SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 81 - naika-SR'ngah.
From the Bhakti List Archives
• December 23, 2002
SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokma 81 - naika-SR'ngah. 769. naika-SR’ngah – a) He Who adopted diverse tactics for controlling His devotees’ enemies. b) He Who can be brought under control (realized) through the four horns in the form of the four veda-s. c) He Who can be controlled (reached) through the OmkAra, with its four “horns” – akAra, ukAra, makAra, and nAda. d) He Who has the four horns in the form of the four veda-s, to control the world through dharma. e) He Who has many dimensions to His Lordship (prabhutvam). f) He Who has many aspects to His role as a Bestower of His devotees’ wishes. g) (eka-SR’ngah – satya sandha yatirAja) – He Who took incarnation as the one-horned varAha. h) He Who has many rays of effulgence radiating from Him. i) He Who has provided diverse means to the different living beings to cause harm to their enemies, as also to defend themselves from their enemies. Om naika-SR’ngAya namah. The root involved in the nAma is SRR – himsAyAm – to tear to pieces, to kill, to hurt. The word SR’ngah is derived from this root by the application of the uNAdi sUtra 126, SRNAter-hrasvaSca. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the meanings – dIpti (radiance), “means of destruction”, and “means for protection against obstacles from others”, for the word SR’ngam – SR’ngam iti dIpter nAma, himsA-sAdhanam tathA para-kRta-bAdhA-nivAraNa-sAdhanamapi SR’ngam. The word SR’nga also means horn, and SrI Sa’nkara uses this meaning in his interpretation. a) Of the above, SrI bhaTTar has used the meaning ‘himsA sAdhanam” in his interpretation. na + eka + SR’ngah = naika-SR’ngah – He Who has multiple means for causing distress to His enemies. SrI BhaTTar elucidates his interpretation using the instances of mahA bhArata – buddhi-yogah sArathyam anAyudha grahaNa vyAjah prAptakAle tad-grahaNam iti bahu-vairi-bAdhakam asya iti na-eka-SR’ngah – “He is naika-SR’ngah since He adopted several devices for bringing about the fall of the enemies, like giving sound advice, skillfully driving the chariot, pretending that he would not use a weapon but actually making use of His weapon at the opportune moment, etc”. Interchanging day and night is another of the tactics that He used. nammAzhvAr’s tiruvAimozhi 6.4.10 describes this guNa of His (SrI v.v. rAmAnujan): maN miSaip perum bhAram nI’nga Or bhArata mA-perum pOr paNNI mAya’ngaL Seidu Senaiyaip pAzh paDa nUtRiTTup pOi…. “To reduce the weight of this world caused by the ahamkAra of people, the Lord caused the mahA bhArata war, performed many miracles, as if some mantra was invoked for each step, and made sure that His design succeeded”. (nooTriTTu – fabricated, as it were, all these mAya-s). b) SrI Sa’nkara uses the meaning “horn” for the word SR’ngah, and gives the meaning “He With Many Horns”. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri explains that just as the animals with horns come under control when their horns are seized, bhagavAn comes under control of His devotees through the four veda-s – the four “horns” referred to by SrI Sa’nkara – catuh SR’ngah naika-SR’ngah. SrI San’kara gives support from Rg veda – catvAri SR’ngA (RV 4.58.3) - catvAri SR’ngA tray’sya pAdA dve Sirshe sapta hastAso’sya | tridhA baddho vRshabho rorarvIti mahAdevo martyAgm AviveSa || (RV 4.58.3) (Ralph T. H. Griffith gives an explanation based on SAyaNa bhAshya for the above in his translation of the Rg vedic hymns. The four horns refer to the four veda-s, the three feet refer to the three daily sacrifices, etc.). c) SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives other interpretations from the SAyaNa bhAshyam, which includes the four “horns”, namely akAra, ukAra makAra, and nAda for the OmkAra – akAra ukAra makAra nAdarUpa SR’nga catushTayopetah; from the niruktam - catvAri SR’ngA iti vedA vA uktah. d) A thought that comes out of b) is that bhagavAn has the four horns in the form of the four veda-s, that He uses to control the world through dharma. SrI cinmayAnanda interprets the reference to “the four horns “catvAri SR’ngA” in the Rg vedic quote above (4.58.3) as a reference to the four States of Consciousness – the waking, dream, deep-sleep, and Pure Awareness. He interprets the three feet as the three states of gross, subtle and causal bodies respectively. e) The word SR’ngam also means Lordship, supremacy, etc. SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj uses this meaning, and gives the interpretation that the nAma refers to His many aspects to His Lordship – naikam vividham SR’ngam prabhutvam yasya iti naika-SR’ngah. He quotes medinI in support – SR’gam prabhutve Sikhare (medina 3.25). f) SrI satya sandha yatirAja gives the interpretation – na eka SR’ngo, na ekAni – anekAni SR’ngANi yasya vRsha rUpe sa naika-SR’ngah, which can be translated as “He Who has multiple forms in His aspect as the Bestower, or One Who establishes dharma” (vRsha – dharma). f) In his alternate interpretation, he splits the word as nA eka-SR’ngah, and explains the word nA separately as referring to the parama purushatvam of bhagavAn (parama purshatvAt nA), and then takes eka-SR’ngah as the nAma, and gives the interpretation that it refers to vishNu’s form as the one-horned varAha incarnation. He quotes moksha dharma in support – eka-SR’ngah tato bhUtvA varAho nandi-vardhanah| imAm ca udhRtvAt bhUmim eka-SR’ngah. h) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the meaning “dIpti” for the word “SR’nga”, and interprets the nAma as referring to One Who has many radiant rays emanating from Him. He also gives two other interpretations – 1) He Who has many ways of causing himsA; and 2) He Who provides many ways to ward off from himsA (see the first paragrapah). As illustration of the third interpretation, he points out the sharp nails in the paw of the lion are its horns (SR’nga) for its protection, the horns of the buffalo are its way of protection, the hands for the man are his SR’nga’s for protection, the tusks of the elephant are its SR’nga for protection, etc. All these same instruments for their protection are also the same instruments for destruction or himsA, and thus the same examples hold for the 2nd interpretation above as well. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. 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