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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 72 - Part 1.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • April 13, 2002 


            SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 72 - mahA-kramah.

        mahA-kramo mahA-karmA mahA-tejA mahoragah   |
        mahA-kratur_mahA-yajvA mahA-ya~jno mahA-havih   ||

om mahA-kramAya namah
om mahA-karmiNe namah
om mahA-tejase namah
om mahoragAya namah
om mahA-kratave enamah
om mahA-yajvane namah
om mahA-ya~jnAya namah
om mahA-havishe namah

SrI BhaTTar enjoys bhagavAn's greatness in terms of His unbounded
vAtsalyam towards His devotees in the next few nAma-s.  The
interpretation of SrI BhaTTar is in terms of His relation with His
devotees, how He makes it easy for the worshipper to worship Him, etc.

676. mahA-kramah - a) He Who provides easy step-by-step access for the
elevation of His devotee.
	b) He of the three great strides (in His tri-vikrama incarnation).
	c) He Whose strides are great in that He reaches everything faster
than anyone else.
	d) He Whose Feet are great (to surrender).


	
The word kramam refers to step or pace (of the feet), and also to a
systematic or gradual approach.   SrI Samkara uses the first meaning to
explain the nAma in terms of His tri-vikrama incarnation, and SrI
BhaTTar uses the second meaning and interprets the nAma in terms of
bhagavAn's making it easy for devotees to reach Him through gradual
steps.

a) Since bhagavAn provides a systematic approach to elevate us who are
at the bottom of the pit of samsAra from our lowly levels to His level,
He is called mahA-kramah.  SrI BhaTTar provides a very lucid analogy to
make this point clear.  Just as a mother starts feeding breast milk to
the child first for easy digestion, and then slowly starts feeding
cow's milk, then other fluids, and then solid food, so also bhagavAn
provides gradual steps to His devotees to reach Him.  At first, He
removes from our mind the dislike against Him; then He makes us believe
in Him and His vedic injunctions;  then He makes us obey these
injunctions with pleasure; after this, He bestows knowledge and
devotion, and generates deep faith in Him; ultimately He makes us
attain Him.  Even though this takes several births in the cases of most
of us, He keeps at it till He gets us to Him.  SrI BhaTTar quotes the
following in support:

	janmAntara sahasreshu tapo dhyAna samAdhibhih   |
	narANAm kshINa pApAnAm kRshNe bhaktih prajAyate    ||  (laghu atri
smRti)

"The sins of human beings get annihilated over a period of several
births by means of austerities, meditation, and contemplation on Him,
and devotion to Lord kRshNa results in the end".  

	bahUnAm janmanAm ante j~nAnavAn mAm prapadyate  (gItA 7.19)

"It is only at the end of many births that a wise man resorts to Me".

	AbhyAsa yogena tato mAm icchAptum dhana'njaya   |  (gItA 8.8)

"O Arjuna! Strive to attain Me by constant practice of meditation".

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives related reference from divya prabandham: 
"ARRa nalla vagai kATTum ammAn" (tiruvAi. 4.5.5), and  "neRi vASal
tAneyAi ninRAnaiÂ…" (mudal tiruvantAdi 4).   SrI v.n. vedAnta deSikan in
his tamizh vyAkhyAnam for the first reference brings out the point that
bhagavAn shows this path to arjuna step by step, gradually, and not all
at once.  Doing so all at once would have only confused arjuna
profusely.  The second reference stresses that it is only by His Grace
that the step-by-step path will be revealed, and not otherwise;  Siva
tried his best to realize Him by controlling all his indriya-s, and
could not find Him

b) SrI Samkara interprets the nAma as referring to His tri-vikrama
incarnation - mahAntah kramAh pAda-vikshepA asya iti mahA-kramah.  He
gives reference to taittirIya Upanishad in support - Sanno
vishNur-uru-kramah (1.1).  SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri adds that the
significance of mahA here is that these measures are nothing known to
us, and beyond our comprehension - we can't define what each "step" of
bhagavAn means in this context of tri-vikrama incarnation.  All we can
say is that His steps are "big".

c) SrI cinmayAnanda interprets the "long stride" to refer to His being
able to permeate and pervade everything, one of meanings of the term
"vishNu";  He reaches everything and everyone earlier than anything
else or anyone else, and so He is mahA-kramah, or One with great
strides,  in this sense as well.  SrI satyadevo vAsishTha conveys this
anubhavam in his vyAkhyAnam as well - na cAsti ki'ncit bhuvi vartamAnam
mahAkramo yan-na vase karotiÂ… - There is nothing in this universe that
is not under the control of this mahA-kramah.  

d) The dharma cakram writer gives yet another anubhavam - His steps
(Feet) are so great that by resorting to them one crosses the ocean of
samsAra; our ordinary steps only allow us to cross short distances in
this earth. The lowliest of beings here will become the greatest of
mukta-s just by surrendering to His steps - such is their greatness.  

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

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