"kim?": The 'What' of the Vishnu-Sahasranamam

[Guest guest]

Dear friends,

 

The 735th 'nAmA' of Vishnu in the 'Vishnu-Sahasranamam' is the

one-syllabled Sanskrit name -- "kim". It appears in the 78th

'shlOkA':

 

ekah naikah sah vah kah kim yat tat padama~nuttamam

lOka bandhur lokA natha: mAdhavO bhaktavatsalah

 

It's a rather unusual name indeed for anyone to have. Even God

Almighty, one might say...

 

In native India it is common for mothers and fathers to select a name

for their new-born from the one-thousand hallowed 'nAmA-s' of God

found in the 'SahasranAma'. Yet I doubt you will find a single soul

anywhere in the country having "kim" as either first name or surname.

 

 

I learn, on the other hand, that 'Kim' is a pretty common feminine

first name in America and Europe. In Korea I understand every fourth

man you pass on the street bears the name 'Kim'. My 13-year old

daughter tells me there is a famous Hollywood actress by the name of

'Kim Bassinger'; and my 15-year old son enlightens me about 'Kim'

being the title of a lesser-known novel written by an English author

of colonial fame, Sri.Rudyard Kipling.

 

God bless children these days! How profoundly worldwide their

knowledge of trivia is and how well they educate their ignorant

parents indeed. Thanks to my two children, I have now made the

important discovery that the western first name 'Kim' is actually

short for 'Kimberly'. And since then, believe me, I have lived in

secret dread of the day when 'Kim' might catch on fast amongst NRIs

everywhere in the world, all clamouring to christen their new-borns

with a 'tirunAma' found at last to be both hallowed by the

'Sahasranamam' and glamourized by Hollywood!

 

The Sanksrit "kim", however, is actually a very common, very ordinary

interrogatory. The Sanskrit word for 'Question' or 'Query' is

"prashna". A "prashna" cannot be framed without using an

interrogatory like 'kim'. The whole of the Vishnu-Sahasranamam, if

you have carefully noticed, is actually a response to Yudhishtara's

"prashna" beginning with 2 simple but profound 'kim?':

 

"kim Ekam daivatam lOkE? kim vyApEkam parAyaNam?"

 

"Whither God? What is the path unto Him?"

 

The Sanskrit 'kim' literally means "what?" or "which?". In a limited

context, it can also be used as the English equivalent of

"wherefore?" or "whither?". Most questions, most 'prashna-s' hence

usually begin with this interrogatory.

 

It is because the Sanskrit 'kim' is an interrogatory that in India it

is considered unfit, in spite of being sacred 'nAmA', to christen

one's child with it. Otherwise, one can easily imagine how endless

the embarrassments in life would be for a child named 'kim' who when

asked, "What's your name?" has to respond saying, "What?". And the

questioner who, then thinking he hadn't been heard well, repeats, "I

asked you for your name?". And the child, poor thing, insisting, "I

already told you -- "What?""... And to this the bewildered questioner

asking again, "Excuse me, what do you mean?". And the poor child

having to retort, "I heard you. It's really "What?""...

 

And on and on, so forth thus, would it all probably go -- a farcical

chain in a theatre of the absurd called 'kim'!

 

***********

 

Our ancient Vedic forbears (the great Sage Vyasa, for instance, the

author of the 'Vishnu-Sahasranama') however had no compunction at all

giving Lord Almighty the unusual "nAmA" of "kim" i.e. "What?",

"Which?" and "Whither?". Even if one knew nothing whatsoever that is

certain about God, the Vedic Masters said, one thing at least should

be beyond Man's doubt: God remains and shall ever remain an eternally

unanswered question... Hence, it is quite in order to call him,

simply, 'kim?'.

 

There is a widespread feeling in the world, even and especially

amongst young Indians today, that the religion of the Vedas is one

founded on blind, mechanical and credulous faith. It is thought that

there is really nothing more to this religion called 'Hinduism' than

ritual, pilgrimage, purificatory bath, breath-control and chanting

Sanskrit litanies called 'stOtrA-s' that few understand and fewer

still appreciate... Nothing could be further than the truth. The

piety of the Vedantic religion does not lie in parroting. It has its

springs deep in an age-old tradition of unceasing, relentless

questioning about and after Truth.

 

This tradition is called "pari-prashna" and it has been around in

India for centuries. The word "prashna" means (as already explained)

"questioning" and the adjective "pari" means "deep", "unrelenting".

This Vedantic tradition of "pari-prashna" is perhaps even more

rigorous, uncompromising and single-minded in its search for Truth

than what we know modern sciences to be. It is this tradition

precisely that Krishna recommends to Arjuna as a solution to the

oppressive problems of life:

 

"tadvidhi praNipAtEna pari-prashnEna sEvayA

upadEshyanti tE gnyAnam gnyAninas-tattva-darshinah:"

(B.Gita IV.34)

 

"Seek out the wise men of knowledge", says Krishna in the

'Bhagavath-Gita', "They will surely show you the Way if only they see

you to be truly humble, devoted and unrelentingly questful".

 

Although he embraced Krishna's prescription quickly enough, Arjuna

seems to have lagged a bit in acting upon it. The suggestion of

"pari-prashna" was made by Krishna towards the end of the 4th Chapter

in the 'Bhagavath-Gita' but not very late thereafter, and not until

the opening of the 8th Chapter, do we see Arjuna really acting upon

the Lord's cue and counsel. But when Arjuna did indeed frame his

first serious questions on the problems of life, it is all put, and

quiet predictably so, with the inevitable "kim?"!

 

kim tadh brahma? kim adhyAtmam? kim karma pUrUshOtama?

adhibhutham cha kim? prOktam~adhidaivam kim achyutha?

(bhagavath-gita VIII.1)

 

"What is Brahman? What is soul? What is this world of ceaseless

strife, O PurushOttama? What perishes? And what lives eternally, O

Achyutha?"

 

It is answers to Arjuna's 4 profound "kim-s" above that the rest of

the "Bhagavath-Gita" -- Chapter 8 all through Chapter 18 -- is

essentially all about...

 

************

 

The religion of the Vedas has no age. It has survived time. It

endures not simply because it is pre-historic but, more importantly,

because it is seen to provide hard answers for the even harder

questions of human existence. If there had been really nothing more

to this religion than Sanskrit-chants and weaving incense-sticks in

front of idols, it would have perished by the wayside of history long

ago. This religion survives and thrives today only because it is a

product, an invaluable distillant, of a long process of sublime human

thought. The truths that this religion uncovers for us are universal

and eternal. They are the fruit of centuries of honest, painstaking

labour of mind, intellect and spirit. The sages of yore -- 'rshi-s'

and 'muni-s'-- dedicated their whole lives to asking (as Arjuna did

above) "kim", "kim", "kim"... again and again, solely in order to

understand first and then finally intuit the Truth of God revealed in

this ancient religion as 'Brahman'.

 

It is precisely this hard and relentless 'spiritual labour' of the

'rshi-s' that merits particular mention by Sri Parashara Bhattar

(10th century CE) while commenting upon the 735th 'divya-nAmA' of

"kim" -- in his famous "bhAshya" (commentary) on the

'Vishnu-Sahasranama' titled "bhagavadh-guNa-darpaNam". Bhattar

alludes to a fine expression from the Chandogya Upanishad which says

one is obliged to seek and pursue Brahman before It can be known. And

how is one to 'seek and pursue' Brahman? With ceaseless questions,

"pari-prashna", of course, beginning with "kim":

 

"so'nnvEshtavvyah sa vijnyAsitavyah..." (chAndOgya upanishad - 8-7-1)

 

"One must set out in search of Brahman before He can be found and

known".

 

It is precisely this point, this theme of going about in life

actively "looking for Brahman" -- in other words, by tirelessly

asking "kim", "kim" and "kim" in order to get to the final truth

about Brahman -- it is precisely the same leitmotif that we come

across underlying several scriptural passages that are familiar to us

and found in both other Upanishads as well as in the Vedantic

"purAnA-s".

 

In the story of Srimadh Bhagavatham, we see for example, the child

Dhruva going away into the forest only to "look for 'nArAyaNa'". We

see the child Nachiketas in the 'Katopanishad' travelling all the way

to the kingdom of Death to engage Yama, the God of Death himself, in

a gruelling session of "pari-prashna" (intense 'Q&A' dialogue) on

matters very similar to the ones we saw Arjuna raise with Krishna in

the 'Bhagavath-Gita' above. We see that the whole of a rather lengthy

Upanishad, called "PrashnOpanishad", is devoted to an account of the

wide-ranging "pari-prashna" to which the Sage PippalAda was subjected

to by six of his keenest students. On reading this Upanishad today we

see that their probing questions to the Master were as formidable as

their names: (1) Kabandhi Katyayana (2) Bhargava Vaidarbhi (3)

Kausalya Asvalayana (4) SouryAyani Gargya (5) Shaibhya Satyakama and

(6) Sukesha Bharadhwaja! And again, in the Mahabharatha, we come

across another popular example: the "yaksha-prashna", the famous

"Q&A" engagement between Yudhishtara and a visitor from the celestial

realms (the "yaksha").

 

*************

 

He who asks unending questions about the reality of 'Brahman', he who

is seen to have the word "kim" ever ready upon his lips, is said

therefore to be eminently fit to remain and rejoice in the presence

and company of those whom the Upanishad calls -- "brahmavAdin" i.e.

those Vedic seers and sages of yore. "kim" is verily the trade-mark

of such noble "brahmavAdins". Which is why the famous Svetasvatara

Upanishad's very first, grand opening verse begins with the dramatic

line -- "kim kAraNam brahmA ...?":

 

"brahmavAdinO vadanti:

kim kAraNam brahma kutha: sma jAthA: jeevAma kEna kva cha

sampratIshtAh I

adhishTitAh: kEna sukhEtarEshu vartAmahE brahmavidO vyavasthAm II

 

"Sages who seek Brahman ask: O knowers of Brahman, of what form is

Brahman, the cause of this universe? On acount of which are we born

and by which do we live? In which are we placed in the end? Being

presided over by which do we function in acts of joy and sorrow

following the prescribed order?"

 

The word "kim", we thus gradually realize after reading all the

above, is a supremely sacred word indeed. It is a "mantra-shabdha" in

itself and that is why a simple syllable like it finds pride of place

in the holy roll-call of God's 1000 'nAmA-s' in the

'Vishnu-Sahasranamam'. "kim" can therefore be rightly said to be the

"magic word" that can throw open the Doors of the Kingdom of Heaven

for us. It is the all-important "password" to be uttered by any

God-seeker. Without it his admission and welcome into the presence of

"brahmavAdins" or "gnyAni-s" is unlikely; without it his journey in

quest of the Almighty too might well never begin...

 

**************

 

"samsArE kim sAram?", Adi Sankara bhagavathpAdA is said to have once

asked. "What is the meaning of worldly existence?".

 

They say that the 'AchArya' himself provided a pithy but cryptic

answer:

 

"bahusah: abhi vichintyamAnam idam eva"

 

Meaning, "You have asked the question. Keep asking it. And that is in

itself the answer".

 

The message of Sankara's "prashna" and his own answer to it is this:

 

"Do not duck but squarely face the difficult questions of existence

such as "Who am I? Why was I born? Where do I come from? Where am I

going? How can I be free? How can I be fearless? Can I rid myself of

desire and anger? Can I conquer my self…?".

 

Sankara urges us to ceaselessly confront such questions at every

phase in our lives even if we do not immediately find answers for

them. If the answers are not found in this lifetime, they will be

found in the next one… And if not in the next, then perhaps in the

following one… But never relent, Sankara advises, never give up the

unending inquiry -- "samsArE kim sAram?". The indefatigable quest of

the Truth about God and ourselves will one day surely meet with

success.

 

"The journey of a thousand miles", it is said, "begins with the first

step". The first step on the pathway of the great Vedantic journey

unto Brahman begins with this simple question -- "kim?"...

 

***************

Thanks and regards,

 

dAsan,

Sudarshan

 

 

 

 

 

SBC DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!

http://sbc.

[Guest guest]

I am confused. Basically I do not understand the claim

in the enclosed mail that the Vishnu-Sahasranama is in

response to Yudhisthira's questions.

 

I thought that the Vishnu-Sahasranama (the main body)

of 1008 names is the stothram that Bhishma mentions as

a salutation to Shri Krishna when he is lying in the

Dharmashetra (Kurukshetra battlefield).

 

 

--- "M.K.Sudarshan" <sampathkumar_2000

wrote:

>

>

> Dear friends,

>

> The 735th 'nAmA' of Vishnu in the

> 'Vishnu-Sahasranamam' is the

> one-syllabled Sanskrit name -- "kim". It appears in

> the 78th

> 'shlOkA':

>

> ekah naikah sah vah kah kim yat tat

> padama~nuttamam

> lOka bandhur lokA natha: mAdhavO

> bhaktavatsalah

>

> It's a rather unusual name indeed for anyone to

> have. Even God

> Almighty, one might say...

>

> In native India it is common for mothers and fathers

> to select a name

> for their new-born from the one-thousand hallowed

> 'nAmA-s' of God

> found in the 'SahasranAma'. Yet I doubt you will

> find a single soul

> anywhere in the country having "kim" as either first

> name or surname.

>

>

> I learn, on the other hand, that 'Kim' is a pretty

> common feminine

> first name in America and Europe. In Korea I

> understand every fourth

> man you pass on the street bears the name 'Kim'. My

> 13-year old

> daughter tells me there is a famous Hollywood

> actress by the name of

> 'Kim Bassinger'; and my 15-year old son enlightens

> me about 'Kim'

> being the title of a lesser-known novel written by

> an English author

> of colonial fame, Sri.Rudyard Kipling.

>

> God bless children these days! How profoundly

> worldwide their

> knowledge of trivia is and how well they educate

> their ignorant

> parents indeed. Thanks to my two children, I have

> now made the

> important discovery that the western first name

> 'Kim' is actually

> short for 'Kimberly'. And since then, believe me, I

> have lived in

> secret dread of the day when 'Kim' might catch on

> fast amongst NRIs

> everywhere in the world, all clamouring to christen

> their new-borns

> with a 'tirunAma' found at last to be both hallowed

> by the

> 'Sahasranamam' and glamourized by Hollywood!

>

> The Sanksrit "kim", however, is actually a very

> common, very ordinary

> interrogatory. The Sanskrit word for 'Question' or

> 'Query' is

> "prashna". A "prashna" cannot be framed without

> using an

> interrogatory like 'kim'. The whole of the

> Vishnu-Sahasranamam, if

> you have carefully noticed, is actually a response

> to Yudhishtara's

> "prashna" beginning with 2 simple but profound

> 'kim?':

>

> "kim Ekam daivatam lOkE? kim vyApEkam

> parAyaNam?"

>

> "Whither God? What is the path unto Him?"

>

> The Sanskrit 'kim' literally means "what?" or

> "which?". In a limited

> context, it can also be used as the English

> equivalent of

> "wherefore?" or "whither?". Most questions, most

> 'prashna-s' hence

> usually begin with this interrogatory.

>

> It is because the Sanskrit 'kim' is an interrogatory

> that in India it

> is considered unfit, in spite of being sacred

> 'nAmA', to christen

> one's child with it. Otherwise, one can easily

> imagine how endless

> the embarrassments in life would be for a child

> named 'kim' who when

> asked, "What's your name?" has to respond saying,

> "What?". And the

> questioner who, then thinking he hadn't been heard

> well, repeats, "I

> asked you for your name?". And the child, poor

> thing, insisting, "I

> already told you -- "What?""... And to this the

> bewildered questioner

> asking again, "Excuse me, what do you mean?". And

> the poor child

> having to retort, "I heard you. It's really

> "What?""...

>

> And on and on, so forth thus, would it all probably

> go -- a farcical

> chain in a theatre of the absurd called 'kim'!

>

> ***********

>

> Our ancient Vedic forbears (the great Sage Vyasa,

> for instance, the

> author of the 'Vishnu-Sahasranama') however had no

> compunction at all

> giving Lord Almighty the unusual "nAmA" of "kim"

> i.e. "What?",

> "Which?" and "Whither?". Even if one knew nothing

> whatsoever that is

> certain about God, the Vedic Masters said, one thing

> at least should

> be beyond Man's doubt: God remains and shall ever

> remain an eternally

> unanswered question... Hence, it is quite in order

> to call him,

> simply, 'kim?'.

>

> There is a widespread feeling in the world, even and

> especially

> amongst young Indians today, that the religion of

> the Vedas is one

> founded on blind, mechanical and credulous faith. It

> is thought that

> there is really nothing more to this religion called

> 'Hinduism' than

> ritual, pilgrimage, purificatory bath,

> breath-control and chanting

> Sanskrit litanies called 'stOtrA-s' that few

> understand and fewer

> still appreciate... Nothing could be further than

> the truth. The

> piety of the Vedantic religion does not lie in

> parroting. It has its

> springs deep in an age-old tradition of unceasing,

> relentless

> questioning about and after Truth.

>

> This tradition is called "pari-prashna" and it has

> been around in

> India for centuries. The word "prashna" means (as

> already explained)

> "questioning" and the adjective "pari" means "deep",

> "unrelenting".

> This Vedantic tradition of "pari-prashna" is perhaps

> even more

> rigorous, uncompromising and single-minded in its

> search for Truth

> than what we know modern sciences to be. It is this

> tradition

> precisely that Krishna recommends to Arjuna as a

> solution to the

> oppressive problems of life:

>

> "tadvidhi praNipAtEna pari-prashnEna sEvayA

> upadEshyanti tE gnyAnam

> gnyAninas-tattva-darshinah:"

>

> (B.Gita IV.34)

>

> "Seek out the wise men of knowledge", says Krishna

> in the

> 'Bhagavath-Gita', "They will surely show you the Way

> if only they see

> you to be truly humble, devoted and unrelentingly

> questful".

>

> Although he embraced Krishna's prescription quickly

> enough, Arjuna

> seems to have lagged a bit in acting upon it. The

> suggestion of

> "pari-prashna" was made by Krishna towards the end

> of the 4th Chapter

> in the 'Bhagavath-Gita' but not very late

> thereafter, and not until

> the opening of the 8th Chapter, do we see Arjuna

> really acting upon

> the Lord's cue and counsel. But when Arjuna did

> indeed frame his

> first serious questions on the problems of life, it

> is all put, and

> quiet predictably so, with the inevitable "kim?"!

>

> kim tadh brahma? kim adhyAtmam? kim karma

> pUrUshOtama?

> adhibhutham cha kim? prOktam~adhidaivam kim

> achyutha?

> (bhagavath-gita VIII.1)

>

>

=== message truncated ===

 

 

 

 

SBC DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!

http://sbc.

[Guest guest]

, Ramesh Bhashyam <rameshb>

wrote:

> I am confused. Basically I do not understand the claim

> in the enclosed mail that the Vishnu-Sahasranama is in

> response to Yudhisthira's questions.

>

> I thought that the Vishnu-Sahasranama (the main body)

> of 1008 names is the stothram that Bhishma mentions as

> a salutation to Shri Krishna when he is lying in the

> Dharmashetra (Kurukshetra battlefield).

>

 

 

Dear friend,

 

It is no "claim" that Sahasranamam is Bhishma's response to

Yudhishatara's questions! It is fact; and you may please confirm it

by referring to the "anusAsana-parva" of the MahabhArata.

 

BTW, if you are a regular reciter of the Vishnu Sahasranamam, you

should be quite familiar with the prefatory shlOkA-s beginning with

Yudhishtara's questions "kim ekam daivatam lOke ...". If Sanskrit is

your problem it can be overcome by either referring to a good

English/Tamil/Telugu translation or else seeking the help of someone

knowledgeable about the Sahasranamam. In any case, please continue to

persevere in your endeavours to understand the glory of Sahasranamam.

 

Trust this clarifies your query.

 

Regards,

dAsan,

Sudarshan

[Guest guest]

Jai Sriman Narayana!

 

The nama "Kim" appearing in Sri Vishnu shasaranamam

may not denote the question "what."

 

Srimath Bhagavatham talks about Kimpurusha varsham

north of the Meru parvatham, and indeed may be talking

about the present Korea or China. Kimpurusha varsham

denotes "the kinngdom or land of Kimpurusha," and

therefore, it is possible that Vishnusahasra namam is

talking about an individual named "kim" or a race or

jathi named "kimpurushas." In many places, in Srimath

Bhagavatham, they talk about kinnaras, kimpurushas,

etc. when referring to some (different) kind of race

that existed. These kimpurushas might have ruled the

world once upon a time, like the English or the

present Americans ruling the world. My feeling is that

a great dynasty by the name "kim" (who was dharmic)

once existed north of Himalayas, and "kinnaras"

existed in the west (Europe/Americas). The word

"KInnera" appears in many street names in the US

(Kinnerer Street, Kinnered Avenue etc.). In order to

fully understand, perhaps, one has to conduct research

in Korea on the meaning, origin, and significance of

the word "Kim."

 

Significant amount of research is neaded in the

geographical interpretation of Srimath Bhagavatham and

other puranas and ithihasas. It is a pure coincidence

that the city "Ramchar" exisits on the southern side

(Swiss side) of Lake Bodennsee, while the city

"Ravensburg" exists (in Germany) 30 miles north of the

lake Bodensee. We took a boat from Ramchar

(Switzerland) to German side of Lake Bodensee to

attend a conference in Wein Garten close to

Ravensburg. Incidentally, during the world war, Hitler

manufactured his misslies in a plant close to

Ravensburg.

 

My feeling is that the Sanathana dhrama once florished

all over the world, and somehow, in Kaliyuga, the

Sanathana dharma is completely lost outside the

Bharatha Varsha.

 

The nama Kim perhaps referres to a mighty race that

was once prominent.

 

With all Glories to Lord Sri Venkateswara, I remain,

Sincerely

Narender P. Reddy

--- "M.K.Sudarshan" <sampathkumar_2000

wrote:

> Dear friends,

> The 735th 'nAmA' of Vishnu in the

> 'Vishnu-Sahasranamam' is the

> one-syllabled Sanskrit name -- "kim". It appears in

> the 78th

> 'shlOkA':

> ekah naikah sah vah kah kim yat tat

> padama~nuttamam

> lOka bandhur lokA natha: mAdhavO

> bhaktavatsalah

>

> It's a rather unusual name indeed for anyone to

> have. Even God

> Almighty, one might say...

>

> In native India it is common for mothers and fathers

> to select a name

> for their new-born from the one-thousand hallowed

> 'nAmA-s' of God

> found in the 'SahasranAma'. Yet I doubt you will

> find a single soul

> anywhere in the country having "kim" as either first

> name or surname.

>

>

> I learn, on the other hand, that 'Kim' is a pretty

> common feminine

> first name in America and Europe. In Korea I

> understand every fourth

> man you pass on the street bears the name 'Kim'. My

> 13-year old

> daughter tells me there is a famous Hollywood

> actress by the name of

> 'Kim Bassinger'; and my 15-year old son enlightens

> me about 'Kim'

> being the title of a lesser-known novel written by

> an English author

> of colonial fame, Sri.Rudyard Kipling.

>

> God bless children these days! How profoundly

> worldwide their

> knowledge of trivia is and how well they educate

> their ignorant

> parents indeed. Thanks to my two children, I have

> now made the

> important discovery that the western first name

> 'Kim' is actually

> short for 'Kimberly'. And since then, believe me, I

> have lived in

> secret dread of the day when 'Kim' might catch on

> fast amongst NRIs

> everywhere in the world, all clamouring to christen

> their new-borns

> with a 'tirunAma' found at last to be both hallowed

> by the

> 'Sahasranamam' and glamourized by Hollywood!

>

> The Sanksrit "kim", however, is actually a very

> common, very ordinary

> interrogatory. The Sanskrit word for 'Question' or

> 'Query' is

> "prashna". A "prashna" cannot be framed without

> using an

> interrogatory like 'kim'. The whole of the

> Vishnu-Sahasranamam, if

> you have carefully noticed, is actually a response

> to Yudhishtara's

> "prashna" beginning with 2 simple but profound

> 'kim?':

>

> "kim Ekam daivatam lOkE? kim vyApEkam

> parAyaNam?"

>

> "Whither God? What is the path unto Him?"

>

> The Sanskrit 'kim' literally means "what?" or

> "which?". In a limited

> context, it can also be used as the English

> equivalent of

> "wherefore?" or "whither?". Most questions, most

> 'prashna-s' hence

> usually begin with this interrogatory.

>

> It is because the Sanskrit 'kim' is an interrogatory

> that in India it

> is considered unfit, in spite of being sacred

> 'nAmA', to christen

> one's child with it. Otherwise, one can easily

> imagine how endless

> the embarrassments in life would be for a child

> named 'kim' who when

> asked, "What's your name?" has to respond saying,

> "What?". And the

> questioner who, then thinking he hadn't been heard

> well, repeats, "I

> asked you for your name?". And the child, poor

> thing, insisting, "I

> already told you -- "What?""... And to this the

> bewildered questioner

> asking again, "Excuse me, what do you mean?". And

> the poor child

> having to retort, "I heard you. It's really

> "What?""...

>

> And on and on, so forth thus, would it all probably

> go -- a farcical

> chain in a theatre of the absurd called 'kim'!

>

> ***********

>

> Our ancient Vedic forbears (the great Sage Vyasa,

> for instance, the

> author of the 'Vishnu-Sahasranama') however had no

> compunction at all

> giving Lord Almighty the unusual "nAmA" of "kim"

> i.e. "What?",

> "Which?" and "Whither?". Even if one knew nothing

> whatsoever that is

> certain about God, the Vedic Masters said, one thing

> at least should

> be beyond Man's doubt: God remains and shall ever

> remain an eternally

> unanswered question... Hence, it is quite in order

> to call him,

> simply, 'kim?'.

>

> There is a widespread feeling in the world, even and

> especially

> amongst young Indians today, that the religion of

> the Vedas is one

> founded on blind, mechanical and credulous faith. It

> is thought that

> there is really nothing more to this religion called

> 'Hinduism' than

> ritual, pilgrimage, purificatory bath,

> breath-control and chanting

> Sanskrit litanies called 'stOtrA-s' that few

> understand and fewer

> still appreciate... Nothing could be further than

> the truth. The

> piety of the Vedantic religion does not lie in

> parroting. It has its

> springs deep in an age-old tradition of unceasing,

> relentless

> questioning about and after Truth.

>

> This tradition is called "pari-prashna" and it has

> been around in

> India for centuries. The word "prashna" means (as

> already explained)

> "questioning" and the adjective "pari" means "deep",

> "unrelenting".

> This Vedantic tradition of "pari-prashna" is perhaps

> even more

> rigorous, uncompromising and single-minded in its

> search for Truth

> than what we know modern sciences to be. It is this

> tradition

> precisely that Krishna recommends to Arjuna as a

> solution to the

> oppressive problems of life:

>

> "tadvidhi praNipAtEna pari-prashnEna sEvayA

> upadEshyanti tE gnyAnam

> gnyAninas-tattva-darshinah:"

>

> (B.Gita IV.34)

>

> "Seek out the wise men of knowledge", says Krishna

> in the

> 'Bhagavath-Gita', "They will surely show you the Way

> if only they see

> you to be truly humble, devoted and unrelentingly

> questful".

>

> Although he embraced Krishna's prescription quickly

> enough, Arjuna

> seems to have lagged a bit in acting upon it. The

> suggestion of

> "pari-prashna" was made by Krishna towards the end

> of the 4th Chapter

> in the 'Bhagavath-Gita' but not very late

> thereafter, and not until

> the opening of the 8th Chapter, do we see Arjuna

> really acting upon

> the Lord's cue and counsel. But when Arjuna did

> indeed frame his

> first serious questions on the problems of life, it

> is all put, and

> quiet predictably so, with the inevitable "kim?"!

>

> kim tadh brahma? kim adhyAtmam? kim karma

> pUrUshOtama?

> adhibhutham cha kim? prOktam~adhidaivam kim

> achyutha?

> (bhagavath-gita VIII.1)

>

>

=== message truncated ===

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Dear Sri Reddy gAru,

 

Thank you. It's a very interesting viewpoint you have. I suppose it

is for "purAna" historians to throw more light upon your conjecture.

 

My piece was based purely on the 'bhAshya' meaning of "kim' that one

finds in the "bhagavath-guNa-darpaNam" of Sri Parashara Bhattar.

According to this 'bhAshya" the word "kim" does indeed mean "what",

"which" or "whither". And I'd say it's truly a splendid and apt

"nAmA" for the Lord... and I'm sure many would agree too.

 

Thank you so much for the feedback.

 

Regards,

dASan,

Sudarshan

 

 

--- Narender Reddy <reddynp wrote:

> Jai Sriman Narayana!

>

> The nama "Kim" appearing in Sri Vishnu shasaranamam

> may not denote the question "what."

>

> Srimath Bhagavatham talks about Kimpurusha varsham

> north of the Meru parvatham, and indeed may be talking

> about the present Korea or China. Kimpurusha varsham

> denotes "the kinngdom or land of Kimpurusha," and

> therefore, it is possible that Vishnusahasra namam is

> talking about an individual named "kim" or a race or

> jathi named "kimpurushas." In many places, in Srimath

> Bhagavatham, they talk about kinnaras, kimpurushas,

> etc. when referring to some (different) kind of race

> that existed. These kimpurushas might have ruled the

> world once upon a time, like the English or the

> present Americans ruling the world. My feeling is that

> a great dynasty by the name "kim" (who was dharmic)

> once existed north of Himalayas, and "kinnaras"

> existed in the west (Europe/Americas). The word

> "KInnera" appears in many street names in the US

> (Kinnerer Street, Kinnered Avenue etc.). In order to

> fully understand, perhaps, one has to conduct research

> in Korea on the meaning, origin, and significance of

> the word "Kim."

>

> Significant amount of research is neaded in the

> geographical interpretation of Srimath Bhagavatham and

> other puranas and ithihasas. It is a pure coincidence

> that the city "Ramchar" exisits on the southern side

> (Swiss side) of Lake Bodennsee, while the city

> "Ravensburg" exists (in Germany) 30 miles north of the

> lake Bodensee. We took a boat from Ramchar

> (Switzerland) to German side of Lake Bodensee to

> attend a conference in Wein Garten close to

> Ravensburg. Incidentally, during the world war, Hitler

> manufactured his misslies in a plant close to

> Ravensburg.

>

> My feeling is that the Sanathana dhrama once florished

> all over the world, and somehow, in Kaliyuga, the

> Sanathana dharma is completely lost outside the

> Bharatha Varsha.

>

> The nama Kim perhaps referres to a mighty race that

> was once prominent.

>

> With all Glories to Lord Sri Venkateswara, I remain,

> Sincerely

> Narender P. Reddy

 

 

 

 

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