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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 81 - nigrahah, vyagrah.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • December 22, 2002 


      SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 81 - nigrahah, vyagrah.

767. nigrahah – a) The Subduer.
		b) He Who has a firm control over all creation.

Om nigrahAya namh.

The word nigraha means restraining, keeping in check;  nigrahaNa means
holding back or down, suppressing.  Thus, the nAma means “One Who
restrains”, “One Who keeps in check”.    The different vyAkhyAna
kartA-s give different instances of His restraint as illustrations of
this nAma.

a) SrI bhaTTarÂ’s vyAkhyAnam is that He has this nAma since He
successfully subdued all the enemies in the mahAbhArata war by His
skill as a Charioteer, without expecting the support of arjuna or his
valor.    SrI SaÂ’nkaraÂ’s vyAkhyAnam is that the nAma signifies that He
controls all things independently – sarvam sva-vaSena nigRhNAti iti
nigrahah.  SrI stya sandha yati raja alludes to His subduing all the
asura-s – nigRhNAti daityAn iti nigrahah.   SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj
gives the interpretation – nigRhNAti vipatha gAminah iti nigrahah – He
restrains those Who stray away from the path of  dharma.  SrI bala deva
vidyA bhUshaN refers to His control of the enemies of pANDava-s in the
form of yama – nigRhyante pArtha-Satravah kaka-dRshTinA anena iti
nigrahah. 

b) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives a different interpretation from the
above.   Taking the upasarga ni, and the root  grah – upAdAne – to take
hold of, to seize, SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the interpretation:  
niScayena gRhyate yena iti nigrahah vishNuh - bhagavAn has a firm grasp
and leads everything in this universe as He wishes, creating what is
fit to be created, destroying what is fit to be destroyed, etc.

c) SrI cinmayAnanda literally translates the nAma “nigrahah” as “The
Killer”, and points out that such a nAma is justified for bhagavAn in
the context of His destroying the ego in His devotees.  This is like a
doctor who “murders” the diseases in the patients, the sun is the
destroyer of darkness, etc.   The nAma also means “One Who absorbs the
devotees unto Himself”.  

768. vyagrah – a) He Who was very enthusiastic (to destroy the enemies
of His devotee during the mahAbhArata war).
		b) He Who has no end.
		c) He Who moves around in many different ways.
		d) (a-vyagrah – He Who is not confused – dvaita pATham)
		e) He Who uses garuDa as His vehicle.
		
Om vyagrAya namah.

The root from which the term agrah is derived is agi –gatau.  Through
the uNAdi sutra 2.28, the addition of the affix ra leads to the words
agra, which mean “front, first”. 

a) SrI bhaTTarÂ’s vyAkhyAnam is that Lord kRshNa took the lead as needed
in the mahAbhArata war, because He could not put up with any delay in
putting down the enemies of arjuna.  This is evidenced by His action
against bhIshma:

	ye yAnti yAntyeva Sini-pravIra! YeÂ’vasthitA satvaram teÂ’pi yAntu   |
	bhIshmam rathAt paSyata pAtyamAnam droNam ca sankhye sa-gaNam mayAÂ’dya
   ||
                    Â…Â…Â…Â…. rathAt avaplutya visRjya vAhAn   ||  (mahA
bhArata, bhIshma. 59.86) 

“O Sini-pravIra (referring to Satyaki)! Those who have gone, have gone
for ever.  Those who are still left, let them all go at once.  You will
see now that bhIshma is thrown from his chariot, and also droNa with
his army”.  So saying, kRshNa jumped down from the chariot , and
leaving the horses, advanced forward against bhIshma.

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan translates the above quote from mahA bhArata
slightly differently:  He describes the scene where the pANDava forces
are running confused at the intensity of bhIshmaÂ’s attack, and then
kRshNa declares:  “Let those who run keep running, and let the
remaining watch Me defeat bhIshma and droNa”;  so saying, He jumps from
His chariot, even forgetting His own promise not to take to weapons. 
Thus, He is One Who does not delay when it comes to His determination
to get rid of enemies.  Thus, the nAma indicates His intolerance and
impatience when it comes to getting rid of the enemies of His devotees.
 nammAzhvAr beautifully captures this guNa of bhagavan in tiruvAimozhi
9.2.10:  amararkku iDar keDa aSurarukku iDar Sei kaDu vinai ne’njE! –
“You are One with the determined Mind to do whatever  You have to do
eliminate the demons when it comes to protecting the deva-s”.  (SrI v.
n. vedAnta deSikan comments that in this regard, He is the efficacious
poison to the asura-s that will not fail, and for which there is no
antidote).  

b) SrI Sa’nkara uses the meaning “end” for the word “agram”, and gives
the interpretation that because He has no end, He is vyagrah – vigatam
agram asya itit vyagrah (agram – antah, vinASah).  

c) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the derivation “vividham gamanam yo
vidhatte sa vyagra ucyate – He Who moves around using many different
ways is vyagrah.   He points out that everything that is moving is a
manifestation of His guNa of vyagra, or movement in various ways.   

d) SrI satya sandha yatirAja uses the pATham a-vyagrah for the nAma as
his primary interpretation.  The meaning is “One Who is not confused” –
vyagro na bhavati iti a-vyagrah.  (In thisinterpreatation, vgagrah
means “One who is confused”, and avyagrah is the opposite.  vividham
agram asya iti vyagrah – One Who is confused, with multiple paths and
not knowing what to choose – amara koSa vyAkhyAnam).    

e) In his alternative interpretation using the pATham “vyagrah”,  Srai
satya sandha yatirAja gives the explanation: “vih garuDo agre asya sa
vygrah” – He Who has garuDa as His vehicle (to go, to move around).    
  

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan


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