

being

> exposed to the different anubhavam-s based on the different

> vyAkhyAna-s.

>

> Now we will go into some specifics.

>

> In looking at the vyAkhyAna's of SrI Samkara and SrI BhaTTar,

one has

> to keep in mind that SrI Samkara is the renowned advaitin, and

SrI

> BhaTTar is the adopted child of Lord ra'nganAtha and pirATTi

> ra'nganAyaki, the son of kUrattAzhvAn who was a primary

disciple of

> bhagavad rAmAnuja, and is a great exponent of viSishTAdvaita

school.

> To an advaitin the only truth is nirguNa Brahman - One without

any

> attributes. The saguNa brahman is only an interim means to

realize the

> real truth for the advaitin - namely the realization of the

nirguNa

> Brahman. Thus, it can be expected that the vyAkyAnam of SrI

Samkara

> deals at the level of significance and the interpretation of

the nAma-s

> at the etymological level, with support from the Sruti-s and

the

> smRti-s, but does not get into the deep anubhavam of these

guNa-s at

> the level of saguNa Brahman. He mostly gives his

interpretations

> emphasizing the supremacy of Brahman, the all-powerful nature

of

> Brahman, the difficulty in realizing It, etc.

>

> SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam deals with the interpretation of the

nAma-s at

> the etymological level, and then proceeds further into the

guNAnubhavam

> based on the experiences of the AzhvAr-s, namely the emotion of

intense

> love and bhakti towards emperumAn, associated with the

sauSIlyam and

> saulabhyam of saguNa brahman which is an integral part of the

> viSishTAdvaita philosophy. This seems to be the main

difference

> between the vyAkhyAna-s of the two great stalwarts.

>

> In the case of most nAma-s, the literal meaning that SrI

Samkara and

> SrI BhaTTar assign will be the same, and when the literal

meaning is

> different, both alternatives are equally acceptable meanings

for the

> nAma-s purely from the point of view of samskRt. The

difference

> arises in the further elaboration of this meaning. SrI Samkara

> supports his interpretations with quotes from the Sruti-s and

smrti-s

> at the philosophical level. SrI BhaTTar quotes evidences from

these

> same sources, but the message he conveys emphasizes the saguNa

brahman

> so very much enjoyed by the AzhvArs in their divine

outpourings. He

> does not directly quote from the AzhvArs, just as SrI rAmAnuja

did not

> quote directly from the AzhvArs in any of his works. We have

already

> dealt with the reasons for this in previous discussion in this

list.

> But the anubhavam of the AzhvArs is loud and clear in SrI

BhaTTar's

> vyAkhyAnam. He repeatedly reminds us of bhagavAn's sauSIlyam

and

> saulabhyam - His ease of mixing with His devotees and His easy

> accessibility to a true devotee, His Infinite Mercy, His

waiting to

> help and forgive a devotee from the enormous sins that have

been

> committed, etc.

>

> SrI PBA observes that both paratvam and saulabhyam are equally

> important aspects of the greatness of emperumAn. We are given

this

> birth to realize and enjoy both these aspects equally. But of

these

> two guNa-s, the one that touches the devotee intensely and

draws him to

> emperumAn's feet is sauSIlyam. He gives the example of

nammAzhvAr, who

> starts off describing the paratvam of perumAL very nicely -

uvaryaRa

> uyar nalam uDaiyavan yavan avan. nammAzhvAr does not become

subject to

> visible external emotion during the description of bhagavAn's

paratvam.

> But later on, when he starts describing the sausIlyam of

perumAL -

> "ettiRam uralinODu iNaindirundu E'ngiay eLivE" - he is

completely

> overwhelmed by emotion, and passes out (loses his conscience)

for a

> long duration of six months at this very thought of perumAL's

guNam of

> sausIlyam.

>

> Thus, it is important to keep in mind that the discussion here

is not

> meant to suggest that the guNam of paratvam is not important,

nor is it

> true that AzhvArs do not sing about His parattvam equally along

with

> His sauSIlyam and saulabhyam. However, between the two paths,

our

> viSishTAdvaita AcArya-s do not miss the opportunity to

emphasize the

> anubhavam of His sauSIlyam and saulabhyam, and SrI BhaTTar's

vyAkhyAnam

> is an outstanding example of this. If we were to summarize in

one

> sentence the difference between SrI Samkara's and SrI BhaTTar's

> vyAkhyAna-s, it is that the former emphasizes the parattvam and

> aiSvaryam (Isitvam or ISvarattvam) of Brahman, and SrI BhaTTar

> emphasizes the sauSIlyam and saulabhyam of perumAL.

>

> We will go through just a few of the nAma-s, mostly used by SrI

PBA in

> his Introduction, just to illustrate the above points.

>

> sat-kRtih (in Slokam 75) - sad-gatih saT-kRtih sattA..

>

> The simple meaning of the word sat-kRtih is "He of good acts".

The

> differences in the vyAkhyAnam arise when the vyAkhyAna kartA-s

go the

> next step, and give an explanation of what these "good acts"

are. SrI

> Samkara gives the example of His protecting all the creatures

of this

> Universe as the example of His "good acts".

>

> SrI BhaTTar takes this meaning, and links his anubhavam of this

nAma to

> the previous Slokam, wherein the nAma vAsudevah occurs

(vasuprado

> vAsudevo vasur vasumanA havih). He interprets the nAma

sat-kRtih in

> relation to the childhood pranks of Lord kRshNa, such as His

stealing

> butter from the gopi's houses, being tied to the mortar by

yaSodA, etc.

> One may ask the question: Why are these "good acts"? SrI

BhaTTar's

> position is: Because, those who meditate on these acts of

bhagavAn are

> relieved from the bondage of samsAra forever!

>

> The examples given in both cases are relevant and appropriate.

> However, the current example gives an indication to what we

will notice

> as we see other examples, namely, that SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam

will

> echo the guNAnubhavam of bhagavAn as echoed in the AzhvAr's

> outpourings.

>

> vijitAtmA (Slokam 66):

>

> The simple meaning of the words in the nAma is: He who has a

mind that

> has been conquered.

>

> This simple meaning of the nAma does not say "conquered by

whom?".

> This is the place where we see the different anubhavam-s of the

two

> vyAkhyAna-s.

>

> SrI Samkara has interpreted the nAma as One who has controlled

His

> indriya-s and mind - vijita AtmA mano yena sah vijitAtmA. In

other

> words, bhagavAn is referred to by this nAma here because He has

> conquered His own mind.

>

> SrI BhaTTar sees here an example of how bhagavAn's mind is

easily

> conquered by His devotees. So he gives an interpretation which

is in a

> sense the exact opposite of that SrI Samkara - namely, He is

one whose

> mind is easily conquered by others, namely His devotees. So

He is the

> One who is defeated in His mind control, since He gives in

easily to

> His devotees' wishes. This is another example of how SrI

BhaTTar's

> vyAkhyAnam is oriented towards the enjoyment of His saulabhyam

and

> sauSIlyam as major aspects of His guNa.

>

> vidheyAtmA or a-vidheyAtmA (Slokam 66):

>

> This nAma is the very next nAma after vijitAtmA which we

discussed

> above.

>

> Here the difference in interpretation is based on the

pATha-bhedam - or

> the difference in the words that constitute the Slokam. SrI

Samkara

> has used the pATham "vijitAtmA avidheyAtmA.", and SrI BhaTTar

has

> chosen the pATham "vijitAtmA vidheyAtmA".

>

> Literally, vidheya means "submissive". vidheya AtmA is "One

who is of

> a submissive nature", and a-vidheya-AtmA is "One who is of a

> non-submissive nature". SrI Samkara has given the

interpretation in

> samskRt as "na kenApi vidheya AtmA svarUpam asya iti

a-vidheya-AtmA" -

> His nature is not under the sway of anyone else. SrI

rAdhAkRshNa

> SAstri has translated it as "One who is not under anyone else's

> control". This of course is true of His nature, IF that is

what He

> wants.

>

> SrI BhaTTar uses the pATham "vidheyAtmA", and has the

guNAnubhavam that

> bhagavAn is completely subservient to His devotee. He

describes that

> it is bhagavAn's essential nature to be at the disposal of His

devotees

> to such an extent that He can be easily commanded by them to do

> whatever they want. They can command Him 'Come here, stand

here, sit

> here, eat this', etc., and He will just obey if it is a command

from

> His devotee. SrI PBA gives the example of tirumazhiSai

AzhvAr

> commanding to Sonna vaNNam Seida perumAL - "kaNi kaNNan

pOginRAn

> kAmarupU'nkacci maNi vaNNA! NI kiDakka vENDA", and perumAL

packs up His

> snake bed and leaves as commanded by AzhvAr. Later, when

AzhvAr tells

> perumAL - "painnAgap pAi virittuk koL", He gets back and

spreads out

> His snake bed and resumes His original sevai again. There is

also the

> example of arjuna commanding Lord kRshNa to take the chariot to

the

> middle of the two armies during the start of the mahAbhArata

war, and

> bhagavAn obeys arjuna's command.

>

> So the difference in the vyAkhyAnam here is associated with the

pATha

> bhedam. But the example is another illustration where SrI

BhaTTar's

> vyAkhyAnam emphasizes His subservience, soulabhyam, and

sauSIlyam to

> His devotees, whereas SrI Samkara seems to direct His

explanations in

> terms of the absolute supremacy of brahman (paratvam,

aiSvaryam, etc.).

>

> Sat-kIrtih: (Slokam 66)

>

> SrI Samkara's vyAkhyAnam for this nAma is: satI (a-vitathA)

kIrtih

> asya iti sat-kIrtih - He of true fame, One whose fame is true

and

> well-established. This is the correct meaning of the word

sat-kIrtih.

>

>

> SrI BhaTTar stars with this meaning, and proceeds to attribute

the

> source of His true fame to His sauSIlyam - sausIlya, sattvena

> ati-mahatI kIrtih asya iti sat-kIrtih - His kIrti is well

established

> and true because of His being so amiable and affable by nature.

SrI

> BhaTTar continues and points out that His kIrti is so great,

that no

> matter what one says about His kIrti, it is true, but it is

only a

> small part of His kIrti; it is indescribable in words.

>

> Thus, in this instance, SrI Samkara and SrI BhaTTar use the

same

> meaning for the nAma, but SrI BhaTTar emphasizes bhagavAn's

sauSIlyam

> at every opportunity in his vyAkhyAnam.

>

> Chinna-samSayah: (Slokam 66)

>

> SrI Samkara vyAkhyAnam for the nAma is: He who sees everything

with

> clarity like a fruit in the palm, and so He who is free from

any doubt.

> In other words, it is bhagavAn who has no doubt of any kind,

and so

> He is called chinna-samSayah. SrI BhaTTar's interpretation for

the

> nAma is that He has the nAma chinna-samSayah because He

destroys the

> doubts in His devotees' mind. Both are equally valid

interpretations

> of the samskRt term "chinna samSayah".

>

> SrI BhaTTar takes his interpretation and links it to His

sauSIlyam. If

> anyone has any doubts such as: "Can He can be easily known or

is very

> difficult to be known, Can He be easily pleased or difficult to

please,

> Is He easily accessible or difficult to access" - these doubts

stand

> dispelled right away because His sauSIlyam and saulabhyam are

> well-known. In other words, bhagavAn conducts Himself in such

a way

> that He removes any doubts anyone has about Him.

>

> Once more, we see that SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam heavily

emphasizes

> bhagavAn's kalyANa guNa-s such as His sauSIlyam and saulabhyam,

and

> uses these in his interpretation to the utmost extent, and SrI

Samkara

> keeps his vyAkhyAnam in praise of the Supremacy of Brahman in

all

> aspects.

>

> anISah (Slokam 67):

>

> The literal meaning of the nAma is "Not-Master". This could

mean that

> "There is no Master above Him", or "He is not the Master when

He

> chooses not to be the Master".

>

> SrI Samkara has chosen the former interpretation, and SrI

BhaTTar has

> chosen the latter. The first interpretation is obviously true

of the

> Supreme Brahman. SrI BhaTTar takes the side of the devotee.

When it

> comes to the devotee commanding Him to do anything, He just

obeys, and

> loses His Mastership very readily and willingly, and enjoys

this loss

> of Mastership. One is reminded of a father or mother losing

willingly

> in a mock game with their young child and delighting in losing.

SrI

> BhaTTar gives the examples of our giving Him a bath, tieing Him

up for

> dressing Him while decorating Him, etc. When yaSodA tied Him

up with a

> rope, or threatened to beat Him up for stealing butter, etc.,

He was

> not the Master of the scene, but accepted all that very

willingly. SrI

> PBA points to periAzhvAr's pASuram - nAraNA neerADa vArAi, inRu

nI

> nIrADa vENDum empirAn ODAdE vArAi, SeNbagap pUc cUTTa vArAi,

> iruvATcippUc cUTTa vArAi, etc., and He obeys all these dictates

from

> His devotee.

>

> sammitah (Slokam 12 - vasur vasumanAh..):

>

> The difference between SrI Samkara's and SrI BhaTTar's

vyAkhyAna-s here

> arises because of pATha bhedam. SrI Samkara has used the

pATham

> "a-sammitah", and SrI BhaTTar has used the pATham "sammitah".

Thus,

> they end up with opposite meanings.

>

> sammitah literally means "that which can be well-defined,

easily

> understood", or "that which is unlimited by anything". SrI

Samkara

> bhAshyam is "sarvaih a-paricchinnah amita iti a-sammitah" -

unbounded

> by anything, undefined precisely by anything, etc. This is

how the

> Sruti-s describe Brahman - The Unknown and The Unknowable.

>

> But the bhakti school of AzhvArs is that He is Unknown and

Unknowable

> only to those who do not seek Him with sincere devotion. To a

true

> devotee, He is as easily known as a "fruit in the palm". SrI

BhaTTar's

> vyAkhyAnam is "hastasthah iti samyak paricchinnah" - His

devotees

> understand Him well as someone in their hands - well within

their

> control. Such was the experience of daSaratha, yaSodA, etc.

> daSaratha declares "Una shoDaSa varsho me rAmo rAjIva

locanah" - Note

> "me rAmo - My rAma". Vasudeva declares "mama ayam tanayo

nijah" - Note

> again "mam tanayah". SrI PBA gives the quotes from peria

tirumozhi -

> "azhugaiyum a'nji nOkkum an-nOkkum aNi-koL Sem Siru vAi

neLippaduvum,

> tozhugaiyum ivai kaNDa aSOdai tollai inbattu irudi kaNDALE" -

She is

> experiencing the ultimate in tollai in her interaction with

Him.

>

> mahA-koSah (Slokam 46 - vistArah sthAvarah ..):

>

> KoSa means shield as well as treasure. SrI Samkara uses the

former

> meaning, and SrI BhaTTar uses the later meaning. SrI Samkara

> vyAkhyAnam for this nAma is: mahAntah koSA annamayAdayah

AcchAdakA asya

> iti mahA-koSah - One who has got as His covering the great

sheaths like

> annamaya etc. I have copied part of our previous write-up for

this

> nAma in the list. The following description shows how

difficult it is

> to realize bhagavAn:

>

> SrI Samkara's interpretation is based on the meaning "shield"

for koSa.

> His interpretation is that the real nature of the soul is

shielded by

> the five koSa-s, anna maya koSa, prANa maya koSa, mano maya

koSa,

> vij~nAna maya koSa, and Ananda maya koSa, and bhagavAn is the

mahAkoSa

> who is shielded from all except the yogi-s. The dharma cakram

writer

> points out that by control of our indriya-s we can cross the

anna maya

> koSa, by control of breath we can cross the prANa maya koSa, by

control

> of the mind the manomaya koSa is crossed, by channeling one's

intellect

> and through control of worldly desires and passions we can

cross the

> vij~nAnamaya koSa, and through meditation on the Self we cross

the

> Anandamaya koSa, and ultimately realize Brahman.

>

> SrI BhaTar's vyAkhyAnam is based on the meaning "treasure" for

the term

> koSa. In his vyAkhyAnam, mahA-koSa refers to bhagavAn being a

> vast, inexhaustible treasure. Even though BhagavAn is giving

away

> Himself and His belongings always to His devotees in all ways,

still it

> does not diminish. SrI v.v.rAmAnujan refers us to "Unam il

Selvam

> enko?", pointing to the undiminishing Affluence called

BhagavAn.

>

> Again we see the difference between the approaches of SrI

Samkara and

> SrI BhaTTar. While the former presents Brahman as the

difficult One to

> realize and not easily accessible, SrI BhaTTar emphasizes the

easy

> accessibility of bhagavAn, His infinite Mercy, His

inexhaustible love

> to His devotee, etc. Needless to say, both aspects are true of

> bhagavAn,

> But the former probably will appeal to those who can practice

the

> intense discipline to realize Him through the difficult and

unsure path

> of yogic discipline, and the latter will appeal to the ordinary

people

> who are either unable or not qualified to practice the former.

>

> Another example, which is not covered by SrI PBA, is from the

Foreward

> by SrI N. Raghunthan to the book titled "SrI vishNu sahasranAma

> stotram" by SrI P. SamkaranArAyaNan (Bhavan's Publications).

The nAma

> that he considers is vyALa - monster or serpent. Both SrI

Samkara and

> SrI BhaTTar use the same meaning, but SrI Samkara interprets

the nAma

> as meaning that He is as elusive and slippery as a serpent.

SrI

> BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is "He who grapples His devotees to

Himself with

> the hoops of steel". Both points about bhagavAn are equalkly

true.

> But SrI Samkara emphasizses the difficulty of realzing Brahman,

and SrI

> BhaTTar stresses the great attachment that bhagavAn has for His

> devotee. This is another example where SrI Samkara leans

towards

> describing Brahman is difficult to realize, Supreme, etc., and

SrI

> BhaTTar says - "When it comes to a true devotee, all of

bhagavAn's

> paratvam, difficulty of realizability, etc., do not hold true

anymore.

> This is because He finds great pleasure in being subservient to

a true

> devotee".

>

> Another major aspect of SrI BhaTTar's bhAshyam is that in

addition to

> giving the etymological interpretation for each nAma, SrI

BhaTTar sees

> a thread of connectivity between the 1000 nAma-s, and

> groups the 1000 nAma-s into 44 groups. He associates each

group with

> one of the incarnations or vibhUti-s of bhagavAn. Thus, in

his

> vyAkhyAnam, invariably one will see the explanation of each

nAma being

> linked to the vyAkhyAnam for the previous nAma within a given

group.

> For example, nAma-s 1 to 122 are explained by SrI BhaTTar as

describing

> the para vAsudeva form, nAma-s 123 and 124 describe

samkarshaNa, etc.

> SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives one example of how sometimes

interpreting

> a nAma in the context of the nAma-s that immediately precede or

 

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