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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 82 - catur-vyUhah.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • December 27, 2002 


    SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 82 - catur-vyUhah.

773. catur-vyUhah – a) He of the form of four Emanations (vyUha forms).
		b) He Who had four manifestations in His vibhava form (as kRshNa,
balarAma, pradyumna, and aniruddha).
		c) He Who manifests Himself as purusha, chandah purusha, veda
purusha, and mahA purusha.
		d) He Whose Supremacy is established by the four-fold veda-s.
		e) He Who is in the form of four divisions of speech (three veda-s,
and ordinary speech)
		f) He Who has four kinds of greatness (vyUha = mahimA).

Om catur-vyUhAya namah.

We dealt with this nAma in Slokam 15 (nAma 140).  The root is Uh –
vitarke – to conjecture, to reason, to infer.  SrI satyadevo vAsishTha
gives the expansion – viSishThA UhA vyUhA – He Who forms Himself into
four forms for the purposes of creation etc.

Following is a recap with some additional information, mostly taken
from Vol. 4 of the Agama-koSa published by the Kalpatharu Research
Academy (S. K.. Ramachandra Rao), dealing with the pAÂ’ncarAtra Agama.  
 

The term vyUh means to divide, to distribute, to separate, to resolve,
etc.   It is used to refer to the four forms in which para vAsudeva or
nArAyaNa decided to divide Himself for His functions of creation,
preservation, and destruction.  This is a fundamental and integral
concept of the pAÂ’ncarAtra Agama.  In this concept, in the para or
transcendental mode, the Deity is like an ocean of nectar altogether
devoid of waves, quiet, profound, still, limitless and unfathomable,
unfragmented by space or time.  This is His form in SrI vaikunTham.  It
is the plane in which knowledge and bliss abound unobstructed, and
which is populated by the nitya sUri-s (who are never involved at any
time in transmigration etc.), and by the mukta-s.  The para form is
full of the six attributes – j~nAna, bala, aiSvarya,, vIrya, Sakti,
tejas.  The vyUha mode of bhagavAn emphasizes the differential
manifestations and functions of the six attributes.  This creative
configuration of the attributes is for the sake of creation and
evolution of the world, for maintaining the world and protecting the
devotees, and for leading the devotees to salvation.   The vyUha forms
are four in number:  vAsudeva, samkarshaNa, pradyumna, and aniruddha. 
VAsudeva has all six attributes in their fullness and equal dominance. 
VAsudeva appears as three additional sequential emanations as follows:

    j~nAna + bala = SamkarshaNa
    aiSvarya + vIrya = pradyumna
    Sakti +  tejas  = aniruddha

As in the case of the other nAma-s of this Slokam that are common with
Slokam 15, the first instance of this nAma is explained by SrI BhaTTar
in terms of the vyUha incarnations of bhagavAn, and the second in terms
of His vibhava incarnation as Lord kRshNa.  

a) As part of his description of this nAma in terms of the vyUha
incarnations (vAsudeva, samkarshaNa, pradyumna, and aniruddha), SrI
BhaTTar points out that each of the vyUha forms have their own limbs,
color, ornaments,  weapons, vehicles, banners, etc.  These forms are
assumed by bhagavAn for the purpose of meditation and worship (dhyAna
and ArAdhana) by His devotees.  The four states of meditation that are
associated with each of these four forms are jAgrat – Wakeful state;
svapna, State of dreams; sushupti – Deep sleep; and turIya – The fourth
and Final State.   In the Wakeful state, the external senses function;
in the svapna state, they do not function, but only the mind is active;
in the Sleep state, even the mind does not function, and there is only
breathing; and in the turIya state, even the breath is suspended.  

SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj refers us to SrImad bhAgavatam, where the
four vyUha-s are mentioned:

	namaste vAsudevAya namah saÂ’nkarshaNAya ca     |
	pradyumnAya aniruddhAya sAttvatAm-pataye namah   ||  (bhAga. 10.40.21)

b) For the nAma 773, where SrI BhaTTar continues his description of
bhagavAnÂ’s vibhava incarnation as Lord kRshNa, the explanation he gives
is the four forms of kRshNa or vAsudeva, balabhadra (balarAma, His
brother), pradyumna (His son), and aniruddha (His grandson).  Just as
in the vyUha incarnation, in the vibhava incarnation also, kRshNa was
full of all the six qualities, and baralAma (sankarshaNa), pradyumna,
and aniruddha had two of the six qualities dominating.   

SrI SaÂ’nkara gives two different interpretations for the nAma in their
two instances, consistent with the trait of being free from punar-ukti
dosham of authentic vyAkhyAna-s.  For the instance of the nAma in
Slokam 15, he gives the interpretation in terms of the four vyUha
incarnations.  He quotes the words of vyAsa in support:

	vyUhya AtmAnam caturdhA vai, vAsudevAdi mUrtibhih     |
	sRshTyAdIn prakarotyesha, viSrutAtmA janArdanah    ||

“He Who is known as viSrutAtmA, janArdana, etc., divides Himself into
four forms, and performs the functions such as creation”.  

c) For the current nAma catur-vyUhah, he uses the generic meaning
“manifestation”, and using the aitareya AraNyaka  declaration,
describes the four manifestations as the purusha in the body, the
purusha in the chandas, the purusha in the veda-s, and the great
purusha – SarIra purushaS-chandah purusho veda purusho mahA purushah
(ait. AraN. 3.2.9).  SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri expands on this:  purusha
or SarIra purusha refers to the soul or AtmA in the SarIra of the
cetana-s;  chandah purusha is the AtmA in the form of the correctly
pronounced mantra-s; the veda  purusha is the AtmA in the form of the
veda-s; and the mahA purusha refers to the purusha in the form of kAla
or Time.

d) SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshan gives the explanation that He has this
nAma because His Supremacy is established by the four divisions of the
veda-s – Rg, yajus, sAma, and atharva:  caturbhih vedaih vyUhyate
pareSatvena vRdhyate yam iti catur-vyUhah.  

e) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the Rg vedic passage “catvAri vAk
parimitA padAni (1.164.45), and interprets the nAma as referring to
“four divisions of speech”.  The passage continues to say “The brAhmins
who have understanding know them”.  Ralph Griffith interprets this as a
reference to three veda-s, and to ordinary speech as the fourth one.  

f) The dharma cakram writer gives a different interpretation.  He takes
vyUha to mean “greatness”, and then interprets the nAma as representing
bhagavAn as having the following four mahimA-s:  1. Performing the
function of creation, destruction etc., just as part of His leelA-s; 
2. Revealing the greatness of parA-bhakti (extreme devotion) through
rAsa-krIDA;  3. The revelation of the relation between jeevAtmA and 
paramAtmA by being the nAtha simultaneously for innumerable gopi-s; and
4. The calm acceptance of the curse of gAndhAri relating to the
destruction of the vRshNi race. 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan


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