SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 67 - Part 2.
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• March 31, 2001
SrI vishNu sahasranAmam – Slokam 67 - Part 2. 634. bhU-Sayah – a) He who lies in His arca form wherever the devotee installs Him b) He Who lay on the sea shore on His way to SrIla’nkA. c) He who lies inside every one of His creations as their antaryAmi d) He in whom the whole world rests at the time of pralaya. Om bhU-SayAya namah. a) Continuing his interpretation of the current set of nAma-s in terms of His arcA incarnations, SrI BhTTar gives the vyAkhyAnam to the current nAma as follows: He is called bhU-Sayah since He defers to the request of His devotees to appear in this world, and makes His appearance in different forms such as svayam-vyakta, siddha, mAnusha, etc., and even stays put in these places by lying down there permanently in order to bless the devotees. svayam-vyakta forms are those where the Lord has chosen to manifest Himself without the effort of anyone; siddha are those forms where the image of the Lord has been consecrated by siddhas or perfected beings (such as brahma etc.)., and mAnusha are places where the Lord is installed by ordinary human beings. SrI P. B. aNNa’ngarAcArya describes his anubhavam of bhU-Sayah as “He Who just stubbornly lies down and stays wherever His devotees ask Him to be”, which is the best I could translate from his tamizh sentence “anbargaL uganda iDa’ngaLil paDu kADu kiDappavar”. b) SrI Samkara gives reference to Lord rAma’s resting on the sea shore while proceeding to SrI lankA for destroying rAvaNa. c) SrI cinmayAnanda gives an additional alternate interpretation – He in whom the whole world rests at the time of dissolution – bhUh Sete asmin iti bhU-Sayah. d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the interpretation that since He rests in all things that exist in the form of antaryAmi, He is called bhU-Sayah – bhUshu Sete. Thus, in summary, the nAma bhU-Sayah is enjoyed by the different vyAkhyAna kartA-s in various ways: a) He responds to the devotee’s wishes by lying down wherever they install Him in the form of acrA mUrti, so that they can worship Him easily; b) He is called bhU-Sayah because He lied down on the ground (on the sea shore) on His way to SrIla’nkA; c) He lies in the heart lotus of all the creatures as their antaryAmi; d) All the creatures (referred to by the term bhU here), rest in Him (Sayah) at the time of parlaya. 635. bhUshaNah – He Who becomes adorned, or He Who adorns. a) He who wears the ornament of saulabhyam as His bhUshaNam b) He who is decorated with all kinds of different and wonderful ornaments as described by emperumAnAr in SrI SaraNAgati gadyam c) He who adorns this world with His different incarnations at His wish d) He Who adorns every creature by His being their antaryAmi e) He who beautifies this world by His variety of creations Om bhUshaNAya namah. The literal meaning of the term bhUshaNam is “decoration, adornment, ornament”. bhUshaNah is thus One who is decorated or adorned, or one who decorates or adorns. The different vyAkhyAna kartA-s give different anubhavams of what he is decorated with, or what He decorates with. a) SrI BhaTTar looks at His saulabhyam as His most important bhUshaNam – His easy accessibility to His devotee. The act of climbing down from His paratvam to the level of His devotees and mixing with them, is only bhUshaNam for Him and not a dUshaNam. b) SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives the additional explanation in terms of His divya bhUshNa-s as described by emperumAnAr in SrI SaraNAgati gadyam: kirITa makuTa cUDAvatamsa makara kuNDala graiveyaka hAra keyUra kaTaka SrIvatsa kaustubha muktAdAama udara bandhana pItAmbara kA’ncIguNa nUpurAdi aparimita divya bhUshNa – He is decorated with all sorts and kinds of ornaments, most wonderful to behold, ever-lasting, faultless, sweet-smelling, soft to touch, wonderful with splendor, such as the crown bearing the central diadem of lustrous stone, other head ornaments, ear ornaments, necklaces and neck ornaments, garlands, shoulder-bracelets, bracelets in the hands, SrIvatsa and kaustubha, pearl garlands, waistlets, lace cloths, gold waist band and leg ornaments and others precious and innumerable. c) SrI Samkara views His taking the numerous incarnations at His wish as His act of bhUshaNam or adorning this world - “sva icchA avatAraih bahubhih bhUmim bhUshayan bhUshNah”. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives the example of bhagavAn decorating gokulam by His very presence. d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the example of the soul or AtmA being in the body as itself a decoration or adornment of the body. When the soul leaves the body, the body becomes unattractive by the second. Similarly, bhagavAn is the adornment for the whole world. That which is the life of something is the bhUshaNa for it as well. For instance, bhagavAn is bhUshaNa for the universe in the form of the sun and in the form of the antaryAmi of the sun. e) SrI cinmayAnanda gives the interpretation that He makes this world beautiful (adorns) with the varieties of His creation. He gives love and other finer instincts, and He is the One behind all great, noble, and beautiful thoughts that have enriched human life. The dharma cakram writer points out that all the different kinds of beauties that we experience in nature (through sound, sight, touch, thought, intellect, etc.)., are present in Him. In His form as kRshNa, He was exquisitely beautiful to see, the sound of His flute stole the hearts of all the gopi-s, the bhagavad gItA that He gave us is the incarnation of knowledge, His character is absolute perfection, etc. The same is true of His incarnation as Lord rAma. Lord rAma’s divine beauty was well-known, the Rshi-s were immensely moved by the beauty of His character, vAlmIki lost himself in the nAma of rAma, and hanumAn lost himself in His service. BhagavAn is thus the bhUshaNa above all bhUashaNa-s to His devotees. The different interpretations for this nAma are thus based on: a) His being decorated or adorned with qualities that are beneficial to His devotees; b) His being adorned with all different kinds of beautiful ornaments; c) His adorning this Universe with all kinds of beautiful creations and equipping them with qualities such as love and intellect, and above all, giving them the vital force of life by being their antaryAmi; d) His adorning the Universe through His different incarnations, and thus decorating the place where He is by His very presence. 636. bhUtih – a) He Who is wealth to His devotees. b) He Who is the personification of Glory. c) He Who is the cause of all glory in His creations. d) He Who exists in the forms of all His creations. Om bhUtaye namah. The root from which the nAma can be derived is bhU – sattAyAm – to be, to live, to be born. The nAma can also mean vibhUti – wealth. SrI cinmayAnanda quotes amara koSa – vibhUti bhUtir_aiSvarye. The other amara koSa definitions are bhavati iti bhUtih, and bhavati anayA SrImAn iti bhUtih, which support the two meanings indicated. The different interpretations for this nAma are centered on these two meanings. a) SrI BhaTTar explains that He is the wealth in every way to those who have totally surrendered to Him, and so He is called bhUtih. nammAzhvAr captures this sentiment in tiruvAimozhi 5.1.8: “SelEi kaNNiyarum perum Selvamum nan makkaLum mElAt tAi tandaiyum avarE ini AvArE” (SrI v.v. rAmAnujan). SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj echoes the same idea in his interpretation – paramA sampath bhaktAnAm iti bhUtih. b) Among the interpretations SrI Samkara gives are: a) BhavagavAn is called bhUtih because He Himself is the embodiment of Glory (vibhUtih), or, b) He is the cause of all glories in all His creations, or the source of all glorious manifestations – sarva vibhUtInAm kAraNatvAt bhUtih. c) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the interpretation that bhagavAn is called bhUtih because He exists everywhere in the forms of all His creations, in the forms of the sun, the stars, etc. , and He also is the cause of all the glory that His creations display. d) The dharma cakram writer gives the interpretation that bhagavAn is One who is the personification of greatness. He observes that the significance of the nAma lies in our realizing that we should not go after the transient and false greatness that comes with impermanent and materialistic benefits, but instead, learn to meditate on Him in thought, word, and deed so that we aim towards the realization of that One True Greatness. 637. a-Sokah or vi-Sokah – He Who is without sorrow. Om a-SokAya namah. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the derivation – vigatah Soko yasya sa vi-Sokah, or avidyamAnah Soko yasya sa a-Sokah. (SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj: na Soko yasya iti aSokah nitya Ananda mayah). a) SrI BhaTTar continues to stress bhagavAn’s concern for the devotee in every one of his interpretations. For the current nAma, his interpretation is that bhagavAn has no need to be sorrowful because He never abandons any anAtha who has no other help and seeks His help. b) SrI Samkara continues to stress bhagavAn’s paratvam, His being without blemish, etc. For the current nAma, his interpretation is that bhagavAn is Griefless, being absolute Bliss. One might raise the obvious question: Lord rAma was struck with extreme sorrow when He was separated from sItA. How can one say He is without Sokam? SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives the explanation straight from SrImad bhAgavatam 9.10.11 – Lord rAma went through this act in His role of showing us all how ordinary mortals who are attached to a woman dear to them behave: priyayA viyuktah strI sa’nginAm gatimiti prathayanS-cacAra. SrI cinmayAnanda observes that it is because of disturbances at the body-mind-intellect level that one experiences sorrow. Since bhagavAn is beyond these agitations, He is ever Blissful, desireless, ever contented, and thus never experiences sorrow. SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj quotes from chAndogyopanishad in support of the vyAkhyAnam for this nAma – ya AtmApahatapApmA vijaro vimRtyur-viSoko avijighatso apipAsah satyakAmah satya samkalpah sonveshTavyah sa vijij~nAsitavya. (chA. 8.7.1), wherein one of the many attributes of Brahman is given as viSokah. 638. Soka-nASanah – The Destroyer of sorrows. Om Soka-nASanAya namah. a) SrI BhaTTar gives the interpretation that He removes the sorrow of the devotee who suffers from separation from Him, by helping the devotee cross the ocean of samsAra. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan observes that while all wealth in this world causes sorrow, He is the only Wealth who removes the sorrow. How does He do that? SrI rAmAnujan refers us to tirumazhiSai AzhvAr’s tiruccandaviruttam 115: attan Agi annai Agi, Alum empirAnumAi, ottu ovvAda pal piRappu ozhittu nammai AT-koLvAn – He becomes the devotee’s whole Wealth, He becomes the devotee’s Father, Mother, and Lord, gets into the devotee’s heart, and redeems the devotee from the ocean of samsAra, and thus removes the devotee’s sorrow once for all. b) SrI Samkara gives the interpretation that by the very remembrance of Him, the sorrow of the devotee is removed – smRti mAtreNa bhaktAnAm Sokam nASayati iti Soka-nASanah. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives reference to the upanishads – He who knows the Self has no sorrow: tarati Sokam Atmavit (chAndogya. 5.1.3; tatra ko mohah kah Sokah (ISAvAsya. 7). SrI cinmayAnanda gives reference to gItA - teshAm aham samuddhartA mRtyu-samasAra sAgarAt | bhavAni na cirAt pArtha mayyAveSita cetasAm || (gItA 12.7) “Of those whose minds are thus focused on Me, I become soon their savior from the ocean of mortal life”. The dharma cakram writer points out that when there is moham (attachment), the result is Sokam. Thus, to be rid of Sokam, one has to overcome attachment. This is accomplished by meditating on bhagavAn. He gives the example of arjuna. gItA begins with the expression of Sokam in arjuna’s mind because of his moham or attachment to all his relatives and AcArya-s, whom he faces in the battlefield. Because of this Sokam, arjuna loses his heart completely, his bow is slipping from his hand, his mind is tired, he is unable to stand up, his body perspires and he is shivering with nervousness. The whole gItA is imparted to arjuna by bhagavAn just so he can overcome his moham and thus his Sokam. At the end of receiving the instruction from bhagvAn, He asks arjuna if he has overcome his Sokam because of the realization of the truth, and arjuna confirms that by listening to His instructions, he has been able to overcome the Sokam. The lesson to take from this nAma is that by meditating on Him we can overcome Sokam. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail. http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/?.refer=text -------------------------------------------------------------- - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH - To Post a message, send it to: bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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