bhOgyAmrutam 24 - puruShOttamaha

February 27, 2003

puruShOttamaha (star-aSwini)

= The best among the purushAs

purusha = The one residing in the puram (SarIram)

purA -> The primordial onepuru -> The one who gives in abundance

pASuram : TiruvAimozhi – 2-5-8 (NammALwAr tiruvaDigaLE SaraNam)

samanvayam with pASuram : puram means SarIram (body). Those who stay in a body are called puruShAs. There are two such puruShAs who reside in the body – Atma & paramAtma. Among the two, the best one is the paramAtma. And hence He is called as the puruShOttama.

pASuram :

ponmuDi am pOrEttai yemmAnaiMy Lord is the one with a sparkling crown and is an immensly capable fighter

nAl taDam tOL | tan muDivonrillAda

He has four great arms and is untouched by any kind of mortality

taN tuzhAi mAlai yanai |He is the one with a cool tulasi garland

yen muDivu kANAdE | yennul kalandAnai

Discounting my lowliness, He became one with me as my soul mate

Son muDivu kANEn nAn | Solluvatu yen SollIrE

I have no words to describe Him; Tell me !!! – What can I say?..

Detailed Interpretation :

1) My Lord is the one with a sparkling crown : The sparkling crown shows His supreme sovereignty. The fact that His supreme sovereignty and magnificience are unmatched is clearly indicated by the radiance of His great crown. Being the possessor of such an unmatched wealth and fame, He automatically becomes the best among the magnanimous souls – The best among those who give the best things bountifully – Isn’t it?. !!

puru = In abundance Sha = Those who give uttama = The best one

The puruShOttama nAma correctly alludes only the sarvESvara – Lord SrIman Narayana.

2) The capable warrior : It is not enough if one has an unmatched opulence and prosperity. He should also possess the requisite capabilities to exercise an unquestionable freewill and independence while granting the wishes of His seekers. He should have the unequalled autonomy and power with which He can impede those who oppose Him and try to come in the way of the loving grace that He showers on His people. Only such an emperor can be fittingly called as the puruShOttama. He is none other than the supreme Lord SrIman NarayaNa.

3) My Lord : I am His possession. Where ever He likes to keep me, He keeps me there. Like His dearest possession, He takes utmost care of me. As I too stay in this puram, whether it be that of a man, a woman, an animal, a plant, a stone or a creature – I can also be called as the puruSha. To some extent and till some day, this body obeys some of my orders. So, I am its swamy in a partial sense. Similarly, My Lord is my Swamy. The major difference between both of us is that My Lord has a full control at all times on me and my SarIram. So, I am merely a purusha and my Lord is the puruShOttama. Not just me, every Atma is a puruSha. My Lord who has all of them as His precious possessions is the puruShOttama.

4) He has four great arms : I have two arms. My Lord has four arms, you see. So, just by numbers too, He is superior to me. They are not just four arms. They are the four great arms which are adept at fulfilling the four puruShArdhAs – viz the dharma, ardha, kAma & mOkSha of all His children.

dharmam – Behaving in a way that befits my nature i.e., total subservience to Him.

ardham – Enhancing the possibilities of doing bhagavath and bhAgavatha kainkaryam.

kAmam – The hunger to be of a perennial use to Him and His people.

mOkSham – Getting release from everything other than Him (and those who belong to Him).

Only He is capable of giving these highest puruShArdhAs with immense magnanimity. And so, He is the one and only puruShOttama – He always gives the best things.

puru – In abundance Sha – The one who gives

uttamaha – The four best puruShArthAs

To grant all the four puruShArthAs at the same time, He has four celebrated arms.

The hand which has the conch brings about the true knowledge of our svarUpam (dharmam).

The hand that wields the ever ready SudarShana creates a perennial longing in us to do bhagavath-bhAgavatha kainkaryam (kAmam).

The hand which holds the lotus grants the required riches and enhances them for doing such a kainkaryam (ardham).

The hand which holds the mace smothers the attachments and thoughts that we have towards everything which is other than Him and His devotees. It provides full release from such useless fetters. This is the mOkSham which we require. Those who have attained this state can be termed as jIvan muktAs.

He is capable of and gives all these puruShArdhAs bountifully through His four great arms.

5) He is untouched by any kind of mortality : If one has a decrease or a constraint, He will not be able to give in abundance. In my Lord’s case, there is no reduction of any nature to His opulence, compassion and all His auspicious qualities. Its not possible to even think of measuring them. With an overflowing love and compassion He gives away the best gifts to His devotees. And hence He is known as the puruShOttama.

6) He is the one with the cool tulasi garland : The tulasi garland on His chest never loses its fragrance and freshness. Its because His heart never gets heated up or agitated. His heart is the abode of infinite compassion and love; It’s the abode of our mother who is the personification of such an overflowing love and compassion.

How then can such a heart get agitated in our case?. – Can a mother get wild on Her children and kick them out?.

So, the tulasi garland which decorates such a loving heart stays as fresh and fragrant as ever.

Only the one with such an endless love can be the best among the best givers. He is none other than that Sriyah pati.

7) Ignoring my lowliness, He became my soul mate : Those who are madly in love do not see the faults in their loved ones. A mother cries on seeing the pain of Her child even though he is an unworthy and bad child. She never rejoices on seeing his plight. In a similar way, my Lord, my swami loves me to the core as His dearest soul mate. Ignoring my lowliness, He has joined me and has become one with me. My lowliness is clearly reflected through the body I am in. If I could carry myself in a way that could cause happiness to all, probably I could have ended up in a divine body. But, praise my Lord’s magnanimity. All these are of no consequence to Him. He came, He conquered my heart, He gave me His loving embrace and has become one with me as my soul mate for ever. Though both of us reside in this puram and so can be called as puruShAs, my Lord clearly stands out as the puruShOttama. I with my lowliness am of no match to Him. Such is His inexplicable love towards me that He treats me as His soul mate and cannot bear seperation of any sort from me. O my Lord, O puruShOttama – what can this unfit soul give you in return?.

8) I have no words to describe Him. Tell me !!…What can I say?. :

pura = of the foremost; Sha = ones (those foremost ones) = the nityAs;

uttamaha = The best one – The primordial one (My Lord).

The foremost nityasUrIs are like the vast oceans. Their greatness, though out of the measurable bounds for even the highest of Gods, has its limit somewhere (just like there are bounds to an ocean). But He knows no such restrictions. He is like the unlimited sky which is spread everywhere. All His enthralling auspicious qualities whether they be His beauty, compassion, valour etc have no limitations.

First of all, can I make an effort to describe the greatness of the nityasUrIs atleast?. No, no way. Then how can I even think of describing the greatness of my Lord who is the pre-eminent among them and who is the source of their very existence?. How can I ever describe that puruShOttama?. O fortunate ones, you only tell me!!…

None other than that Sriyah pati is the puruShOttama.

He was clearly alluded as the “puruShOttama” by SrI BhIShmAchArya at the beginning of the viShNu sahasranAmam itself. (jagat prabhum dEva dEvam – anantam puruShOttamam). This was a direct reply to the query made by yudhiSThira – ‘kim Ekam davaitam lOkE…’. Only that one who is the puruShOttama is the primordial one and the pre-eminent one. He is the highest of all Gods. There is no match for Him. Absolutely, no match…!!!

Jai Sriman Narayana

Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, and more