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Krishnamachari, N. • August 4, 1997 


			Sri VishNu SahasranAmam - nAma 46 to 55.

46. aprameyah - One who cannot be defined, explained, measured, etc.
through logical means, (but who can only be experienced)

	pramAtum na yogya: aprameyah - 

	He is beyond reach through normal means because 

	* He is beyond sense organs (pratyaksha) such as our mortal eyes, ears,
etc.; 
	* nor through inference (anumAna) because he is devoid of the marks
leading to inference (e.g., the presence of fire can be inferred through
smoke, but for this inference one should have at least once witnessed
fire and smoke together, and no one has seen Him with or without
anything associated); 
	* nor through analogy or comparison (upamA), because He is without
parts and everything  else is only parts, and hence no comparison can be
made; 
	* nor through Apta vAkya or (s)abda pramANa (someone else who has seen
Him telling us, or  through sacred texts) because no one can see Him,
since even the muktAs only experience Him. 

	Sri Bhattar goes on to point out that BhagavAn is aprameya because He
is beyond the sense organs of even Brahma and other gods (Sri RAdhA
KrshNa Sastri points out that the means of sensing is the same for
Brahma and other gods as it is for people).  He is not describable as
This or That, like this or like that, or inferred because of this or
because of that, etc., and so He is aprameya.

47.  hrshIkesah - a) The controller of the sense-organs of all including
Brahma, Rudra etc.
		b) One who, in the form of the Sun and the Moon, makes this world
happy through His rays 

	The two interpretations are derived by looking at this word as hrshIkA
+ Isa or hrishI + kesa.  The first explanation is derived from
"HrshIkANAm Isah  hrshIkesah - The Lord of the sense-organs.  The second
interpretation is given based on kesa - rays, hrshI - that give
happiness.  

	Sri Sankara gives the following support from MahAbhArata, Moksha
dharma, (s)Anti parva for the second interpretation:

	"sUrya candramasoh (s)a(s)a vadam(s)ubhi: ke(s)a samjnitaih    |
	   bodhayan svApayan(s)caiva jagadutthisThAte prthak              ||
	    bodhanAt svApanAccaiva jagato harshaNam bhavet              ||
	    agnIshoma krtairebhih karmabhih pANdunandana                  |
	     hrIke(s)o'hamIsAno  varado lokabhAvana:
||

	"The sun and the moon through their kesa or rays always uphold the
world by awakening it and causing it to sleep.  By such awakening and
sleeping, the world is delighted.  It is in consequence of this act of
fire (Sun) and Soma who uphold the universe that  I have come to be
known as HrshIke(s)a...".

	Sri T.S. Krishnamurthy, who has written an English trnslation to Sri
(S)ankara bhAshya, has taken this guNAnubhava one more step by saying
that the ke(s)a - hair of the Lord in the form of the rays of the sun
and the moon give delight (harsha), and thus He is HrshIke(s)a.

48.  padma-nAbhah - One from whose navel the lotus (the cause of  the
Universe) emanates.

	Sarva jagat kAraNam padmam nAbhau yasya sa padmanAbhah - 

	Sri Bhattar points out that this name substantiates or summaries all
that has been said through the previous nAmas about BhagavAn being the
creator or cause of Brahma (e.g., dhAtA, vidhAtA, dhaturuttamah).  

	Sri RadhAkrshNa (S)astri gives a beautiful and simple explanation to
enable the appreciation of this nAma.  In our normal life, the child
before and at birth is connected to the mother through the navel chord,
and gets its nourishment from the mother through this chord.  Similar is
the chord from the Lord's navel, which is nothing but the Universe in
its prakrti form, and which looks like a lotus which has not expanded.
This is prior to its expansion through Time, and He is the nourisher of
this creation of His (which is none other than Brahma). 

49.  amara-prabhuh - The Lord of the immortal gods.

	AmarANAm prabhuh amaraprabhuh.

	The Lord is amaraprabhu because He created the different devatAs and
entrusted them with acts such as creation, destruction, etc., made them
immortal because of their functions, and directs them in their
functions. 

	Sri Bhattar quotes the following words ascribed to Brahma in Uttara
kANda in RAmAyaNa  -

	"mahArNave (s)ayAnau'psu mAm tvam pUrvam ajIjana:     |
	   prAhApatyam tvayA karma sarvam mayi nive(s)itam         ||   (104-4)

	"You were lying on the waters of the great ocean and you first of all
created me.  The entire duty of the PrajApati (the rulership of the
beings) was entrusted to me by you".

Also, the following from MahAbhArata is given -

	"etau dvau vibudha (s)reshThau prasAda-krodhajau smrtau       |
	   tadAdar(s)ita panthAnau srshTi  samhAra kArakau
||(169-19)

	"These two great gods (Brahma and Rudra) are said to have emerged from
the sweet temper and wrath of BhagavAn respectively.  They carry out the
duty of creation and destruction in the way shwon by Him".

50.  vi(s)va karmA - a) One who is the agent of all actions with regard
to the Universe.
    		     b)  The Creator of the Universe

	vi(s)vam karma jagad-vyApArah yasya sa vi(s)va karmA.  Sri Bhattar
points out that this name signifies that all the entire work with regard
to the affairs of the Universe are His alone either before or after the
creation of Brahma.  In other words, He is the director and controller.

	Among the many passages in the sruti that support the interpretation
are:

	"so'kAmayatabahu syAm prajAyeya iti - He willed, I shall become many, I
shall take birth" - taittirIya AraNyaka - 6.

	"so'bidhyAya (s)arIrAt svAt sisrkshu: vividhAh prajA: - Brahman willed
to create different kinds of beings out of Its body and so It did" - 
	
51.  manuh -  The Great Thinker.

	MananAt manuh - 

	In the BrhadAraNya upanishad, we have "nAnyo'to'sto mantA - There is no
thinker but Him" - 
                                                                        
                                      (B.U. 3.7.23)

	To mentally conceive an act prior to the act itself is mananam.
BhagavAn has to but think and not do anything else in order to achieve
what He wills.  The creation of the cosmos was only a minute part of His
will.  Sri Bhattar uses the word sankalpa lava mAtrAt - by the MERE
fraction (lava mAtrAt) of His will to explain this guNa.

52.  tvashTA - One who created all the different forms and names in this
Universe.

	This name is dervied from the root tvaksh - to pare, to reduce, to
chisel.

	Sri Bhattar uses this meaning to interpret this nAma to mean that
BhagavAn has "chiseled" so many diverse forms and names of gods, man,
birds, plants, insects, etc., and thus He is tvashTA.  He gives the
taittirIya araNyaka (3-11) in support - tvashTAram rUpANi vikurvantam
vipascitam.

	Sri (S)ankara uses the same meaning to interpret this name as
indicating that BhagavAn pares down all the beings or makes them shrink
at the time of cosmic dissolution or pralaya. 

 It is interesting to note that the first interpretation refers to the
creation of forms and shapes from the primordial matter, and the second
interpretation refers to the dissolution of forms and shapes back into
primordial matter.

53.  sthavishThah - One who is exceedingly huge in size.

	The name is derived from the two words sthUla and ishTha - One who
willed to be huge.  Sri Bhattar points out that this huge size is the
manifestation of BhagavAn as the brahmANda (the egg-shaped universe)
with the fourteen worlds. which are the places of residences for all the
beings that He has created, as well as its sheath, and the sense-organs
of all the beings, as well as the sound, touch, and other qualities that
are the objects of these sense-organs, as well as their effects.   The
fourteen worlds are referred to by Sri Ramanuja in his Sri VaikuNTha
gadyam (caturda(s)a bhuvanAntaram aNdam da(s)a guNitottaram ....) in his
reference to Sri VaikuTham's location far, far beyond the limits of
these fourteen worlds.

54.  sthavirah - One who has always existed, Older than the oldest.

	The name is derived from the root stha - tishThati - to stand.  This
nAma signfies that BhagavAn is not constrained by Time.  All His
creation goes through the cycle of creation and pralaya, and He uses
Time  for His creation and dissolution, but He is not constrained by it.
 This He is older than the oldest.

55.  dhruvah - One who is unaffected by Time, Unchanging, Permanent.

	The word is derived from the root dhr - to carry,  maintain, preserve,
to be eternal, immovable -  (sthiratvAt dhruvah).  The previous nAma
indicated that BhagavAn is the oldest of the oldest.  This nAma
signifies that He is unchanging while Time keeps moving.  

	Perhaps because both the nAms sthavira and dhruva refer to the quality
of BhagavAn being beyond the influence, effect, or control of Time, Sri
Sankara has chosen to interpret the two words as one nAma - sthaviro
dhruvah - One who is unchanging and older than the oldest.   Thus the
sequence number for the nAmas that follow start differing from this nAma
between Sri Sankara bhAshya and Sri Bhattar's vyAkhyAna.

-dAsan KrshNamAchAryan