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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 79 - Part 2.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Narasimhan Krishnamachari • November 28, 2002 


      SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 79 - hemA'ngah, varA'ngah.

744. hemA’ngah – He of golden-hued limbs.  

Om hemAÂ’ngAya namah.

SuvarNa and hema are equivalent words that refer to gold.  The word
hema is derived from the root hi - gatau, vRddhau ca – to go, to
promote.  SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the following derivation for
the nAma : hinvanti vardhayanti SobhAm iti hemAni  |  taDRSAni aÂ’ngAni
yasya iti hemAÂ’ngah | - He Who has limbs that promote the beauty of His
tirumeni, or He Who has limbs that resemble gold in promoting His
beauty.  

SrI bhaTTar interprets the nAma as referring to the limbs of His body
which are eternal, celestial, and composed of suddha-sattva material. 
nityam, divyam, sattva mayam aÂ’ngam asya iti hemAÂ’ngah.  This nAma is a
logical extension of the previous one – Since He has a body which is
golden-hued, His aÂ’nga-s likewise are golden-hued.  All the pramANa-s
quoted in support of the interpretation for the previous nAma are
applicable here as well.  Additional supports given under this nAma,
which equally apply to the previous nAma, are:

-	“dhyeyas-sadA, savitR-maNDala madhyavartI nArAyaNa ….. hiraNmaya
vapuh dhRta sa’nkha cakrah………….” (in sandhyAvandana mantram)
-	pon AnAi! Pozhil Ezhum kAval pUNDa pugazh AnAi! Â…. ImayOrku enRum
mudal AnAi! (tirumangai AzhvAr, tiruneDum tANDakam 10)

745. varA’ngah – a) He Who displayed His Divine Form to devaki in
response to her
prayers.
		b) He Who has beautiful limbs.
		c) He Who has a lovable Form that is pleasing to those who meditate
on 
Him.

Om varAÂ’ngAya namah

Among the dictionary meanings for the term vara are: i) best,
excellent, most beautiful; ii) boon; iii) a wish; etc.  Different
interpretations use these different meanings.

a) SrI bhaTTar uses the meaning “wish” or “prayer” for the term vara,
and gives the interpretation that because He manifested the form with
celestial marks etc., that are concealed from mortal eyes, to devaki in
response to her prayer, therefore He is named varAÂ’ngah: tadetat
aupanishadam devakyA vriyamANam atinihnuta divya cihnam AvishkRtam iti
varAÂ’ngah.  SrI bhaTTar refers us to SrI vishNu purANam 5.3.8, which
describes this beauty of child kRshNa in vasudeva-s words:

	phullendIvara patrAbham catur-bAhum udIkshya tam     |
	SrIvatsa vakshasam jAtam tushTAva Anakadundhubhih   ||

“Anakadundhubhi (vasudeva) beheld the Child, of the complexion of the
petal of a full-blown blue lilly, having four arms, and the mystic mark
of SrIvatsa on His chest,  and started praising Him”.

b) SrI Sa’nkara uses the meaning “beautiful” for the word vara, and
gives the interpretation for the nAma as “varANi SobhanAni a’ngAni asya
iti varA’ngah” – One Who has beautiful limbs.   

c) SrI cinmayAnanda interprets the nAma as: He Who has a Form that is
pleasing (lovable) to those who meditate on Him.  Thus he gives the
meaning “lovable” to the term vara.  

We have seen three nAma-s above in sequence, which all describe the
beauty of His form: suvarNa-varNah, hemAÂ’ngah, varAÂ’ngah.  SrI
rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives his anubhavam of the subtle difference in the
ideas conveyed by the three nAma-s.  

-	suvarNa-varNah – One Who has the natural form of sheer exquisite
brilliance
-	hemA’ngah – One Who has beautiful limbs that attract and hold the
attention of everyone.
-	varA’ngah – One Who has all the sAmudrikA lakshaNa-s brought together
in one place, in His Form. 

The dharma cakram writer comments that even as beauty in human form
tends to evoke kAmam, the beauty of the divine form evokes bhakti.  The
three nAma-s that we have just gone through, convey to us the beauty of
the Divine Form of Lord vishNu, that evoke bhakti in those who mediate
on His Form.

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan


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