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SrI vishNu sahasra nAma - Slokam 84 - su-tantuh.

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champakam • January 20, 2003 


     SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 84 - su-tantuh.

790. su-tantuh – a) He who has a powerful net of threads to capture 
the asura-s and retain them from escaping.
		b) He Who has expanded this Universe starting from 
Himself.
		c) He Who has progeny such as brahmA.
		d) He Who expanded the yAdava race in auspicious way 
by being born as the son of vasudeva.

Om su-tantave namah.

su is an upasarga. tantu is derived from the root tanu – vistAre – to 
spread, to go.   Among the meanings for the term tantu are thread, 
cord, wire, string, etc.  

a) SrI BhaTTar uses the meaning "a net of threads" for the 
term "tantu", and gives the meaning "One Who has such a net to 
capture the evil-minded folks", for the term tantuh.  BhagavAn puts 
in an appearance of tranquility and meditation in this deceitful 
role, and the asura-s are caught up in this net, and could never get 
out of it.  This interpretation is a continuation of SrI BhaTTar's 
elucidation of the nAma-s 787 – 810 in terms of the Buddha 
incarnation.  SrI SAstri explains that the net is beautiful and 
attracts the asura-s, and at the same time is very strong, and so 
they can't out once get caught in this net.

b) SrI Sa'nkara gives the interpretation – Sobhanah tantuh vistIrNah 
prapa'nco'sya iti su-tantuh.  One translator gives the meaning as "He 
Who is beautifully expanded, like the universe", and another gives 
the meaning "He, through whom this universe is beautifully and 
auspiciously expanded as a thread".   SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri explains 
that since bhagavAn created everything started from Him, like a long 
piece of thread from a small ball of cotton, He is called su-
tantuh.    

 SrI satyadevo vAsishTha develops  his interpretation based on the 
meaning "to expand" for the root tanu – vistAre, consistent with the 
second translation above – tanyata iti tantuh Sobhanah tantuh yasya 
sa su-tantuth vishNuh; Sobhanam tanyate viSvam yena sa su-tantuh iti 
arthah.  Consistent with this act of the beautiful expansion that He 
does, we see that right from the start of creation, and up to the 
time of pralaya, the different species remain the same and keep 
expanding at the same time.  They have expanded before, they are 
expanding now, and they will continue to expand in the future 
(expansion here is to be understood in terms of new members of each 
species being created, while old members die).   

c) SrI satya sandha yatirAja uses the sense of visTara or expansion 
for the term tantu, and interprets the nAma as signifying that 
bhagavAn has the nAma su-tantuh because He has the likes of brahma as 
His son – Sobhanas-tantuh catur-mukhAdi santAno yasya sa sau-tantuh.  

d) SrI ananta kRshNa SAstry uses a similar approach, but gives the 
interpretation that because bhagavAn expanded the race of yAdava-s in 
an auspicious way being the progeny of vasudeva, He is called su-
tantuh.

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan




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