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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 78 - Part 5.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • November 9, 2002 


        SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 78 - tat, padam anuttamam.

737. tat – a) He Who increases (the j~nAnam and bhakti about Him in the
devotees).
	b) He Who increases the kIrti (fame) of His devotees
	c) He Who expands the Universe from its subtle form to its visible
form
	d) He Who is not seen by senses etc.

om tate namah (om tasmai namah in Samkara pATham).

The root from which the nAma is derived is tanu – vistAre – to spread,
to go (tanoti – vistRNAti – expands).   SrI BhaTTar’s bhAshyam is “sva
j~nAna bahktim tanoti iti tat” – He Who increases the j~nAnam and
bhakti in His devotees.   He gives the support from taittirIya
nArAyaNIyam (27) – tat savitur vareNIyam – That superior luster of the
Lord, the cause of the Universe.

The term tat is given another meaning in the gItA.  The term refers to
the veda-s. and to the acts of sacrifice that are undertaken without
any expectation of a benefit, as prescribed in the veda-s.  

	om-tat-sat iti nirdeSo brahmaNah tri-vidhah smRtah    |
	brAhamaNAs-tena vedASca ya~jnASca vihitAh purA    ||   (gItA 17.23)

“Brahman (the veda)  is denoted by the three-fold expression: Om, tat,
sat.  Associated with these, the BrAhamaNas, the Vedas, and sacrifices
were ordained in the past”.

In Slokam 7.25, the term tat is explained further:

	tad-iti anabhisandhAya phalam ya~jna tapah kriyAh   |
	dAna-kriyASca vividhAh kriyante moksha kAÂ’nkshibhih   ||

“Acts of sacrifice, austerity and various gifts are performed without
aiming at reward by those who seek release (moksha), after pronouncing
tat”.

In our samkaplam for many religious rites, we start with “Harir-om
tat”.  Bhagavad rAmAnuja explains in his vyAkhyAnam for gItA Slokam
7.25, that whatever acts such as the study of the Vedas, sacrifices,
austerities and gifts are done without aiming at results by those of
the first three stations, seeking only final release – these are
designated by the term tat, referring to Brahman, since they constitute
the means for attainment of Brahman.  He also refers in this context to
the current Slokam (78) of SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam, and observes that
it is thus well-known that the term tat refers to Brahman -  “sa vah
kah kim yat tat padam anuttamam iti tat-Sabdo hi brahma vAcI
prasiddhah.  In the context of the above gItA Slokam, SrI rAmAnuja
interprets the term tat as referring to Brahman, or to the means of
attaining Brahman such as the study of the Vedas etc.  

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan links the previous nAma (yatate – takes special
efforts to protect us), with the current nAma (tanoti – increases the
bhakti in us towards Him as part of that effort.  

While SrI Samkara’s vyAkhyAnam is also “tanoti iti tat”,  in the
nAmAvalI,  the mantra is “om tasmai namah”, signifying that the nAma is
treated again as a sarva nAma or pronoun, meaning “That”, the term
standing for Brahman.  

b) The beauty of the diverse anubhavam-s of the great vyAkhyAna kartA-s
is seen in the diverse ways in which they interpret the same
explanation “tanoti – vistRNAti – expands”.  We already saw SrI
BhaTTarÂ’s interpretation, that He expands the j~nAnam and bhakti in His
devotees.   SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the interpretation “tanoti
vistArayati sva-janAnAm kIrtim iti tat” – “He is called tat because He
spread the kIrti or fame of His devotees”.   SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri
explains the action of bhagavAn in His guNa of tat as “spreading and
pervading into everything”, which is yet another way that He enables
the jIva to function in this world to attain Him. SrI satyadevo
vAsishTha gives the interpretation that this nAma signifies that He
expands the sUkshma jIva-s into the visible world forms and shapes (see
d below) Whether it is in the form of increasing our j~nAnam and bhakti
about Him so that we can reach Him, or it is in the form of His
spreading the fame and kIrti of His devotees so that others learn from
this and follow the correct path for their attainment of Him, or it is
in the form of His spreading into everyone as their antaryAmi and
supporting and guiding them, in the end everything that He does is for
the sake of His devotees 
	 
c) SrI vAsishTha gives the interpretation – tanoti viSvam iti tat – He
Who expands the Universe.  His explanation is that bhagavAn is called
tat because He expands the Universe that is inside Him in the sUkshsma
state, into a Universe that is in the sthUla and visible state, just as
the mother gives expression to a child which is contained in her in an
unseen state.  

d) satya sandha yatirAja, an AcArya from the madhva sampradAyam,
explains the nAma tat as referring to “that which is not seen” –
paroksham vastu tat Sabda vAcyam, haristu pratyakshAt avedyatvena
mukhyto vedaika gamyatvAt vA guNaih tatatvAd-vA tat iti ucyate.  

738. padam anuttamam – a) The Supreme Goal.
	b) The Unexcelled Protector of His devotees.

Om padAya anuttamAya namah.

The root from which the word padam is derived is pad – gatau – to go,
to attain.  SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the meanings – padyate =
gamyate, j~nAyate, prApyate, yatyate vA tat padam ,and summarizes the
meaning of the word padam to mean “that for the attainment of which, or
the knowledge of which,  effort is to be undertaken”.  na uttamam
yasmAt iti anuttamam – That which is not surpassed by anything else is
anuttamam.  Padam anuttamam thus refers to “That which is unsurpassed
by anything else, and for whose attainment knowledge and effort deserve
to be undertaken”.   

SrI BhaTTar’s bhAshyam is “teshAm parama prApyatvAt – padam anuttamam”
- He is the Supreme Goal for His devotees.     SrI aNNaÂ’ngarAcArya
summarizes this in tamizh as “tamakku mEl prApaymAnadu onRillAda paDi
parama prApayamAnavar”.  SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives support from
nammAzhvArÂ’s tiruvAimozhi, where AzhvAr declares that he does not want
even SrI vaikunTham, but he only wants to have the Lotus Feet of
bhagavAn on his head.  In other words, His Lotus Feet are the Supreme
Goal: nin SemmA pAda paRput talai Serttu ollai Â… ammA aDiyEn vENDuvadu
ihdE” (5.9.1).  

In tiruvAimozhi 3.7.6, nammAzhvar declares that bhagavAn is the
Supreme, unexcelled rakshakan (padam anuttamam):      

	Â…Â…Â…
	oLi koNDa Sodiyai uLLattuk koLLum avar kaNDIr


b) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj uses the meaning “trANam – rakshaNam –
protection” to the word padam, based on amara koSam:  padam vyavasiti
trANa sthAna lakshmAÂ’nghri vastushu (3.3.93), and gives the
interpretation to this nAma as “padam trANam | anuttamam sarvottamam
iti padam anuttamam | arthAt sarvottamo rakshakah  SrI bahagavAneva
sarvottmas-trAtA sva-janAnAm|”  - The Unexcelled Protector of His
devotees.

c) SrI cinmayAnanda’s interpretation is: “Lord VishNu has this nAma
because He is the way (pada), the goal (pada), and the pilgrimage
(pada)”.  He gives support from the gItA Slokam 7.18, where bhagavAn
declares that He is anuttama gati (Supreme path, Supreme Goal):

	udArAh sarva evaite j~nAnI tvAtmaiva me matam    |
	Asthitah sa hi yuktAtmA mAmeva anuttamAm gatim   ||

“All these are indeed generous, but I deem the man of knowledge to be
My very self; for he, integrated, is devoted to Me alone as the Supreme
end”.  

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

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