SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 105 - nAma 983. annam.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 105 - nAma 983. annam.

 

983. annam – The object of enjoyment.

 

om annAya namaH.

 

The root from which the nAma is derived is ad – bhakshaNe – to eat.

atti = bhakshati iti annam – He who consumes or enjoys is `annam'.

Alternatively, adyaH iti annam – That which is consumed or eaten, is

annam.

 

SrI vAsishTha gives another alternate derivation using the root ana –

prANane – to breathe, to live: anIti iti annam, yadvA anyate =

prANyate yena tad annam – He Who makes the beings live, or He because

of Whom the beings exist. This can refer to the vital air that is

necessary for the beings to survive and live.

 

SrI vAsishTha points out that the word `annam' is used in the Sruti

to refer to any offering in a yaj~na – that which can be offered as

havis, including ghRtam (ghee) etc:

 

SrI BhaTTar explains the nAma as " bhoktR-SaktibhiH bhujyate iti

annam' – He Who is enjoyed, or is the Object of enjoyment by those

who have been blessed by Him with the power to enjoy Him. In fact,

for the true devotee, everything except bhagavAn is not an object of

enjoyment, and He is everything for them. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan refer

us to nammAzhvAr:

 

uNNum SORu parugu nIr tinnum veRRilai ellAm

kaNNan * emperumAn enRenRE kaNgaL nIl malgi

maNNiNuL avan SIr vaLam mikkavan Ur vinavi

tiNNam en iLa mAn pugumUr tirukkOLUrE. (tiruvAi. 6.7.1)

 

" To His devotee, all is kRshNa. Food - eaten to satisfy the

appetite, water – drunk to quench the thirst, and betel leaves –

consumed after the food, are all kRshNa only in their case. Saying

His name, speaking of His qualities, and thinking of Him, His devotee

will feel the hunger and the thirst and all other needs satisfied.

They will not eat any other food since kRshNa-consciousness is enough

food for them. Reciting His name and enquiring everyone on the

way " Am I on the right path to tirukkOLUr? How far is it hence? " ,

the devotee will proceed without any other need for sustenance . The

very thought of His place serves as nourishment for the devotee " .

 

SrI rAmAnujan also refers us the gItA in support:

 

bahUnAm janmanAm ante j~nAnavAn mAm prapadyate |

vAsudevas-sarvam iti sa mahAtmA sudurlabhaH || (gItA

7.19)

 

" At the end of many births, the man of knowledge finds refuge in Me,

realizing that " vAsudeva is all " (annam). It is very hard to find

such a great-souled person " .

 

The well-known Sruti vAkya from taittirIya Upanishad:

 

aham annam aham annam aham annam | aham annAdo'ham annAdo'ham

annAdaH |

 

bhagavAn is annam because He allows Himself to be enjoyed by those

who are qualified and endowed with the knowledge to enjoy Him. He

in turn enjoys those who thus enjoy Him, and so He is also called

annAdaH – Enjoyer (next nAma).

 

SrI vELukkuDi kRshNan refers us to the pASurams of nammAzhvAr where

AzhvAr refers to both the aspects of bhagavAn being annam and

annAdaH. In the ten pASurams of tiruvAimozhi 5-10, AzhvAr repeatedly

refers to both these aspects. We will deal with the references for

the nAma annAdaH under the next nAma.

 

The whole of divya prabandham is nothing but bhagavAn being enjoyed

as annam by the different AzhvArs. SrI kRshNan profusely keeps

quoting from different AzhvArs. Couple of examples are given below:

 

pAlAzhi nee kiDakkum paNbai yAm kETTEyum

kAl Azhum ne'nju azhiyum kaN Suzhalum * neelAzhic

cOdiyAi! AzhiyAi! tol vinai empAl kaDiyum

neediyAi! niR-cArndu ninRu. (nammAzhvAr

periya tiruvantAdi 34).

 

" Oh Lord! You have the brilliance of the dark Ocean, and You are the

First Cause of all the universes. It is Your nature to remove the

blemishes in the likes of me. When I think of You and the beauty of

Your reclining in the Milky Ocean, the experience is so profound that

my legs are not able to support me any more, my mind is not able to

comprehend Your beauty, and my eyes experience the same profoundness " .

 

ERaDarttadum EnamAi nilam kINDadum mun rAmanAi

mARaDarttadum maN aLandadum Sollip pADi… (perumAL tiru. Of

kulaSekhara. 2.3)

 

" When I sing Your glory – Your great feat of destroying the seven

mighty bulls, Your lifting the whole Earth in Your varAha

incarnation, Your destroying the evil rAvana in your rAma

incarnation, tears of joy well into my eyes and overflow like a

river….. " .

 

Sri Sa'nkara explains the nAma as `adyate iti annam' = That which us

consumed by all beings is annam. Since He is the sustaining power

present in all the food consumed by all beings, He is called annam.

SrI cinmayAnanda includes all the sense-objects that satisfy the

needs of the sense-organs under scope of annam represented by Him,

and explains the nAma as " One Who has Himself become the sense-

objects which are the `food' consumed by the sense-organs " .

 

Using the definition atti = bhakshati iti annam – he Who eats, both

Sri Sa'nkara and SrI cinmyananda give the alternate interpretation

that He is called annam – One Who eats - atti bhUtAni iti annam – He

Who consumes everything at the time of pralaya.

 

SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj uses the root ana – prANane – to breathe,

to live, and gives the explanation – anyante uapjIvyante bhaktAH yena

sva-darSana-dAna dvArA iti annaH – BhagavAn sustains the bhakta-s by

giving them His darSanam, and so He is the Sustainer – annam. The

application of the uNAdi sUtra 3.10 adds the affix na after the root

an, giving the word annam – food.

 

SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN extends the topic of yaj~nam that has been

the subject of the previous nAma-s to the current one as well, and

explains the nAma as indicating that at the successful conclusion of

the yaj~na by the devotee, when the devotee reaches the ultimate

objectives of SrI vaikunTham, bhagavAn presents Himself to the

devotee in the forms of the most enjoyable objects in SrI vaikunTham

through His sa'nkalpa Sakti, and so He becomes the ultimate annam for

the devotee – yaj~na labhye parama vyomni yad-divya-rasa-

gandhAdikamadanIyam bhogyam.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

(To be continued)