Vishnusahasranama-nama 37to41

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37. Svayambhooh

 

He who manifests Himself,. svayam bhavathi ithi svayuambhooh. Krishna says in the Gita, `prakrthim svaam aDhishtaaya sambhavaami aathmamaayayaa,' (BG.4.6)

I assume the prakrthi and manifest by my own maya. In Bhagavatham the birth of Krishna is described as

tham adbhutam baalakam ambujekshaNam

chaturbhujam sankha gadhaayudhaayudham

sreevathsalakshmam galasobhikaustubham

peethaambaram saandhra payodhasoubhagam

 

 

Vasudeva saw Him, who had the color of the cloud,, carrying sanka, conch, chakra the disc, in his four arms, gadha, the mace and lotus-eyed, marked by srivatsa on his chest and wearing kousthubhamani and he was describes as adhbutha baalaka, wonderful child. Desika says in his Yadhavabhyudhaya that the Lord appeared as th moon from the eastern direction , from Devaki, meaning that as the eastern deiection does not give bierth to themoon who was already there, similarly Devaki was only a symbol and the Lord manifested Himself.

 

38. Sambhuh

 

He is the source of happiness. `Sam' means sukham. Sam sukham bhaavayathi ithi sambhuh.

` Visvaaksham visvasambhuvam'- Narayanasuktham

 

The Lord is the source of happiness by His mere presence as Valmiki says in Ramayana,

 

roopa audaarya guNai: pumsaam dhrshti chitta apahaariNam, Rama stole the eyes and hearts of all by his looks and qualities kike generosity. chandra kaanthaananam raamam ateeva priya dharsanam, Rama was extremely pleasing to look at with his moonlike countenance.

 

 

39. Aadhithyah

 

The word aadhithya generally refers to the Sun. there are twelve aadhithyas with respect to the twelve months of the year. Adhitya means the son of adhithi, the mother of devas, adhithyaah apathyam pumaan aadhithyah. The word can also be derived as aadhatthe (rasaan bhuvah rasmibhih) ithi aadhithyah, one who brings essence of life on earth by his rays or as aadhatthe bhaasam jyothishaam, one who gives light to other luminous bodies. In this sense the word can be ascribed to the Lord as He is the giver of life and light and He was also manifested Himself as the son of adhithi in His incarnation as Vamana which is why He is known as Upendhra, brother of Indra. Thameva bhaantham anubhaathi

sarvam thasya bhaasa sarvamidham vibhaathi, all luminous bodies shine because of His light, says the Upanishad. That He is the real Self of the Sun is expressed in the sruthi as, `ya esha anthraadhithye hiranmayahpurushahdhrsyathe and

`dhyeyah sadhaa savithrmandalavarthi,' The Purusha seen in the Sun is of golden hue and He is to be meditated as being at the orb of the Sun.

 

 

40. Pushkaraakshah

 

Pushkara means anthriksha, sky, kamalam, lotus and udhakam, water. Pushkaraaksha may be taken to mean pushkare aksheeni yasya sah, one who has eyes above, that is one who has eyes everywhere, denoting the omnipresence of the Lord. When pushkara is taken to mean lotus pushkaraaksha means the one with lotus like eyes.

Upanishad on describing the Purusha of golden hue seen inside the orb of the Sun (see the previous nama – ya esha antharaadhitye----) says thasya kapyaasam pundarikam iva akshinee. Here an interesting incident related to Ramanuja is worth mentioning. Ramanuja was at first a disciple of Yaadhavaprakaasa, an advaitin. When Yadhavaprakasa explained this passage he gave the meaning for kapyaasam as the hind parts of a monkey which pained Ramanuja and brought tears to his eyes. When questioned about this Ramanuja explained that the word kapyaasam really means a lotus brought to bloom by the Sun., kapi should be derived as kam pibhathi , one who drinks water, that is the Sun who dries up water by his rays and aasam means blossoming. So the word should be derived as kapeh aasam pundarikam, the lotus blossoming from the Sun's rays, and not as lotus red like the hind parts of the monkey. So the sentence means that the Purusha who is seen in the orb of the Sun has eyes like full blown lotus which means Lord Narayana who is synonymous with Brahman in visishtaadvaita.

 

41. Mahaasvanah

 

As all the sound originated from the Lord, who is pranavasvarupa He is Mahaasvana the great sound. Mahaan cha asou svanascha ithi mahaasvanah. Or Mahaan svanah (sabdah) yasya sah , the sound of whom is greatest of all. When He blew His conch, Paanchajanya, at the outset of the Mahaabhaaratha war, it made

His enemies shake with fear. The Paanchajanya represents the Omkara, the origin of all sounds, the Naadhabrahman.