vishNu sahasranAmam - (8)

From the Bhakti List Archives

• April 22, 1996


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	PB = Translation of srI parAsara bhattar's commentary.
	SA = Translation of srI sankarAchArya's commentary.
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(sl-13) rudro bahuSirA babhrur viSva-yoniH SuchiSravAH
        amRtaH SASvata-sthAnur varAroho mahA-tapAH

114  rudraH

	PB:	He is rudra because His actions and enchanting beauty makes
		His devotees shed tears of joy. The root 'rod' means to shed
		tears. Vide vishNuthathwa-
		"That devout person, whose eyes are brimming with cool tears
		of joy, whose body is covered with hairs on their ends (due
		to joy) and whose heart is ever filled with thoughts about
		the Supreme, must be seen by all embodied souls".

	SA:	One who makes all beings cry at the time of cosmic dissolution.
		Or, One who gives 'rud' or speech.
		Or, One who drives away 'ru' or sorrows.
		Siva purANa (6.9-14) says:
		"ru means sorrow. As the Lord removes all sorrows and their
		causes, Siva, the ultimate cause is called rudra".

115  bahuSirAH

	PB:	Multi-headed.(As Ananta) He has many heads and over thousand
		hoods.

	SA:	He has thousand (innumerable) heads. purusha sUkta says-
		"sahasra-SIrshA purushaH - the purusha is with innumerable
		heads".

116  babhruH

	PB:	The Supporter. As Ananta He supports the worlds. Vide-
		"That Ananta bears the earth on His head".

	SA:	One who Supports the worlds.

117  viSva-yoniH

	PB:	He who associates Himself with all devotees. The root 'yu'
		means to join/unite.

	SA:	One who is the cause of the world.

118  SuchiSravAH

	PB:	He who listens to the pure words of His devotees. Vide-
		"O! dhananjaya, I listen to all that is pure and agreeable.
		I do not heed to what is sinful. Therefore I am called
		SuchiSravAH".
		'Suchi' is that which is offered with devotion. Vide-
		"I ate the good food that was offered by vidhura with
		devotion",
		"The night passed away for krishNa unnoticed as He listened
		to the sweet and varied words of the great vidhura - words
		that were filled with dharma, charming and bristling with
		good forms and fine content".

	SA:	One whose names and glories are very holy and purifying to
		be heard.

119  amRtaH

	PB:	The ambrosia. He is amRtaH because He is sweet to His devotees,
		Or, because He wards off old age and confers immortality,
		Or, because no satiety occurs, however much they serve Him.
		"When the sages saw janardana, they never got satiated as
		with ambrosia".

	SA:	One who is Immortal. Br.U. (4.4.25) says-
		"ajaro'maraH - unaging and deathless".

120  SASvata-sthAnuH

	PB:	He who is eternal and steady. bhagavan is far superior to
		ambrosia. Being Himself eternal. He cannot be taken away by
		those who enjoy Him. He is the object of enjoyment to those
		who never think of returning to material world for rebirth.
		On the other hand, the 'amRta' distilled from the ocean can
		be used only once".

	SA:	One who is both eternal and firmly established.

121  varArohaH

	PB:	He is the Greatest to be reached. For this reason,
		'varam'- Supreme, 'Arohanam'- 'is the attainment of bhagavan'
		That of all elase is inferior. Vide-
		"Compared with that world of the Supreme being, these
		lower worlds (of brahma and Indra) are like Hell".
		There are five different forms of bhagavan known as:
		1. para, 2. vyUha, 3. vibhava, 4. antaryAmi and 5. archA.
		para is the highest (vAsudeva) to be ascended to.

	SA:	He whose Aroham (lap) gives the highest blessing.
		Or, He attaining whom is the greatest good. A jIva so
		blessed has no more birth in the lower worlds. Vide-
		"na ca punarAvartate - they do not return" ChU. (8.15.1),
		"yad gatvA nivartante tad dhAma paramam mama - My Supreme
		status is that by attaining which one will never return"
		(gItA 15.6).

122  mahA-tapAH

	PB:	YudishThira's question at the start "kimekam daivatam loke
		kim-vApyekam parAyaNam" has been answered upto the name of
		'varArohaH'. vAsudeva is the highest (para) goal to be reached.
		sankarshaNa is now referred to. mahAtapAH, means He who is
		endowed with great knowledge/wisdom. wisdom and strength
		are two qualities of sankarshaNa.

	SA:	He exercises great great tapas(j~nanam) before creation.
		Vide- "yasya j~nanamayam tapaH - whose tapas is of nature of
		knowledge" (Mu.U 1.1.9).
		Or, His tapas is great and sublime.
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(sl-14) sarvagaH sarva-vid-bhAnur vishvakseno janArdanaH
        vedo vedavid avyango vedAngo vedavit kaviH

123  sarvagaH

	PB:	He who pervades all and supports them (by His strength).

	SA:	One who pervades everything (because He is their material
		cause). Or, He who goes everywhere.

124  sarva-vid-bhAnuH

	PB:	These are two names.
		(1) sarvavit - He who obtains all. bhagavan (as pradyumna)
		engages Himself in re-creating the beings destroyed at the
		time of pralaya (cosmic-dissolution). The two qualities of
		pradyumna are aiSwarya and vIrya.

		(2) bhAnuH - He who shines. Though He has created the Universe,
		He is unchanged and shines as ever. This unchanging form is
		vIrya. Vide-
		"He, the Supreme, shines by Himself".

	SA:	One who is Omniscient and effulgent. Vide -
		"tam eva bhAntam anubhAti sarvam - all others shine because
		It shines" (Kath.U. 2.2.15),
		"yas Aditya-gatam tejo jagat bhAsayate'khilam - that lustre
		which has entered into Aditya (Sun) illumines the whole world"
								(gItA 15.12).

125  vishvaksenaH

	PB:	He (as aniruddha) is the sustainer of the Universe. Here, Sakti
		is the indicated guNa and He has an army in all directions.

	SA:	He before whom all demon (vishvaka) armies (senAH) run away.

126  janArdanaH

	PB:	He is the exterminator of the obstructions of the good to His
		devotees. Here, tejas (lustre) is the indicated guNa. Vide -
		"janArdana is He who protects (people) demons".

		The qualities of each form (samkarshana, pradhyumna and
		aniruddha) have been mentioned above, only to the extent they
		are made use of in such manifestations. But in all avatArAs,
		His qualities (knowledge, riches and strength) are full,
		complete and never concealed. He is the Omniscient and
		Omnipotent Lord of all, and is full of His riches. He has no
		karma (bondage), is above all wants, has his senses under
		control, is friend of all, depends only on Himself, has no
		beginning or end, has no misfortunes, is free from fear, anger,
		sleep, lust, ignorance, fatigue, disease and other blemishes.
		Only those who know bhagavan vAsudeva as such understand Him.

	SA:	He who inflicts suffering on evil men. Or He to whom devotees
		pray for success and liberation.

127  vedaH

	PB:	He who is the propounder of SAstras/vedas in His manifestation
		as samkarshana. Vide -
		"Who taught the vedas to him (brahma)".
		Hence, samkarshana is the Means (of realizing the Supreme),
		SAstra, Path, Leader, brAhmana and Preceptor.

	SA:	He who is the form of veda. Or, one who bestows j~nana on
		the jIvAs. Vide gItA (10.11) -
		"Out of compassion for them, I as the innermost Spirit, destroy
		the darkness of ignorance by the light of knowledge".

128  vedavit

	PB:	The knower of vedas (without any doubts or error). Vide gItA:
		"I am indeed the knower of vedas".

	SA:	He who knows truly the vedas (and their meaning). Vide-
		"vedAntakRt vedavid eva cA'ham - i am the author of the
		vedAnta knower of the veda" (gItA 15.15),
		"All the vedas are kRshNA. Those who know Him in reality have
		performed all the sacrifices".

129  avyangaH

	PB:	He is not disassociated from the limbs of the vedas, such as
		chandas and kalpa, created by Him.

	SA:	One who is self-fulfilled by knowledge and other great
		attributes, and who is free from any defect whatsoever.
		Or, one who is not manifest to the senses. Vide -
		"avyakto'yam - He is not manifest to the senses or
		the mind"  (gItA 2.25).

130  vedAngaH

	PB:	Vedas which have innumerable branches are His body, and they
		disclose the innermost secrets of the Supreme. Vide -
		"He shakes His body composed of the vedas".
		Or, vedAngaH is derived in the sense that vedas and their
		angas are His ordinances. Vide -
		"Sruti and smRthi are my ordinances",
		"This is His ordinance".

	SA:	The vedas are His organs.

131  vedavit

	PB:	This name is repeated. Here, 'veda' means dharma revealed by
		the vedas. Thus, He (pradyumna) who makes people practise the
		dharma revealed by the vedas. Hence, He is known as dharma,
		the illuminator and the Instigator (of dharma).

	SA:	This name is repeated. The previous name means He knows the
		meaning of vedas. This name is interpreted as spreading the
		knowledge of vedas.

132  kaviH

  PB and SA:	He is 'kaviH' since He cognises all that is beyond ordinary
		perception. Vide -
		"nAnyo'to'sti drashTA -there is no seer other than
		Him" (Br.U 3.7.23),
		"kavir manIshI - He is all knowing and intelligent" (ISa.U.8).
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S. G. Srinivasan                email : sgsrini@u.washington.edu
Graduate Student
Dept. Of Mater. Sci. & Engg.
Room 204, Roberts Hall, BOX 352120
University Of Washington        Phone : (206)-632-1083 (H)
Seattle, WA 98195-2120                  (206)-685-3851 (W)
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