SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 105 - 9nAma 978. yaj~nI.

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978. yaj~nI – He for Whose sake the yaj~na-s are done.

 

om yaj~nine namaH.

 

SrI vAsishTha notes that the word yaj~nI is derived from the word

yaj~na by the addition of the ini pratyaya that has the same sense as

the matup pratyaya (one indicating possession) – yaj~naH asya asti

iti yaj~nI – He for Whom the sacrifices are performed. SrI BhaTTar's

vyAkhyAnam is – sarva yaj~nAnam SeshI yaj~nI – He Who is the Lord or

Master of all the yaj~na-s. It is for His propitiation that all

yaj~na-s are performed. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan refers us to the gItA

Sloka 9.24 in support:

 

aham hi sarva yaj~nAnAm bhoktA ca prabhureva ca |

na tu mAm abhijAnanti tattvenAtaS-cyavanti te

|| (gItA 9.24)

 

" For, I am the only Enjoyer and the only Lord of all sacrifices.

They do not recognize Me in My true nature, and hence they fall " .

 

SrI rAmAnujan also refers us to nammAzhvAr's tiruvAimozhi:

 

…….

Seigaip payan uNbEnum yAnE ennum…. (tiruvAi. 5.6.4)

 

" Fruits of acts anyone does are but Mine " .

 

SrI veLukkuDi kRshNan explains that this Lordship of bhagavAn

expresses itself in His ensuring that His devotee attains Him even

when any offering to Him is flawed and deficient. He illustrates

this point by taking five of toNDaraDipoDi AzhVAr's pASurams from

tirumAlai, starting with pASuram 25: (kuLittu mUnRanalai

Ombum….). AzhvAr tells the Lord that he has not performed the

karma-s ordained for his varNa, he has not followed the j~nAna yoga

or the bhakti yoga, he has not spent any time singing the name of the

Lord, he has not done anything even remotely similar to the offering

of a flower like gajendra, he has not even offered the relatively

small service like the squirrels or the monkeys to Lord rAma, but the

only thing he knows is to cry for the help from the Lord. The Lord

accepts this as sufficient yaj~na, and takes AzhvAr to His Feet.

This example is an excellent illustration of why BhagavAn is called

the Lord of all yaj~na-s. BhagavAn takes the offering of a flower by

gajendra, the offering of a few specks of sand by the squirrels, the

service offered by the monkeys, or the sheer cry for help from Him,

as a sufficient offering to Him, in order to bless His devotee. (One

should remember that it is just sheer naicyAnusandhAnam that leads

AzhvAr to declare that he has no devotion of any kind, and has done

nothing to sing the name of the Lord).

 

Sri Sa'nkara's interpretation is: " yaj~nAnAm tat-samAradhAnAtmanAm

SeshI iti yaj~nI " – He Who is the Principal (SeshI) of the yaj~na,

that is performed for His own adoration.

 

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

-To be continued.