FW: SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 102 - Urdhva-gaH, sat-pathAcAraH.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 102 - Urdhva-gaH, sat-pathAcAraH.

 

954. Urdhva-gaH - a) He Who rises high.

b) He Who leads His devotees to SrI vaikunTham, the

highest goal of the jIva-s.

c0 He Who is above everyone else in all respects.

 

om Urdhva-gAya namaH.

 

a) The term Urdhva means `above'. Urdhva-gaH means "One Who rises

high". SrI BhaTTar explains the nAma as a continuation of his

explanation of the previous nAma - He Who sleeplessly protects His

creation. He devotes Himself to this task of rakshNam even without

sleep, because He aims high in whatever He does, and so He is "Urdhva-

gaH". SrI BhaTTar's words are: svabhAva-tu'ngaH - He Who, by

nature, rises high in everything.

 

His aiming high in everything is sung by nammAzhvAr through the

phrase "karuttin kaN periyan" (tiruvAi. 10.8.8) - "He Who is great

when it comes to paying attention to His goal". nammAzhvAr also

identifies His paramount goal "kAkkum iyalvinan" (tiruvAi. 2.2.9) -

He Whose Nature it is to protect. It is this paramount goal of His

that is being sung in this nAma.

 

SrImad SrImushNam ANDavan explains the nAma as "uyarvaRa uyar nalam

uDaiyavan yavan avan" (tiruvAi. 1.1.1) - He Who possesses auspicious

qualities that cannot at all be excelled".

 

SrI Sa'nkara explains the nAma as - sarveshAm upari tishThan Urdhva-

gaH - He Who stands above all.

 

b) SrI ananta kRshNa SAtry gives an alternate interpretation that the

nAma signifies that Lord vishNu is the One Who takes us to SrI

viakunTham.

 

c) SrI vAsishTha interprets the nAma as - sarveshAm Urdhva sthiti

SAlitvAt, sarvataH SreshThatvAt vA Urdhva-gaH - "He who is above

everyone in all aspects". He notes that even in real life, the place

of knowledge, namely the brain, is above all other organs in the

body, reflecting an aspect of this guNa of bhagavAn.

 

955. sat-pathAcAraH - a) One Who leads His devotees in the right

path.

b) He Who follows the path of dharma in His

incarnations.

 

om sat-paThAcArAya namaH.

 

patha means path. sat refers to `righteous'. The word AcAra is

derived from the root car - gatau - to walk. `AcAra'

means `conduct, behavior'.

 

a) Sri BhaTTar interprets the nAma as "One Who leads His devotees in

the right path" - sat-pathe = svAbhAvika dAsya mArge, AcaraNam =

teshAm pravartanam asya iti sat-pathAcAraH - He Who induces (leads)

the devotee in the right path of kainkaryam (servitude) to Him, which

is the true nature of the devotee. Recall that in this segment, Sri

BhaTTar is interpreting the nAma-s in terms of the benefits to the

devotees from His guNa-s (avtAra prayojanam). Since it is in the

interest of the jIva-s to recognize and follow the relationship of

Sesha-SeshI bhAva (the Master-servant relationship between the

Supreme Being and the jIva), bhagavAn facilitates this, and leads the

devotee in this path. SrI BhaTTar refers us to the words of advice

given by Lord kRshNa to arjuna:

 

a-nityam a-sukham lokam imam prApya bhajasva mAm | (gItA

9.33)

 

"You are now in the transitory and unhappy world. To get over it,

worship Me".

 

SrI satya sandha tIrtha also gives an interpretation similar to that

of SrI BhaTTar - sat-pathe = san-mArge Acarayati yogyAn iti sat-

pathAcAraH.

 

b) Sri Sa'nkara interprets the nAma as - satAm panthAnaH karmANi sat-

pathAH | tAn Acarati esha iti sat-pathAcAraH - He Who follows the

path which good men have chalked out in His incarnations, is sat-

pathAcAraH.

 

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri refers us to Slokam 3.22 in the gItA, where

bhagavAn tells us that He follows the path followed by the great ones

in His incarnations, just to set an example for others to follow:

 

na me partha asti kartavyam trishu lokeshu ki'ncana |

nAnavAptam avAptavyam varta eva ca karmaNi || (gIytA 3.22)

 

"For Me, arjuna, there is nothing in all the three worlds that ought

to be done, nor is there anything un-acquired that ought to be

acquired. Yet I go on working (to set an example to others)".

 

SrI vAsishTha interprets the nAma as: sat-pathe AcAro yasya sa sat-

pathAcAraH - He Whose conduct or behavior is along the righteous

path, is sat-pathAcAraH.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan