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SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 43 - Part 2.

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Krishnamachari, N (Krish) • November 6, 1998 


			SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 43.

		SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 43 - Part 2.

400. nayah -  He who draws everyone towards Himself.  

om nayAya namah.

nayati iti nayah - One who draws everyone towards Himself; one who leads
everyone in their spiritual illumination.  When rAma reached daNDakAraNyam,
the r*shi-s there were drawn to Him, and they entrusted their protection
solely to Him, even though they had their tapo-balam.  SrI v.v.rAmAnujan
refers us to bhagavAn's words in His varAha incarnation - nayAmi paramAm
gatim - I will lead everyone to the Ultimate, viz. moksham.  The dharma
cakram writer points out the examples of arjuna being led in the right path
by bhagavAn through the gItopadeSam.  Meditation on this nAma of bhagavAn
should reveal to us that the path to moksahm is to be drawn towards Him and
to follow His lead.

401. anayah - He who cannot be spirited away.

om anayAya namah.

SrI bhaTTar gives the example of the futile effort of rAvaNa to lift and
carry away lakshmaNa when he was lying on the battleground after being
struck by the Sakti weapon by rAvaNa.  He also gives an alternate
interpretation based on ayah - the means which brings prosperity; an-ayah
then means He without whom there is no prosperity.

SrI Sankara's interpretation that He is one who is not led by anyone, unlike
He who leads everyone in the spiritual path. 
 
SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the examples of bhagavAn being the opposites
simultaneously.  One meaning he gives for nayah is One who moves.  anayah is
One who does not move.  He gives reference to 'tadejati tanaijati',
anejadekam manaso javIyo  (ISAvAsya upanishad), aram kAmAya harayo
vadhanvire sthirAya hinvan harayo harI turA (r*g veda 10.96), etc. 

The dharma cakram writer nicely illustrates how rAma always acted in the
path of dharma without anyone having to lead Him.  When he had to go the
forest, others including sage vasishTha tried to persuade Him to accept the
kingdom instead and rule, but rAma did not swerve from the path of dharma
and adopted that path without having to be told by anyone.  When He returned
back from the forest and became the king, some citizens commented that
sItAdevi had been in another person's house and should not occupy the throne
with SrI rAma.  Because rAma wanted to set an example to His citizens, He
sent her instead to vAlmIki's ASramam, and showed them the path of dharma of
the king.  Thus, He never needed to be led by anyone, anayah.

402 (664). vIrah - Valiant.

om vIrAya namah.

He is vIra because He destroys at once those who are a source of suffering
to the pious by discharging His wapons which are ever ready to carry out His
commands.  He is a source of terror to His enemies.  SrI Sankara bhAshyam is
"vikramaSAlitvAt vIrah - One who is valorous". SrI v.v.rAmAnujan points out
that vIra, saurYa, and parAkrama are among the mahA-guNa-s of bhagavAn, and
the reference to vIrya here by bhIshma can be taken to refer to all three
guNa-s.  vIrya is the quality of inducing terror in the hearts of the
enemies; Saurya is derived from the word SUra - the ability to cause havoc
among the enemies' ranks by single-handedly penetrating their ranks; and
parAkrama is the ability to cause enormous damage to enemies' side while not
being even slightly hurt Himself.  rAma is referred to as mahAvIra in
raghu-vIra-gadyam (The starting line is jaya jaya mahA-vIra!). 

SrI bhaTTar giveas reference to the following:


mArIca tells rAvaNa about rAma - 

	"vr*kshe vr*kshe ca paSyAmi cIra kr*shNAjinAmbaram       |
	gr*hIta dhanusham rAmam pASa hastamiva antakam           ||  (rAmA
AraNya 39.14)"

	"In every tree I see rAma dressed in tree bark and black deer-skin
and His bow drawn as though He is the god of death with the rope in hand".

	"brahma-daNDa prakASAnAm vidyut-sadr*Sa varcasAm        |
	  smaran rAghava-bANAnAn vivyate rAkshaseSvarah             ||
(yuddha 60.3)"

	"rAvaNa, the king of rAkshasa-s, became uneasy whwn he even thought
of the arrows of rAma, which hasd the luster of the club of brahma and the
glitter of the lightning".

	"mAta~nga iva simhena garuDeneva pannagah         |
	  abhibhUto'bhavad-rAjA rAghaveNa mahAtmanA  ||  (yuddha 60.2)"

	"The king (rAvaNa) was overpowered by the powerful rAma like the
elephant by the lion, and the serpent by garuDa".
	
SrI v.v.rAmAnujan gives several references to prabandham:

- In tiruccanda viruttam, tirumazhiSai sings - "anRu ila~ngai nIRu Seidu
SenRu konRu venRi koNDa vIraNAr"; 

- n perumAltirumozhi we have "ve~nkadirOn kulattukkOr viLakkAit-tOnRi viN
muzhudum uyyakkoNDa vIran tannai" (10.1); mazhu vAL Endi vevvari naRcilai
vA~ngi venRi koNDu vEl vEndar pagai taDinda vIran tannai (10.3);

- pollA arakkanaik kiLLik kaLaindAanai" in tiruppAvai, referring to the ease
with which rAma finished rAvaNa whose power was unheard of;
 
- "vennarakam SerA-vagaiyE Silai kunittAn - tiruma~ngai in SiRiya tirumaDal
referring to rAma's act of torturing kara and dUshaNa during their fight to
the point that they did not need a spearate anubhavam of living in narakAm.

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives references to the Sruti:

	Sr*Nve vIro vindamAno vasUni mahad-devAnAm asuratvam ekam (r*g
3.55.10)

	sa ghA vIro na rishyati yamindro brahmaNaspatih somo hinoti martyam
(r*g 2.28.4)

SrI rAdhAkr*sNa SAstri gives a beautiful description of His vIra.  The
source is not identified, but the description is worth repeating here:  

	"yasmat sva-mahimnA sarvAn lokAn sarvAn devAn sarvAn Atmanah sarvANi
bhUtAni viramati virAmayati ajastram sr*jati visr*jati vAsayati, yato vIrah
karmaNyah sudr*ksho yukta-grAvA jAyate deva-kAmah tasmAt ucyate vIram iti".
He cannot be opposed, cannot be conquered, and His skills will be
self-evident and will subdue His enemies automatically.  

403. SaktimatAm-SreshThah - The Greatest among the powerful.

om SaktimatAm-SreshThAya namah. 

SaktimatAmapi SaktimattvAt SaktimatAm SreshThah.  He is the most
praiseworthy among the powerful gods and others. He is more powerful than
the likes of brahma the Creator.  The likes of indra could not destroy
rAvaNa, and they surrendered to bhagavAn as a result seeking His protection.
rAma with the axe (i.e., paraSurAma) says to SrI rAma:  "aakshayyam
madhu-hantAram jAnAmi tvAm syreSvaram - I know that you are indestructible;
You are the slayer of madhu (the asura), and You are the Lord of all the
gods" (rAmAyaNa bAla 76.17).  SrI bhaTTar also gives reference to hanumAn's
words to rAvaNa -

	"devASca daityASca niSAcarendra! gandharva vidyAdhara-nAga-yakshAh
|
	  rAmasya lokatraya-nAyakasya sthAtum na SaktAh samareshu sarve
||  
 
(sundara 51.44)

	"O King of the rAkshasa-s!  The gods and the asura-s, gandharva-s
and vidyAdhara-s, nAga-s, and yaksha-s - all these cannot stand against
rAma, the Lord of the three worlds, in the battle".

404. dharmah - Virtue Incarnate.

om dharmAya namah.

SrI satyadevo vAsisshTha derives the meaning from the root dhr*~nj - dhAraNe
to support; dhArayati iti dharmah - that which supports is dharmah, dhAryate
vA yena jagat iti dharmah - He  by whom this Universe is supported is
dharmah.  

SrI bhaTTar points out that He is Virtue Incarnate because He sustains all
beings by conferring prosperity and salvation on them.  In yuddha kANDa
brahma says of Lord rAma - lokAnAm tvam paramo dharmah - Thou art the
Supreme Dharma in all the worlds.  In mahAbhArata we have "sAkshAt devah
purANO'sau sa hi dharmah sanAtanah - He is ancient God Himself and also the
eternal dharma incarnate".  About kr*shNa incarnation - 

	"ye ca vedavido viprAh ye ca adhyAtmavido janAh           |
	  te vadanti mahAtmAnam kr*shNam dharam sanAtanam  ||

	"Those brAhmins who are well-versed in veda-s, and those who
realized the Brahman, declare in one voice that the great SrI kr*shNa is the
eternal dharma incarnate".

SrI v.v.rAmAnujan refers to mArIca's words about rAma - rAmo vitgrahavAn
dharmah - rAma is dhrama incarnate.  He also points that ANDAL calls Him
"dharumam aRiyAk kurumban" in nAcciAr tirumozhi, obviously out of the sheer
intense liberty she has towards her Lord, and out of her intense fondness to
Him.

SrI cinmayAnanda discusses in some detail the significance of this term
"dharma".  By example, he points out that the dharma of sugar is sweetness,
the dhaarma of fire is heat, etc., and thus the dharma of an the individual
in this sense is the soul, without which the individual does not exist.
Since bhyagavAn is the one Self that supports all the individuals, He is the
Ultimate Dharma.

SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri reminds us of "dharmo rakshati rakshitah, dharma eva
hato hanti" - dharma protects those who protect it, and destroys those who
destroy it.  dharma is like the guides on both sides of the road; if we
follow them, we reach our destination safely; if we go outside the limit, or
if we collide with the guides, we encounter suffering.  bhagavAn is this
guide for those who want to follow it.  Those who don't follow it pay
dearly. 

The dharma cakram writer gives several examples of where dharma has
protected those who followed it, and destroyed those who tried to ignore it.
In the former category are hariScandra, the pANDava-s, etc.  In the latter
category are rAvaNa, duryodhana, etc.  BhIshma tried his very best to advise
duryodhana that no one who follows dharma can be defeated in the end, no
matter how many bhIshma-s try to help duryodhana.  But he won't listen, and
ultimately paid the price for adharma.  Same was the case with rAvaNa, who
would not listen to vibhIshaNa-s advice.  Meditation on this nAma of
mahAvishNu should teach us the basic lesson that dharma protects those who
follow it, and adharma will have no end other than self-destruction.

405. dharmavid-uttamah - The foremost among those who are conscious of
dharma.

om dharma-vid-uttamAya namah.

No further evidence is needed for this than that sages such as vasishTha,
vAmadeva, and mArkaNDeya who were the guru-s for rAma resorted to Him for a
knowledge of dharma (SrI BhaTTar).  The dharma cakram writer remarks that it
is not easy to recognize what is dharma and what is not dharma.  bhagavAn
has created the Sruti-s as His commandments to explain to us what is dharma.
To realize what is dharma, meditation on mahaAvishNu is the path.  For this
,a clean mind is necessary.  This is what is taught in tirukkuraL -
manattuk-kaN mASilan Adal anaittu aRan.  SrI Sankara points out that all
Sruti-s and smr*ti-s are His commandments, and hence He is called the
greatest of the knowers of dharma.  SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri gives reference
to vishNu dharmottara - Srutis-smr*tI mamaivA~gnye (76.31). 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan