SrI vishNu sahasra nAma stotram - Slokam 107 - Additional comments.

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SrImate SrI ra'nga rAmAnuja mahA deSikAya namaH.

 

SrI vishNu sahasra nAma stotram - Slokam 107 - Additional comments.

 

As I started on the write-up for Slokam 107, I received the following

feedback from a devotee:

" In texts that are organized and ordered (i.e. texts that are not

randomly organized), the final portions are often reserved for

summary or conclusive statements. Do any of the commentators

explain why the final Sloka of nAmas is reserved for the Lord's

weapons? Or, are the nAmas randomly organized, so that the final

verse of nAmas has no more special significance that the other nAmas? "

 

The current write-up is an effort to address this comment. The

answer to the question of whether the nAma- are a random collection,

or whether there is any organization to the nAma-s, is answered

easily. I have reproduced one paragraph from the Introduction that I

wrote for the current series several years back:

" In his commentary on Sri vishNu sahasra nAmam, SrI BhaTTar has

beautifully traced a thread of connectivity in the sequence of the

1000 nAma-s as they occur in the stotram. He has identified an

organization and structure in the composition that refers to the

guNas of the Lord in the five manifestations in which He has revealed

Himself to us, as described in the pA'ncarAtra Agamas. These

manifestations are: para, vyuha, vibhava, arcA, and antaryAmi. Thus,

for instance, SrI BhaTTar has noted that the first 122 nAma-s in the

stotram describe the qualities of the Lord in his para vAsudeva form.

The next set of nAma-s describe the vyuha forms etc. Thus the nAma-s

as they occur in the stotram are not just a random collection of nAma-

s, but have a beautiful thread of organization and structure to them.

SrI BhaTTar has identified 44 such manifestations of BhagavAn in his

exposition. Sri Srinivasachariar, in his editorial introduction to

SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam published by LIFCO, (1967), describes this

beautifully as an arrangement of the petals of a rose 44 layers deep,

or a step of stairs with 44 steps leading to the enjoyment of the

Supreme. I will not go into the enumeration of these 44 forms at this

stage, but will identify these as we go along. The enumeration and

the corresponding Slokas can be found in the LIFCO publication " .

It is the unique contribution of SrI BhaTTar's commentary that he has

identified this connectivity or organization in the sequence of the

nAma-s. No other commentator has identified this thread of

connectivity in the sequence of nAma-s. This connectivity and

organization have been pointed out through the series of subsequent

postings after the above Introduction was written.

Having thus answered the question of organization, and noted that

there is definite organization and structure to the sequence in which

the nAma-s have been strung together by bhIshma, we now look at the

question of significance of the reference to bhagavAn's Ayudham-s in

the final Slokam 107. In other words, why, of all the possible

endings for the stotram, did bhIshma choose to sing the praise of

emperumAn with His divine weapons to conclude the stotram?

 

Perhaps the best reason for including a description of bhagavAn with

His weapons as the concluding Slokam, can be best appreciated by

understanding why He bears the weapons to start with. In the

viSisTAdvaita tradition, two anubhavam-s are given for His bearing

the weapons. One is that they are part of His adornments. The

second, and the one that is relevant in the current context, is that

He is carrying them for the protection of His devotees against the

asura-s etc. After singing His guNa-s of saulabhyam and sauSIlyam

through 992 nAma-s, SrI bhIshma perhaps sees it fit to point out that

all these guNa-s of bhagavAn are purely for the benefit of His

devotees, and that He stands ready, carrying His most ferocious

weapons, ever ready to protect His devotees at all costs.

Protection of the devotees is the primary and only concern of

bhagavAn. Everything He does, including His functions of Creation,

is for the protection of the jIva-s. It is this aspect of bhagavAn's

commitment to Protection of His devotees that is signified in this

concluding Slokam of the stotram, and that is revealed to us by

presenting Him with His ferocious weapons. The devotees themselves

enjoy these weapons as adornments on His divine tirumEni, and at the

same time, these weapons are the objects of terror in the hearts of

the most ferocious enemies of the devotees (hiraNyakaSipu, rAvaNa,

SiSupAla, etc.).

 

In his vyAkhyAnam for the nAma akshobhyaah, SrI BhaTTar describes the

vratam of bhagavAn in protecting His devotees – to the point that He

won't even mind forsaking His dear brother lakshmaNa, or separating

from sItA pirATTi. His vyAkhyAnam, taken from the write-up for the

nAma akshobhyah, is – prapanna abhaya dAna dArDhyAt sva-mahimnA'pi

akshobhyaH – He Who cannot be shaken from the firm vow that He has

taken to protect those who have surrendered to Him; this vow of His

cannot be shaken even by His own Great Self " . One is reminded of

the words of bhagavAn found in SaraNagati gadyam of bhagavad rAmAnuja:

 

anRtam nokta pUrvam me na ca vakshye kadAcana - I have never uttered

an untruth before, and will never utter one ever.

rAmo dvir-nAbhibhAshate – rAma never talks with two tongues

sakRdeva prapannAya tavAsmI ca yAcate |

abhayam sarva bhUtebhyo dadAmyetad vratam mama || (yuddha. 18.33)

" It is My vow to protect unconditionally from every living being,

anyone that surrenders to Me even once, or seeks my protection

saying " I am your servant " " .

sarva dharmAn parityajya mAm ekam SaraNam vraja |

aham tvAsarva pApebhyo mokshayishyAmi mA Sucah || (gItA 18.66)

" Completely relinquishing all Dharma-s, seek Me alone for refuge. I

will release you from all sins. Grieve not " .

 

SrI veLukkuDi kRshNan points to the incident where sItA tries to

persuade rAma not to bear arms while in the forest, but to follow the

path of penance instead. Lord rAma's response is that He had given

His word to the Rshi-s in the forest that they will be protected from

the rAkshasa-s at all costs, and that He won't swerve from His word

even if it involves losing sItA and lakshmaNa:

 

apyaham jIvitam jahyAm tvAm vA sIte sa-lakshmaNam |

na tu pratij~nAm samSrutya brAhmaNebhyo viSeshatah || (AraNya.

10.19)

 

" O sItA! I would rather give up My life, or even you and lakshmaNa,

than break My promise, especially that which has been made to

brAhmins " .

 

Lord rAma reinforces His commitment to protect anyone who

approaches Him with sincerity, during vibhIshaNa SaraNAgati:

 

mitra bhAvena samprAptam na tyajeyam katha'ncana |

dosho yadyapi tasya syAt satAm etat agarhitam ||

(yuddha. 18.3)

 

" I will not forsake anyone who has approached Me with a feeling of

true love, even if this person has any faults. This is the conduct

that will be considered blemish-less by elders " .

 

Thatg is the level of commitment of bhagavAn to the Protection of His

devotees.

 

BhagavAn's supreme commitment to the Protection of His devotees is

sung by nammAzhvAr and other pUrvAcArya-s over and over again.

BhagavAn is in fact the One responsible for Creation, Protection and

the Destruction of all things. But Protection is the driving force

for His functions of Creation and Destruction as well. His

fundamental nature is one of protection. He performs creation and

destruction only as acts that are directed towards protection.

 

kAkkum iyalvinan kaNNa perumAn

SErkkai Seidu tan undi uLLE

vAitta tiSai-mugan indiran vAnavar

AkkinAn deiva ulagugaLE. (tiruvAimozhi

2.2.9)

 

This pASuram states that kaNNa pirAn has, as His nature, the function

of protection. Because this is His nature, He protects all the jIva-

s in His stomach at the time of pralaya, but it is really

protection. This `destruction' again, is a prelude to creation that

is in the welfare of the jIva-s, by giving them another opportunity

to attain Him by giving them a body and all the comforts to enjoy,

and is thus really protection in truth. BhagavAn is the One who

creates brahmA first from the brahmANDam that emanates from His

navel, and then gives him the power to create all other things, and

thus He is the true Creator through brahmA also. Similarly, brahmA

creates rudra, and bhagavAn remains as the antaryAmi of rudra, and

enables him to perform the function of `destruction', the function

that He has entrusted to rudra. It is bhagavAn's nature to protect

the jIva-s. This is what He considers more important than the

functions of destruction and creation. These other two functions are

done only to facilitate the protection of the jIva-s, so that

ultimately the jIva-s will attain moksham, and join Him in SrI

vaikunTham for ever. The Supreme Deity (perumAn) takes incarnations

for the primary purpose of protection, because this is His very

nature (kAkkum iyalvinan). Note Lord kRshNa's declaration –

paritrANAya sAdhUnAm, vinASAya ca dushkRtAm – For the protection of

the good, and the destruction of the evil. Protection is mentioned

first, and destruction only follows as the next function in

importance. Like removing the weeds so that the intended grains can

grow, destruction of the evil is only for the protection of the

good.

 

The first set of words in AzhvAr's pASuram – kAkkum iyalvinan, refers

to the function of protection, which is His nature. SErkkai Seidu –

The second set of words, refers to the function of destruction. This

is subservient to the function of protection. It is for the purpose

of protecting the jIva-s from being destroyed during the pralaya,

that He saves everything in His stomach at the time of pralaya, even

ensuring that they do not bump into each other and suffer any

damage. AkkinAn – The third function in this sequence, namely

creation, is dependent on the previous step, that of samhAram, which

again was meant for protection.

 

In order of importance, protection is the most important. By

saying " kAkkum iyalvinan AkkinAn " , AzhvAr emphasizes that the main

purpose is protection, and creation is only a means of protection –

giving a body to the jIva-s so that they can expend their karma-s and

attain Him. By saying " SErkkai Seidu AkkinAn " , AzhvAr clarifies that

Serikkai Seidal or destruction is again a prelude to " Akkal' or

creation.

svAmi deSikan captures the gist of this pASuram as " rakshNAya

avatIrNam " – BhagavAn takes incarnations solely for the purpose of

protection. The destruction of rAvaNa, hiraNyakaSipu etc., really

result in their attaining moksham – the ultimate protection, even

though we only see them as `killing of rAvaNa or hiraNyakaSipu'.

We have the well-known Slokam from the jitante stotram that declares

that everything that bhagavAn possesses including His divine weapons,

is for the benefit of His devotees:

na te rUpam na cAkAro

nAyudhAni na cAspadam |

tathA'pi purushAkAro

bhaktAnAm prakASase || (jitante. 1.5)

 

" Neither Your divya Atma svarUpam, nor Your divya ma'ngaLa vigraham,

nor for that matter Your weapons, or Your own SrI vaikunTham, are

for Your benefit (they are all for Your devotees' benefit, and thus

You are not independent, but You are the possession of Your

devotees). Even so, You shine as the Supreme Being " .

 

Having thus understood that the concluding Slokam of the vishNu

sahasra nAma stotram emphasizes the concern of Protection that

bhagavAn has for His devotees by mentioning His divine form with His

weapons, a very logical question that can arise in some people's

minds is: " Obviously emperumAn can destroy His devotees' enemies

merely by His Will power. Why does He have to carry weapons to

destroy these sinners? "

 

To understand this, let us look at nammAzhvAr's pASuram (tiruvAi.

4.8.1):

 

ERu ALum iRaiyOnum, tiSai muganum, tirumagaLum

kURu ALum tani uDamban, kulam kulamA asurargaLai

neeRu Agum paDiyAga nirumittu, paDai toTTa

mARALan kavarAda maNimAmai kuRai ilamE. (tiruvAi. 4.8.1)

 

Many of bhagavAn's kalyANa guNa-s are to be enjoyed in this pASuram;

however, let us look at the following in the current context:

 

- kulam kulamA aSurargaLai neeRu Agum paDiyAga nirumittu, paDai

toTTa mARALan – He is also the One who made the decision through His

mere Will that the wicked asura-s who were enemies of His devotees

will be destroyed without trace, by numbers upon numbers, and Who

used His weapons to destroy them.

 

The key words to note are `nirumittu' (having decided in His mind),

and paDaai toTTa (He Who then used His weapons to destroy them). So

bhagavAn has made up in His mind that the asura-s will be destroyed

without trace. But how does He accomplish this – not just by His

sa'nkalpam alone, but though the use of His weapons. Here is the

anubhavam by our pUrvAcArya-s:

 

nirumittu – sankalpittu: emperumAn is also One Who could have

destroyed the asura-s, who were enemies of His devotees, through a

minute fraction of His Infinite Will power. But instead of

destroying them thus with His Will power alone, bhagavAn chooses to

use His weapons to kill them. He would have destroyed them through

His Will power alone if they were showing enmity only towards Him;

but instead, they were showing enmity towards His devotees, and this

is something that He could not tolerate. So He became angry, and

used His weapons to destroy them. Through his choice of words,

AzhvAr shows that bhagavAn will not tolerate any offense to His

devotees – He will not tolerate bhAgavata apacAram.

 

kulam kulamA asurargaLai nIrAgum paDiyAga nirumittu paDai toTTa –

refers to His veeryam - one His six primary guNa-s.

 

mARu ALan – He Who considers the enemies of His devotees as His own

enemies; He Who literally exchanges His position with that of the

devotee, and destroys their enemies. Note Lord kRshNa's refusal to

eat in duryodhana's place, just because the later was an enemy of the

pANDava-s; in other words, He considered the enemy of the pANDava-s

as His own enemy –

 

dvishad-annam no bhoktavyam dvishantam naiva bhojayet |

pANDavAn dvishase rAjan mama prANA hi pANDavAH ||

 

Thus, bhagavAn's weapons are a sign of His ardent desire to protect

His devotees. By singing bhagavAn's Form with His weapons in the

last Slokam, bhIshma wants to brings out this guNa of bhagavAn,

namely His commitment to protect His devotees against all forces

opposed to His devotees.

 

SrI BhaTTar reflects the intensity of bhagavAn's commitment of

protection of His devotees through His superb choice of words: `at

all times, in all places, by all means, ` etc. In fact, SrI BhaTTar

extends this commitment to protect the devotees, not only to

bhagavAn, but to the divine weapons as well – who are all nitya-sUri-

s who have taken the forms of His divine weapons. Let us look at his

commentary:

- SrI BhaTTar gives his summary at the conclusion of the last

nAma sarva-praharaNAyudah – He Who has all the weapons that act

against evil. He elaborates this further, and the translation of

this explanation is: " He has also numberless other divine weapons

befitting Him which are powerful enough to uproot completely the

distress of His devotees who are rooted in Him – weapons that have

taken a vow as it were, in a long sacrifice to protect at all times

at all places by all means, and in all ways those who have resorted

to Him; which have unlimited power, which are like ornaments to Him

and which help Him to discharge His duties as the Supreme Lord of the

Universe " . As we will see below, bhagavAn's main function in His

leelA is the protection of the jIva-s. All His kalyANa guNa-s, and

everything He possesses, are for the benefit of the devotee.

Just as there is no limit to bhagavAn's kalyANa guNa-s, there is no

limit to the enjoyment of His kalyANa guNa-s as well. And there is

no limit to the extent to which He will go in ensuring protection of

His devotees. It is hoped that the significance of the concluding

stotram of SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam, with a reference to bhagavAn's

form bearing His ferocious weapons, is thus understood in terms of

His most important guNa – Protection of His devotees at all costs,

under all circumstances, in all places, at all times, to quote SrI

BhaTTar.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

(To be continued)