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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 85 - SR'ngI.

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champakam • February 7, 2003 


     SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 85 - SR'ngI. 

803. SR'ngI – a) He Who appears like one having a horn (with a bunch 
of peacock feathers in his hand).
	b) He Who had a horn in His matsya and varAha inbcrnations.
	c) He With the peak of govardhana mountain on His hand.
	d) He Who has provided every creature with the means to 
express its SR'nga or expression of power.
	e) He Who destroys the fear of birth in His devotees.

Om SR'ngiNe namah.

The word SR'ngam refers to a horn.  It also refers to the top of a 
mountain, sovereignty,  etc.  The root and the different meanings and 
interpretations for the word SR'gan have been covered previously in 
nAma 540, Slokam 57 -  mahA-SR'ngah;  and nAma 869, Slokam 81 -   
naika-SR'ngah.

a) SrI BhaTTar interprets the nAma as One who has a horn, and 
associates it with His carrying a bunch of peacock feathers in his 
hand in His incarnation to delude the asura-s, as a symbol of his 
doctrine of ahimsA.    He gives support from vishNu purANam:

	tato digambaro muNDo barhi-patra-dharo dvija   |
	mAyA moho'surAn SlakshNam idam vacanam abravIt   ||   (VP 
18.2)

"Approaching the daitya-s engaged in ascetic penances, He approached 
them in the semblance of a naked mendicant, with his head shaven, and 
carrying a bunch of peacock's feathers, and addressed them in gentle 
accents thus".    H. H. Wilson adds a footnote in his translation, 
that "a bunch of peacock feathers is still an ordinary accompaniment 
of a Jain mendicant.  According to the Hindi poem, the pRthu rAi 
caritra, it was borne by the Buddhist amara sinha".  

b) SrI Sa'nkara interprets the nAma in terms of the matsya 
incarnation, where bhagavAn had a horn with which He guided the boat 
with satya vrata in it – pralaya ambhasi SR'ngavAn matsya viSesha 
rUpah SR'ngI – He Who is horned, during pralaya when He assumes the 
form a special fish.  

SrI ananta kRshNa SAstry comments that the nAma can also be a 
reference to His varAha incarnation, where He supported the earth at 
the tip of His horn.  (see nAma 542, Slokam 58 – mahA-varAhah).

c) SrI satya sandha yatirAja uses the meaning "summit of a mountain" 
for the word SR'nga, and gives the interpretation that the nAma is a 
reference to His carrying the govardhana mountain – SR'ngANi 
govardhana SR'gANi asya santi iti SR'ngI.  

d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha interprets the term SR'nga as meaning a 
ray or emanation, or any kind of energy, and gives the interpretation 
that the nAma signifies that bhagavAn has enabled all beings with 
different ways of giving expression to their energy, and so He is 
SR'ngI – the fangs of a serpent are the SR'nga-s of the serpent, and 
the tail of a scorpion is the SR'nga of the scorpion, as examples.  

e) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj interprets SR'nga as "destroying", (The 
root is SR – himsAyAm – to hurt, to kill), and gives the 
interpretation for the nama as "He Who destroys the fear of re-birth 
in His devotees" – SRNAti bhava-bhayam iti SR'ngam avicintya-
sAmarthyam; tad-asya asti iti SR'ngI.  

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan



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