SrI vishNu sahasra nAmm - Slokam 107 - nAma 993. Sa'nkha-bhRt.

[Guest guest]

SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namah.

SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam – Slokam 107- nAma 993. Sa'nkha-bhRt.

 

Sa'nkha-bhRn_nandakI cakrI Sar'nga-dhanvA gadA-dharaH |

rathA'nga-PANIr_akshobhyaH sarva-praharaNAyudhaH ||

 

om Sa'nkha-bhRte namaH.

om nandakine namaH.

om cakriNe namaH.

om Sar'nga-dhanvane namaH.

om gadA-dharAya namaH.

om rathA'nga-pANaye namaH.

om akshobhyAya namaH.

om sarva-praharaNAyudhAya namaH.

 

In this last Sloka of the stotra before phala-Sruti, bhagavAn's

celestial weapons are described. There are several aspects in which

the Ayudha-s or weapons in bhagavAn's hands are enjoyed by the

devotees.

 

1) 2) . These weapons are enjoyed by His devotees as divine

ornaments, while at the same time they are objects of terror for His

enemies.

 

Even though bhagavAn has many weapons that decorate Him (for

instance, the shoDaSAyudha stotram by svAmi deSikan describing 16

weapons in the hands of Lord sudarSana), the pa'nca Ayhudha-s are the

ones that receive mention in this Sloka. The pa'nca Ayudha-s or the

five weapons are also sung in the pa'ncAyudha stotram.

 

3) In addition to the aspect that the weapons in bhagavAn's hands are

worshipped as decorations for Him (which is how most devotees view

the weapons), and the aspect that He carries them for the protection

of His devotees and the destruction of their enemies, there is

another aspect that is to be enjoyed. This is the perspective of the

special devotee such as nammAzhvAr, who becomes extremely concerned

about the safety of His Lord because of his intense love towards His

Lord. We already know that periAzhvAr sang ma'ngaLASAsaam to the

Lord and prayed for a `long life' for His Lord (paLLANDu).

Similarly, nammAzhvAr gets concerned that His Lord has been left to

carry all these huge weapons in His hands, with nobody coming forward

to help Him by carrying them for Him. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan refers us

to tiruvAimozhi pASuram 8.3.3:

 

ALum AL Ar, Azhiyum Sa'ngum SumappAr tAm

vALum villum koNDu pin SelvAr maRRillai

tALum tOLum kaikaLai Arat tozhak kANEn

nALum nALum nADuvan aDiyEn j~nalattE.

 

The pASuram is one where AzhvAr is in deep bhagavad anubhavam, to the

point that he is worried and concerned that there is no to one to

help His Lord carry these heavy weapons, and instead they only keep

calling on Him to bestow on them worldly things, instead of realizing

that He is the only true object to wish for.

 

4) There is a fourth aspect to the Ayudha-s that Lord vishNu holds on

His tirumEni, that is described in SrI vishNu purANam. Here, the

Ayudha-s that Lord Hari holds in His divine body are described as

representing the various tattva-s that ultimately are involved in the

creation of the Universe and its beings. SrI kRshNan describes these

in detail in his sahasra nAma upanyAsam. Briefly, the following is a

summary:

 

- cakram – symbolizes the constant movement of manas – vAyu

vegam mano vegam

- Sa'nkham – tAmasa aha'nkAram, from which the pa'nca bhUta-s

have appeared; (pRthivi, ap, vAyu, tejas, AkASam). e.g., Sabdam,

one of the tan-mAtras which is the first stage before AkASa appears,

is the sound emanating from the conch.

- gadhA - – buddhi – unlike manas which is ca'ncalam, buddhi

is the stabilizing factor.

- SAr'nga – sAttvika – the five karma indriya-s and the five

j~nAna indriya-s. SAr'nga is the controlling force for the indriya-

s.

- nandakI – the sword represents brahma vidyA; the sheath for

the knife is the controlling force that controls avidyA.

 

The Sloka-s from SrI vishNu purANam from chapter 1.22 that describe

the above are:

 

pradhAnam buddhirapyAste gadA rUpena mAdhave || (68)

 

bhUtAdim indriyAdiSca dvidhAha'nkAram ISvaraH |

bibharti Sa'nkha rUpeNa SAr'nga rUpeNa ca sthitam || (69)

 

bala svarUpam atyanta javenAntarivAnilam |

cakra svarUpaSca mano dhatte vishNuH kare sthitam || (70)

 

bibharti yac-cAsi ratnam acyuto'tyanta nirmalam |

vidyomayantu tad-j~nAnam avidyA koSa samsthitam | (73)

 

" Intellect abides in Madhava in the form of His mace. The Lord

supports egotism (aha'nkAra) in its two-fold division, into elements

and organs of sense, in the emblems of His conch-shell and His bow.

In His hand vishNu holds, in the form of His discus, the mind, whose

thoughts fly swifter than the winds.

 

" The bright sword of acyuta is holy wisdom, concealed at some seasons

in the scabbard of ignorance " .

 

Thus Lord vishNu embodies the shapeless elements of the world as His

weapons and His ornaments, for the salvation of mankind.

 

5) Yet another aspect to the pa'cAyudha-s is that these are

asAdhAraNa lakshaNa-s for bhagavAn (the symbols that are unique to

Him, and to no other god), as noted by SrI v.v. rAmAnujan.

 

MandodharI, rAvaNa's wife, describes rAma as " tamasaH paramo dhAtA

Sa'nkha cakra gadA dharaH " . arjuna requests bhagavAn to display

His `usual form', with crown and with mace and discus in hand, after

he sees bhagavAn's viSva rUpam and becomes frightened.

 

kirITinam gadinam cakra hastam icchAmi tvAm drashTum aham

tathiva |

tenaiva rUpeNa catur-bhujena sahasra bAho bhava viSvamUrte

|| (gItA 11.46)

 

" I wish to see You as before, with crown and with mace and discus in

hand. Assume again that four-armed shape, O Thou thousand-armed, of

Universal Form! " .

 

Another reference to the pa'ncAyudha-s is given by SrI kRshNa datta

bhAradvAj, from SrImad bhAgavatam:

 

sarvAtmanIdam bhuvanam nirIkshya sarve'surAH kaSmalam

Apura'nga |

sudarSanam cakram asahya tejo dhanuSca SAr'ngam

stanayitnughosham ||

 

parjanya ghosho jalajaH pA'ncajanyaH kaumodakI vishNu gadA

tarasvinI |

vidyAdhadro'siH Sata-candra yuktaH tUNottamau akshayasAyakau

ca ||

 

 

" O King! Finding the whole world as the body of SrI Hari, the asura-

s became concerned and sad. At the same time, the sudarSana cakra

with incomparable tejas, the bow called SAr'nga that made the sound

of the thunder, the conch by name pA'ncajanya that made the sound of

the clouds about to shower, the gadA with enormous power, the sword

that represents vidyA and that has a hundred sharp edges were

prostrating to Lord Hari…. " .

 

Now we will look at the specific nAma Sa'nkha-bhRrt.

 

SrI vAsishTha indicates the root for the word " Sa'nkha' as Sama –

upaSame – to grow calm, to put an end to, to stop. (This is also the

root for the word SA'ntiH). The application of the uNAdi sUtra 1,102

(SameH khaH) leads to the addition of the affix kha to the root Sama,

leading to the word Sa'nkha – the conch-shell. The word `bhRt' is

derived from the root bhR – dhAraNa poshaNayoH – to hold, to

support. Sa'nkham bibharti iti, Sa'nkham pushNAti iti vA Sa'nkha-

bhRt – He Who holds the conch, He Who supports the conch, He Who

nourishes the conch, etc. The last interpretation is the one that

SrI BhaTTar emphasizes, and the one that ANDAL relishes, as we will

see.

 

SrI BhaTTar, who has described the previous 991 nAma-s by emphasizing

bhagavAn's saulabhyam and sauSIlyam, finishes the last eight nAma-s

by reminding us that this same bhagavAn is none other than the

Supreme Lord of all the Universes – in other words, he describes the

last eight nAma-s as indicative of bhagavAn's supreme overlordship –

" parama aiSvarya cihna divya AyudhadvAt " . At the same time, he

directs his interpretation to aspects of these Ayudha-s in His hands

that evoke the sense of bhakti rasam in His devotees. Thus, his

interpretation for the nAma Sa'nkha-bhRt is that bhagavAn is

supporting or nourishing the Sa'nkha through the adharAmRtam from His

mouth (bhR – dhAraNa poshNayoH – to support, to nourish). This is

the anubhavam that ANDAL has about the Sa'nklham in bhagavAn's

hands.

 

ANDAL devotes a full tiruvAimozhi in praise of bhagavAn's divine

conch, and enviously describes how His conch is blessed to be always

with Him (unlike cakrattAzhvAn who has to go wherever there is need –

such as the gajendra moksham incident, to take care of the enemy, and

then return). The conch is resting either in His hand, or when it

feels the need for some nourishment, it just goes to His mouth and

enjoys the droplets of His adharAmRtam, and then returns back to His

hand for rest. One sentence that summarizes ANDAL's description of

His pA'ncajanyam – " uNbadu Sollil ulagaLandAn vAyamudam, kaN paDai

koLLil kaDal vaNNan kait-talattE (nAcciyAr tiru. 7.7).

 

SrI Sa'nkara's vyAkhyAnam for the nAma is: pA'ncajanyAkhyam

bhUtAnaha'nkArAtmakam Sa'nkham bibhrat Sa'nkha-bhRt – The Bearer of

the conch shell, called the pA'ncajanya, which stands for the tAmasa

ahmkAra, from which the five elements are born. The inner

significance of this interpretation is seen in the detailed

explanation that is given in SrI vishNu purANam that has been

described earlier.

 

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri notes that the name pA'ncajanyam itself

signifies that the divine conch is the representation of the tattva

called ahamkAra that is the origin of the pa'ncabhUta-s. Of course,

there is also the vRttAntam about bhagavAn slaying the asura by name

pa'ncajana, who was in the form of a conch, and this conch also

became a decoration for bhagavAn, and is known as pA'ncajanyam.

 

SrI SAstri notes that the sound that emanates from His pA'ncjanyam

has the effect of removing the internal enemy in the form of

ignorance in the minds of the devotees, as well as the powerful

external enemies. Thus, in both senses the conch is a weapon that He

bears for the protection of the devotee and the annihilation of the

enemy of the devotee.

 

SrI vAsishTha refers us to hymns from the Rg-veda that are directed

to the praise of the glory of the Sa'nkha. There are ten mantra-s in

Rg veda 4.10 that all praise the glory of the Sa'nkha. Even though

Ralph T. Griffith, the European translator of these mantra-s into

English, describes these mantra-s as referring to those `accompanying

the investiture of a person with a protective amulet of shell', SrI

vAsishTha refers to them in the context of bhagavAn's nAma of Sa'nkha-

bhRt, as a reference to the glory of bhagavAn's Sa'nkha.