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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokma 83 - nivRttAtmA - Part 1.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • January 2, 2003 


    SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokma 83 - nivRttAtmA - Part 1.

780. nivRttAtmA – a) He whose Nature is different from, and superior
to, everything else (Trasncendental Form).
b) He whose mind is turned away from worldly attachments.
(nara-nArAyaNa incarnation)
c) He who is the AtmA of those who practice the nivRtti dharma
(Bestower of benefits according to karma).
d) He whose nature is that He is free from the bonds of samsAra, even
when He takes His incarnation amongst us (kRshNa incarnation).
e) He who does not turn away from anything or anywhere because of He is
Omnipresent. (a-nivRttAtmA  - SaÂ’nkara)
f) He Who withdraws the jIva-s into Him during pralaya
g) He Who has permeated everything completely.
h) He Who is Himself unimpacted or withdrawn with respect to the
effects of pralaya of sRshTi.
i) He whose mind turns away from any feeling of self-glory over His
kIrti or fame.
 
Om nivRttAtmane namah.

The nAma nivRttAtmA occurs 4 times in SrI BhaTTarÂ’s system of
interpretation.  This is one of only two nAma-s that occur this many
number of times (the other nAma is prANa-dah).  The instances of the
nAma nivRttAtmA in SrI BhaTTarÂ’s shcem of interpretation are:

nAma 231 (Slokam 25)
nAma 453 (Slokam 48)
nAma 604 (Slokam 64)
nAma 780 (Slokam 83)

SrI SaÂ’nkara has given the nAma-s as nivRttAtmA in Sloka-s 25 and 64,
as vimuktAmA in Slokam 48, and as a-nivRttAtmA in Slokam 83, with
nivRttAtmA being his alternate version in Slokam 83.

What follows is a consolidation of the previous write-ups for this
nAma.  The nAma has been explained in detail in the previous three
instances, using the approach that I have taken for all other nAma-s,
namely, giving the different anubhavam-s of the different vyAkhyAna
kartA-s for the nAma in one place.  We will take a look at the
vyAkhyAna for this nAma from a different perspective in the current
write-up.

There are two unique contributions that SrI BhaTTar has made in his
vyAkhyAnam for SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam.  These are:
 
1.	He has approached the elucidation for all the nAma-s with the
emphasis on bhagavAnÂ’s guNa-s of saulabhyam and sauSIlyam towards His
devotees as the primary guNa-s of bhagavAn that are of interest from
the devoteesÂ’ perspective.  SrI SaÂ’nakra generally gives his
interpretations with emphasis on the parattvam or Supremacy of vishNu
in his interpretations.  This point has been brought out in detail in
my write-up comparing the two vyAkhyAna-s, and has been mentioned as a
reminder under different nAma-s.

2.	SrI BhaTTar is unique in viewing the 1000 nAma-s as a collection of
44 discrete groups, each group consisting of a series of nAma-s
describing a specific incarnation or manifestation of bhagavAn.  This
aspect has also been mentioned off and on during the discussion of the
nAma-s.  

Because of the general approach I have taken throughout, of summarizing
the different anubhavam-s of several interpreters under each nAma, I
have inevitably lost the stress on the second aspect of SrI BhaTTarÂ’as
contribution in my write-ups, even though I try to mention this aspect
off and on.  In the current view of the nAma nivRttAtmA, we will
emphasize this second aspect of Sri BhaTTarÂ’s vyAkhyAnam for the four
instances of this nAma.  

SrI BhaTTar interprets the nAma-s in the following contexts:

 nAma 231 – as part of the group of nAmas from 226 to 247, reminiscent
of  the purusha sUkta-upanishad pratipAdita virAT svarUpam.
nAma 453 – as part of the group of nAma-s from 451 to 463, describing
the nara-nArAyaNa incarnation, as the nivRtti dharma pravartaka.
nAma 604 – as part of the group of nAma-s from 590 to 606, describing
His guNa as a conferrer of benefits to jiva-s based on their karma.
nAma 780 – as part of the nAmas from 697 to 786, describing His kRshNa
incarnation.

The meaning for the word nivRtta is to turn away, to abstain from, to
be above worldly acts, etc.

a) SrI BhaTTarÂ’s interpretation for nAma 231(in the group of nAma-s
describing the Transcendental Person described in purusha sUkatam
etc.,), is that bhagavAnÂ’s svabhAva (Nature) is past the prAkRta
svabhAva (the ordinary nature of mortals), and the meaning given is
that His Nature as the Supreme purusha is superior to anything else,
and stands above all other things.  He is the Master of the
Transcendental Glory that is thrice the glory of the material world.  
He is the svAmI or Lord of all that is this Universe, and all that is
beyond this Universe.  
SrI Bhattar gives the following references:
tripAdUrdhva udait-purushah - The Purusha stands eminent in the
parama-pada which has thrice the glory of the material world" - purusha
sUkta 4.
parAt-param yan-mahato mahAntam - He is greater than the greatest, more
exalted than the most exalted. - taitti. nArAyanIya 1.5.

SrI satya devo vAsishTha gives reference to the muNDakopanishad
passage, of two birds sitting in the same tree, one representing the
jIva and the other the Supreme Soul.  His interpretation is:  ni is an
upasarga;  the root involved is vRt – vartane – to exist, to happen, to
live on, to occupy; or vRt – varaNe – to choose, to divide.  The word
nivRtta means One Whose Nature is different – svarUpa paryAyah (SrI
vAsishTha).  

	dvA suparNA sayujA sakhAyA samAnam vRksham parishasvajAte   |
	tayoranyah pippalam  svAdvat-anaSnan-anyo abhicAkaSIti   ||    
(muNDa. 2.1.)

The above talks of two birds, one representing the paramAtmA and the
other the jIvAtmA, one watching and shining brilliantly, while the
other enjoys the fruits of the karma.  Thus it illustrates the
different nature of the superior Soul, who turns away from the
enjoyment that the jIva goes after (nivRtta - anaSnan).   SrI vAsishTha
captures the spirit of the nAma through the Sloka he has composed for
describing the meaning of this nAma, just as he has composed his own
Sloka as his interpretation for each of the 1000 nAma-s:

	ja~jne sa viSvam sa bibharti viSvam sakhA sa jIvasya samAna Sakhah   |
	nASnan jagaj-jAta rasAn aseshAn nivRtta mAtroÂ’Snuta eva sarvam   ||  

“BhagavAn creates the universe and protects everything, and is a Friend
of the jIva-s and treats everything in His creation equally.  He does
not consume any of the fruits of this world, but withdraws everything
into Him at the time of pralaya”.

b) In SrI BhaTTarÂ’ interpretation for nAma 453 in Slokam 48 (in the
group dealing with the nara-nArAyaNa incarnation), the anubhavam is
that bhagavAn has His mind turned away from the worldly desires.  Since
the nara-nArAyaNa incarnation deals with the life of austerity that He
adopted, and He taught the nivRtti dharma to nara, this is an
appropriate interpretation in this context.

BhagavAn appeared as nara and nArAyaNa to teach the nivRtti dharma to
the world and to practice it with extreme detachment (BhagavAnÂ’s form
was nArAyaNa in the role of the teacher, and nara in the role of the
student). To indicate His profound detachment (parama vairAgya) to
material objects of pleasure, He had His mind withdrawn from them.  
The nara-nArAyaNa avatAra as well as the nivRtti dharma are embedded in
this nAma.  The avatAara emphasized nivRtti-dharma and propagated the
sacred ashtAkshara.  The essence of nivRtti dharma is the realization
that nothing is done for our benefit or by us, and everything is for
the benefit of nArAyaNa and happens because of Him.  We are not for us
or for someone else, but only for nArAyaNa.

SrI BhaTTarÂ’s vyAkhyAnam here is: parama vairAgya khyApanaAya
vishayebhyah pratyAhRta-manAh nivRttAtmA - To indicate His profound
non-attachment to material objects, He has His mind withdrawn from
them. About His meditation it is said - antarnivishTa bhAvam ca - He
who has His thoughts concentrated on Himself. Also, Atma-dhyAna
parAyaNAya - To Him who has His thoughts concentrated within Himself";
"hRd -admArpita mAnasam - Him with His mind fixed on the lotus-heart",
etc.

c) For nAma 604, which is in the group of nAma-s dealing with His
relation with the jIva-s in giving them the results of their karma-s,
SrI BhaTTar gives the interpretation that He has this nAma because He
is the AtmA of those who practice the nivRtti dharma, or the life of
renunciation.     

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan elaborates on how bhagavAn is the AtmA of those who
practice the nivRtti dharma.  These are the jIva-s who do not have any
interest in pravRtti dharma, and live their lives with the soul
objective of doing kaimkaryam to Him.  They are not interested in any
fruit out of their action except the bhAgyam of doing kaimkaryam to
Him.  BhagavAn gives them exactly that, namely He gives them His lokam
from where there is no return to samsAra - viNNulagam taruvAnAi
variaginrAn (tivuvAimozhi 10.6.3).    In fact, even though bhagavAn is
AtmA of these nivRtti dharma practitioners just as He is the AtmA of
all other creations, yet He considers that these nivRtti dharma
followers as His soul that supports Him.  Another name for these
practitioners of nivRtti dharmA is j~nAnI, whom bhagavAn considers as
His own soul.

Of the two kinds of dharma - the pravRtti dharma and the nivRtti
dharma,  pravRti dharma takes us to the world of the pitR-s where we
enjoy the fruits of our karma, and come back to this world with the
balance of karma-s to our credit; nivRtti dharma is that which leads
one to moksha.

d) For the current instance of this nAma in the context of the kRshNa
incarnation, SrI BhaTTarÂ’s anubhavam is that even though He took the
incarnation among us for our benefit, and even though we are deeply
immersed in pravRtti dharma, He keeps Himself in the nivRtti dharma,
and is not in any way affected by worldly things, and so He continues
to be a nivRttAtmA.    

Thus, even though the nAma is the same, the anubhavam is related to the
context of the particular aspect of bhagavAn that is emphasized in that
context.   This vision of SrI BhaTTar in recognizing the connectivity
between the different nAma-s in sequence has also naturally taken care
of the issue of avoiding punar-ukti.

Interpretations e) to i) will be covered in Part 2. 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan


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