SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 76 - analah revisited.
From the Bhakti List Archives
• July 31, 2002
In my posting titled "SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 76 -Part 2", I had covered the nAma analah. In that write-up, I had failed to mention that the nAma had previously come in Slokam 32 (nAma 293). SrI M. K. Krishnaswamy was kind enough to bring this to my attention. I have revised the write-up based on additional information covered under Slokam 32 by the different interpreters. This is included below. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan ================================ SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 76 - analah revisted. 716. an-alah - a) He Who is never satisfied that He has done enough for His devotees. b) He Who cannot tolerate the offense committed to His devotees. c) He Who receives the prANa Sakti as His own and functions in the form of the jIvAtmA (SrI Samkara). d) He Who is beyond smell etc. e) He Who is unlimited (in His Glories) (alam - paryApti - end). f) He Who is in the form of Fire. g) One Who has no end (alam - paryApti - end) h) One Who has no opposition (alam - opposition) i) He Who rejuvenates His devotees who intensely long for Him (an - prANane ). Om analAya namah. This nAma occurred as nAma 294 in Slokam 32 earlier. The reader is referred to this earlier write-up as well. The nAma can be looked at as an-alah, a-nalah, or ana-lah. The different interpretations are derived based on the different ways of looking at the word. a) For the occurrence of this nAma in Slokam 32, SrI BhaTTar uses the meaning al - paryApti - to be satisfied, and gives the interpretation to the nAma an-alah as "He Who is not satisfied"; in spite of all that He does for His devotees, He feels that He has done nothing to help His devotee - "na ki'ncit kRtam eshAm mayA iti avitRptah". SrI BhaTTar quotes the incident from mahA bhArata, where Lord kRshNa expresses His feeling of being permanently in debt to draupadi who cried out for His help. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan describes that even though He protected her when she cried out for help, and even though in addition He helped the pANDava-s by changing the day into night, violating His promise not to take to arms during the war, etc., still His heart was heavy that He did not do enough to help draupadi. As Lord kRshNa was departing to SrI vaikunTham after the purpose of His incarnation was completed, He said relating to this incident: RNam pravRddhamiva me hRdayAt nApasarpati(udyoga. 28.22) - "(That cry of help uttered by draupadi even from a distance calling me "govinda", even though I was far away in dvArakA) - that cry is never away from My mind, like debt that has increased over time with interest accumulated on it". nammAzhvAr describes this guNa of bhagavAn in peria tiruvanTAdi 53 - "un aDiyArkku en Seivan enRE irutti nee" - "Your preoccupation is in contemplating on what You can do to help your devotee always". In this aspect, He is like the fire that is never satisfied with anything that is offered to it; it keeps consuming whatever is offered, and grows more and more eager to consume more. For this reason, the term analah also refers to fire. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives another dimension to His not being "satisfied" - He is not satisfied with just the materialistic offering during His worship, but will be satisfied only when it is offered with bhakti or devotion. Bhakti is the only requirement for satisfying Him, and not any accompanying materialistic offerings. b) For the current occurrence of the nAma an-alah, SrI BhaTTar gives the additional interpretation that bhagavAn has this nAma because of His guNa of not being able to put up with apacAram to His devotees. SrI BhaTTar quotes the following words of bhagavAn: dvau tu me vadha kAle'smin na kshantavyo katha'ncana | ya~jna vighna-karam hanyAm pANDavAnAm ca dur-hRdam || (bhA. sabhA. 68.26) "At the time of destruction two persons will not at all be forgiven by Me. I will kill Him who obstructs the conduct of this sacrifice, and also him who is ill-disposed to the pANDava-s". SrI rAmAnujan also refers us to the incident where Lord kRshNa refused to take the offering in duryodhana's house because of duryodhana's attitude of hatred towards the pANDava-s. c) Under Slokam 32, one of the interpretations given by SrI Samkara is based on looking at the nAma as ana-lah. ana refers to prANa, and the root lA means "AdAne dAne ca - to take, to obtain". His interpretation is "anAn prANAn Atmatvena lAti iti ana-lah". The translators have generally translated this to mean that He receives the prANa Sakti as His own and functions in the form of the jIvAtmA, and hence this nAma. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the same approach as above, but gives the interpretation that since bhagavAn ultimately takes away the prANa-s to Him, He is called ana-lah. d) Another alternate interpretation that SrI Samkara gives is based on the root nal - gandhe bandhane ca - to smell, to bind. In this interpretation, the nAma is explained as a-nalah; na alam asya sah a-nalah - He Who is beyond smell etc. SrI Samkara gives support from bRhadAraNya upanishad: a-sthUlam anaNvahrAsvam a-dIrgham a-lohitam a-sneham acc-chAyam Â….. a-mAtram anantaram a-bAhyam Â…(3.8.8.) - Brahman is neither big nor small, neither short nor tall, not colored, not wettable, can't be measured, etc. e) For the current occurrence of the nAma analah, SrI Samkara uses the meaning "limit" for alam - paryApati, and gives the interpretation that this nAma signifies that bhagavAn is unlimited in His energies and powers - alam paryAptih Sakti sampadAm na asya vidyata iti an-alah. SrI cinmayAnanda quotes the gItA in support: nAnto'smi mama divyAnAm vibhUtInAm paramtapa | (gItA 12.5) - "Of My Divine Glories, there is no end". This interpretation of SrI Samkara brings out the parattvam of bhagavAn. Notice that Sri BhaTTar has used this same root (al - paryApti), and given the interpretation that bhagavAn is unlimited in His desire to help His devotees (see a above). Both experiences are true, and are different dimensions of His guNa, the first expounding His parattvam, and the second expounding His vAtsalyam. Further appreciation of this difference in approach between SrI Samkara and SrI BhaTTar can be gleaned from the article that was posted earlier, comparing the two vyAkhyAna-s. f) SrI cinmayAnanda takes the meaning "fire" for "analah", and comments that the nAma can refer to His being in the form of Fire and sustaining our body with the right amount of warmth that is needed for the sustenance of our body. g) h) Using the meaning "paryApti - tRpti vacana" for the term alam, SrI satyadevo vAsishTha interprets an-alah as "One Who does not have an end". In addition, using the meaning vAraNa - resistance or opposition for the word "alam", he gives the alternate interpretation "He Who has no one to oppose Him" for the nAma an-alah. He gives several Sruti references: na tvadanyah kavitaro na medhayA dhIro varuNa svadhAvAn (atharva. 5.11.4); na dvitIyo na tRtIyah(atharva. 13.4.16); aham indro na parAjigye (Rg. 10.48.5); sarvam tadindra te vase (Rg. 8.93.4; atahrva. 20.112.1; yajur. 33.35). i) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj takes a different approach from others, and gives his interpretation starting with the root an - prANane - to live, to breathe. Using the uNAdi sUtra "vRshAdibhayaScit - (1.106)" - he derives the word analah, and gives the interpretation "Anayati samujjIvayati tapah: kRSAn sva-janAn sva-darSanena iti analah" - He Who rejuvenates His devotees who are engaged in intense tapas on Him, by giving His darSanam to them. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! 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