vishNu sahasranAmam - (8)
From the Bhakti List Archives
'srini' Srinivasan Srivilliputhur • Mon Apr 22 1996 - 20:15:36 PDT
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PB = Translation of srI parAsara bhattar's commentary.
SA = Translation of srI sankarAchArya's commentary.
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(sl-13) rudro bahuSirA babhrur viSva-yoniH SuchiSravAH
amRtaH SASvata-sthAnur varAroho mahA-tapAH
114 rudraH
PB: He is rudra because His actions and enchanting beauty makes
His devotees shed tears of joy. The root 'rod' means to shed
tears. Vide vishNuthathwa-
"That devout person, whose eyes are brimming with cool tears
of joy, whose body is covered with hairs on their ends (due
to joy) and whose heart is ever filled with thoughts about
the Supreme, must be seen by all embodied souls".
SA: One who makes all beings cry at the time of cosmic dissolution.
Or, One who gives 'rud' or speech.
Or, One who drives away 'ru' or sorrows.
Siva purANa (6.9-14) says:
"ru means sorrow. As the Lord removes all sorrows and their
causes, Siva, the ultimate cause is called rudra".
115 bahuSirAH
PB: Multi-headed.(As Ananta) He has many heads and over thousand
hoods.
SA: He has thousand (innumerable) heads. purusha sUkta says-
"sahasra-SIrshA purushaH - the purusha is with innumerable
heads".
116 babhruH
PB: The Supporter. As Ananta He supports the worlds. Vide-
"That Ananta bears the earth on His head".
SA: One who Supports the worlds.
117 viSva-yoniH
PB: He who associates Himself with all devotees. The root 'yu'
means to join/unite.
SA: One who is the cause of the world.
118 SuchiSravAH
PB: He who listens to the pure words of His devotees. Vide-
"O! dhananjaya, I listen to all that is pure and agreeable.
I do not heed to what is sinful. Therefore I am called
SuchiSravAH".
'Suchi' is that which is offered with devotion. Vide-
"I ate the good food that was offered by vidhura with
devotion",
"The night passed away for krishNa unnoticed as He listened
to the sweet and varied words of the great vidhura - words
that were filled with dharma, charming and bristling with
good forms and fine content".
SA: One whose names and glories are very holy and purifying to
be heard.
119 amRtaH
PB: The ambrosia. He is amRtaH because He is sweet to His devotees,
Or, because He wards off old age and confers immortality,
Or, because no satiety occurs, however much they serve Him.
"When the sages saw janardana, they never got satiated as
with ambrosia".
SA: One who is Immortal. Br.U. (4.4.25) says-
"ajaro'maraH - unaging and deathless".
120 SASvata-sthAnuH
PB: He who is eternal and steady. bhagavan is far superior to
ambrosia. Being Himself eternal. He cannot be taken away by
those who enjoy Him. He is the object of enjoyment to those
who never think of returning to material world for rebirth.
On the other hand, the 'amRta' distilled from the ocean can
be used only once".
SA: One who is both eternal and firmly established.
121 varArohaH
PB: He is the Greatest to be reached. For this reason,
'varam'- Supreme, 'Arohanam'- 'is the attainment of bhagavan'
That of all elase is inferior. Vide-
"Compared with that world of the Supreme being, these
lower worlds (of brahma and Indra) are like Hell".
There are five different forms of bhagavan known as:
1. para, 2. vyUha, 3. vibhava, 4. antaryAmi and 5. archA.
para is the highest (vAsudeva) to be ascended to.
SA: He whose Aroham (lap) gives the highest blessing.
Or, He attaining whom is the greatest good. A jIva so
blessed has no more birth in the lower worlds. Vide-
"na ca punarAvartate - they do not return" ChU. (8.15.1),
"yad gatvA nivartante tad dhAma paramam mama - My Supreme
status is that by attaining which one will never return"
(gItA 15.6).
122 mahA-tapAH
PB: YudishThira's question at the start "kimekam daivatam loke
kim-vApyekam parAyaNam" has been answered upto the name of
'varArohaH'. vAsudeva is the highest (para) goal to be reached.
sankarshaNa is now referred to. mahAtapAH, means He who is
endowed with great knowledge/wisdom. wisdom and strength
are two qualities of sankarshaNa.
SA: He exercises great great tapas(j~nanam) before creation.
Vide- "yasya j~nanamayam tapaH - whose tapas is of nature of
knowledge" (Mu.U 1.1.9).
Or, His tapas is great and sublime.
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(sl-14) sarvagaH sarva-vid-bhAnur vishvakseno janArdanaH
vedo vedavid avyango vedAngo vedavit kaviH
123 sarvagaH
PB: He who pervades all and supports them (by His strength).
SA: One who pervades everything (because He is their material
cause). Or, He who goes everywhere.
124 sarva-vid-bhAnuH
PB: These are two names.
(1) sarvavit - He who obtains all. bhagavan (as pradyumna)
engages Himself in re-creating the beings destroyed at the
time of pralaya (cosmic-dissolution). The two qualities of
pradyumna are aiSwarya and vIrya.
(2) bhAnuH - He who shines. Though He has created the Universe,
He is unchanged and shines as ever. This unchanging form is
vIrya. Vide-
"He, the Supreme, shines by Himself".
SA: One who is Omniscient and effulgent. Vide -
"tam eva bhAntam anubhAti sarvam - all others shine because
It shines" (Kath.U. 2.2.15),
"yas Aditya-gatam tejo jagat bhAsayate'khilam - that lustre
which has entered into Aditya (Sun) illumines the whole world"
(gItA 15.12).
125 vishvaksenaH
PB: He (as aniruddha) is the sustainer of the Universe. Here, Sakti
is the indicated guNa and He has an army in all directions.
SA: He before whom all demon (vishvaka) armies (senAH) run away.
126 janArdanaH
PB: He is the exterminator of the obstructions of the good to His
devotees. Here, tejas (lustre) is the indicated guNa. Vide -
"janArdana is He who protects (people) demons".
The qualities of each form (samkarshana, pradhyumna and
aniruddha) have been mentioned above, only to the extent they
are made use of in such manifestations. But in all avatArAs,
His qualities (knowledge, riches and strength) are full,
complete and never concealed. He is the Omniscient and
Omnipotent Lord of all, and is full of His riches. He has no
karma (bondage), is above all wants, has his senses under
control, is friend of all, depends only on Himself, has no
beginning or end, has no misfortunes, is free from fear, anger,
sleep, lust, ignorance, fatigue, disease and other blemishes.
Only those who know bhagavan vAsudeva as such understand Him.
SA: He who inflicts suffering on evil men. Or He to whom devotees
pray for success and liberation.
127 vedaH
PB: He who is the propounder of SAstras/vedas in His manifestation
as samkarshana. Vide -
"Who taught the vedas to him (brahma)".
Hence, samkarshana is the Means (of realizing the Supreme),
SAstra, Path, Leader, brAhmana and Preceptor.
SA: He who is the form of veda. Or, one who bestows j~nana on
the jIvAs. Vide gItA (10.11) -
"Out of compassion for them, I as the innermost Spirit, destroy
the darkness of ignorance by the light of knowledge".
128 vedavit
PB: The knower of vedas (without any doubts or error). Vide gItA:
"I am indeed the knower of vedas".
SA: He who knows truly the vedas (and their meaning). Vide-
"vedAntakRt vedavid eva cA'ham - i am the author of the
vedAnta knower of the veda" (gItA 15.15),
"All the vedas are kRshNA. Those who know Him in reality have
performed all the sacrifices".
129 avyangaH
PB: He is not disassociated from the limbs of the vedas, such as
chandas and kalpa, created by Him.
SA: One who is self-fulfilled by knowledge and other great
attributes, and who is free from any defect whatsoever.
Or, one who is not manifest to the senses. Vide -
"avyakto'yam - He is not manifest to the senses or
the mind" (gItA 2.25).
130 vedAngaH
PB: Vedas which have innumerable branches are His body, and they
disclose the innermost secrets of the Supreme. Vide -
"He shakes His body composed of the vedas".
Or, vedAngaH is derived in the sense that vedas and their
angas are His ordinances. Vide -
"Sruti and smRthi are my ordinances",
"This is His ordinance".
SA: The vedas are His organs.
131 vedavit
PB: This name is repeated. Here, 'veda' means dharma revealed by
the vedas. Thus, He (pradyumna) who makes people practise the
dharma revealed by the vedas. Hence, He is known as dharma,
the illuminator and the Instigator (of dharma).
SA: This name is repeated. The previous name means He knows the
meaning of vedas. This name is interpreted as spreading the
knowledge of vedas.
132 kaviH
PB and SA: He is 'kaviH' since He cognises all that is beyond ordinary
perception. Vide -
"nAnyo'to'sti drashTA -there is no seer other than
Him" (Br.U 3.7.23),
"kavir manIshI - He is all knowing and intelligent" (ISa.U.8).
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S. G. Srinivasan email : sgsrini@u.washington.edu
Graduate Student
Dept. Of Mater. Sci. & Engg.
Room 204, Roberts Hall, BOX 352120
University Of Washington Phone : (206)-632-1083 (H)
Seattle, WA 98195-2120 (206)-685-3851 (W)
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