Guest guest Posted July 8, 2006 Report Share Posted July 8, 2006 Om Namo Narayanaya!! aavartano nivrittaatmaasamvritah sam-pramardanahahassamvartako vahnir anilo dharaneedharah. 228. Aavartanah -One who is the Unseen Dynamism behind the ever-whirling wheel-of time upon which play the endless drama of birth and death. The repetition (Aavartanam) of these changes is the experience of Samsaar, and the One mighty Lord, in whose presence alone the factors of matter start their thrilled dance of decay, is indicated here (Aavartanah) as "the Great Power behind the continuity of change in the world of phenomena". In the Geeta, Bhagavan says, "O Arjuna, the Lord dwells in the heart of all, and spins, through His Maayaa, all layers of personal ties as though the universe is a complicated machinery." 229. Nivrittaatmaa -The pure Self, which has retreated totally (Nivritta) from all Its identifications with matter. In short, Maha Vishnu is the Pure Self, ever Immaculate and totally Free from all the sorrows of the constant modifications taking place apparently in the Prakriti. a) He whose nature rises above other things - For the first interpretation, SrI Bhattar gives the following references: tripAdUrdhva udait-purushah - The Purusha stands eminent in the parama-pada which has thrice the glory of the material world" - purusha sUkta 4. parAt-param yan-mahato mahAntam - He is greater than the greatest, more exalted than the most exalted. - taitti. nArAyanIya 1.5. b) He whose mind is turned away from worldly desires - parama vairAgya khyApanaAya vishayebhyah pratyAhRta-manAh nivRttAtmA – To indicate His profound non-attachment to material objects, He has His mind withdrawn from them. About His meditation it is said - antarnivishTa bhAvam ca -He who has His thoughts concentrated on Himself. Also, Atma-dhyAna parAyaNAya -To Him who has His thoughts concentrated within Himself"; "hRd -admArpitamAnasam - Him with His mind fixed on the lotus-heart", etc. c) He who is the AtmA of those who practice nivRtti dharma - One who is the AtmA of those who practice the nivRtti dharma. (There are two kinds of dharma - the pravRtti dharma and the nivRtti dharma. pravRti dharma takes us to the world of the pitR-s where we enjoy the fruits of our karma, and come back to this world with the balance of karma-s to our credit; nivRttidharma is that which leads one to moksha). d) He who is beyond the bonds of samsAra - samsAra bandhAn nivRtta AtmA svarUpam asya iti nivRttAtmA. nivRtta means that which has retreated totally, abstaining from worldly acts, etc. SrI cinmayAnanda points out that in the example of the two birds sitting on the same tree that is referred to in the munDakopanishad which has been referred to earlier in our write-up, the nivRttAtmA is the one who is looking on without eating the fruits of the tree. The writer in dharma cakram points out that the significance of this nAma is to realize that we should live a life with detachment in material objects in order to realize the Truth, and meditating on this nAma of mahA vishNu will help us live that kind of life. Meditating on the Lord who has no attachments will lead us to live a life without attachment. He gives the life of Lord Rama as an example of the life of nivRttAtmA. 230. Samvritah -One who is completely veiled from the recognition of the "Perceiving-feeling-thinking entity", the ego (Jeeva). The Self is veiled away from direct experience of all Jeevas. This intellectual state of non-apprehension (Aavarana) creates the agitation (Vikshepa) which is the cause for the misapprehensions of Truth as the sad and sorrowful world of imperfections. Thus veiled, lies the Truth to the seeker, and that Glorious spiritual Centre is Vishnu. Sri Bhattar: He who remains hidden. 231. Sampramardanah -One who persecutes relentlessly men, who are sensuous, evil-minded, and so, fully extrovert in their personality (Raakshasas). In the form of disease, decay, disaster or death That which manifests to annihilate the pride, vanity and conceits of all "animal-men", as they live drowned in their flesh cravings, low emotions and materialistic values, is the Ultimate Reality-the Supreme Lord Vishnu. SrI Sankara interprets the nAma based on mardana - to destroy, and gives the meaning that He is sampramardana because of His act of destruction in the forms of rudra, yama, etc. - samyak pramardayati rudra-kAlAdyAbhih vibhUtibhih iti sampramardanah. SrIBhattar's interpretation is that mardana refers to destruction of the darkness or mAyA. SrI cinmayAnanda interprets mardana as referring to the act of destruction of the evil-minded and sensuous and extrovert - rAkshasa-s. The dharma cakram author interprets mardana in the context of the act of bhagavAn in helping us to destroy the pride and aham-kAra in us and to unite with Him. Life consists of destroying certain things and preserving certain things. A good life is that where we understand what is to be preserved and preserve those values, and destroy those that need to be destroyed 232. Ahassamvartakah -One who thrills the day (Ahas) and makes it function vigorously (pravartakah). The one who dynamises the day and lends the enchantment of joy to all living creatures is the Sun. The Mighty Truth, who, in the form of the Sun, gives life to all and lends this energy to them to act, is Vishnu. SrI cinmayAnanda gives reference to the following Sloka from gItA - yadAditya gatam tejo jagad bhAsayate'khilam |yac-candramasi yaccAgnau tat-tejo viddhi mAmakam || (gItA 15.12) Understand that I am the Light of the Sun that illumines all earth; and the tejas in the moon and fire are all mine only". The one who dynamises the day and gives life to all and lends energy to them to act, etc. is vishNu in the form of the Sun. 233. Vahnih -Fire. One, who is worshipped at the altar as the God of gods, was Fire in the Vedic period. Invoking the various deities, oblations were poured into the Fire in Vedic ritualism and Lord Fire is entrusted with the duty of conveying the oblations to the appropriate deities Invoked by the devotee. In short, Vishnu is the Omniscient Lord, who conveys appropriate Karma-phala to the Kartaa (doer) and thus fulfils all actions of everybody, at all times. The root from which this nAma is derived is vah - to carry. SrI Bhattar interprets the nAma as referring to the act of bhagavAn in supporting the Universe in the form of space. SrI aNNangarAcArya gives the meaning that He is the bearer (supporter) of everyone. Vahni also refers to fire, since fire is the carrier of the oblations offered in homa etc. SrI Sankara interprets the nAma in this context - devebhyo havyam vaha nah prajAnan - One who, as fire, carries the oblations to the gods, or havir-vahanAt vahnih. 234. Anilah – a) The Giver of life-breath; The Air.b) One who needs no goading to Help His devotees.c) The Beginningless.d) One who has no binding, unaffected by virtue and vice.e) One who is beyond dissolution.f) One who is omniscient - All-Knowing.g) Easily accessible to His devotees.h) One who has no fixed residence.i) One who is not supported (by Earth etc).j) One who does not hide anywhere i.e., who is present everywherek) One who is always awake. This nAma occurs again. tadevAgnih tad-vAyuh - He is agni Himself and He is vAyu - (taittirIya AraN.10), supports the interpretation of this and the previous nAma-s as agni and vAyu respectively. ananAt - ujjIvanAt anilah - Bestows the life-breath on all.Ko hyevAnyAt kah prANyAt - Whoever can breathe and whoever can live if the AkASa (i.e., paramAtmA) were not there? - (taittirIya nArAyaNa 7);prAnAt vAyur_ajAyata - The wind was born out of His breath (purusha sUktam 14). Ilati preraNam karoti iti ilah,tadrahitatvAt anilah - One who does not need a proposer or inducer. tadapyaprArthitam dhyAto dadAti madhusUdanah - When meditated upon, bhagavAn madhusudana bestows His blessings on His devotee without the need for anyone else urging Him - vishNu dharma 74.42. SrI Sankara and other interpreters give several alternate interpretations in addition to above two- anAditvAt aniti yo'asu anilah (c above) - Beginningless,anAdAnAt anilah - One who has no binding,ilati svapiti iti ilah, tad-viparItah anilah - One who is ever awakened (f)nilater-gahanArthAt ka-pratyayAntAt agahanah - anilah - One who is not difficult to access for His devotees (g)anilayah anilah (h) - One who has no fixed abode.An interpretation for the occurrence of this word in amarakoSa isna vidyate nilah nilayam sthAnam yasya. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri adds that ila is Earth, and since He existed before the Earth existed, He is not supported by the Earth etc., and so He is anila (i).An alternate interpretation is na nilIyate iti anilah - He is Omnipresent, indestructible, in the form of anila - vAyu (j). Yet another interpretation is anAdAnAt anilah - One who has no binding (d). 235. Dharaneedharah -One who supports (Dharah) the earth (Dharanee). The field of our experiences is the earth, and for all our earthly experiences, Consciousness is at once the very substratum and the very Illuminator. In the Light of Consciousness alone, the web of happenings around is held together to provide us with our experiences. SrI Bhattar takes this simple interpretation one level further, and gives the significance that He bears those who bear others, e.g., He bears AdiSesha, bhUmi, etc. SrI Bhattar gives the following supporting quotes sa dAdhAra pRthivIm dyAm utemAm - He bore the Earth and all the Heaven -yajur 13.4 uddhRtA'si varAheNa - Thou (O Mother Earth) hast been lifted up by varAha -taitt. AraN. 10.8 "pRthivIm ca antariksham ca dyAm caiva purushottamah |manasiava visRshTAtmA nayati AtmavaSam vaSI || 'Purushottama, by His will, created Earth, the Interspace and Heaven; being the Supreme Ruler, He keeps them all under His control.' The writer in dharma cakram brings the significance of this nAma to a level of understanding that is easier to comprehend. When we say bhagavAn is the bearer of the Earth, what we mean is that directly or indirectly He is supporting all the life forms by providing food and shelter to all, irrespective of whether we are devoted to Him or not, all the good and the bad. Either we survive by drawing on the vegetables and other food that we directly get from the earth, or some beings survive by preying on other life forms which in turn live by drawing on the direct produce from the earth. So this nAma signifies that He supports us physically in the form of the earth, and also sustains us all through the food from the earth. Krishnarpanamastu! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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