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

From the Bhakti List Archives

Narasimhan Krishnamachari • December 28, 2002 


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

774. catur-gatih – a) He Who is in the form of the four purushArtha-s.
		b) He Who provides the four goals: indra, brahma, kaivalya, and
moksha.
		c) He Who has the four gaits (vRshabha, gaja, vyAghra, and simha
gati)
d)	He Who is the goal of the four varNa-s and the four ASrama-s.
e)	He Who is the Refuge for the four kinds of bhakata-s (Arta,
ji~jnAsu, arthArthI, and j~nAnI)

om catur-gataye namah.

a) SrI bhaTTar interprets the nAma as referring to His being the path
for all the four goals desired by His devotees – upAsaka abhiyoga
tAratamya kRta-kramAt catasrah prAptayah asmin iti catur-gatih.  SrI
bhaTTar does not explicitly specify what the four goals are that he has
in mind.  Two different interpretations  have been given by the
subsequent interpreters.  One is that the four goals are the four
purushArtha-s – dharma, artha, kAma, and moksha.  

b) An alternate interpretation, given by SrI aNNaÂ’ngarAcArya and a few
others, is that, depending on the merit of the upAsaka, bhagavAn takes
the upAsaka to one of the four goals:  the position of indra, brahmA,
kaivalyam, or moksham.  

c) In SrImad rAmAyaNam, hanuman describes Lord rAma to sItA pirATTi
with the name catur-gatih (sundara kANDam 35.20 – catur-daSa
samadvandvaS-catur-damshTraS-catur-gatih).  This is traditionally
translated using the meaning “gait” for the word “gatih”, giving the
meaning to the nAma as “One Who has the four kinds of gaits”.   SrI
v.v. rAmAnujan refers us to the ARAyirap paDi vyAkhyAnam for tiruppAvai
pASuram 23 – ‘mArI malai muzha’ngil”, for the part “un koil ninRu
I’nganE pOndu aruLi”.   emperumAn’s naDai is enjoyed in four different
ways in SrI raÂ’ngam utsavam-s.  These are the Rshabha gati (the walk of
a bull, characterized by pride and exultation), matta gaja gati (the
gait of an infatuated elephant, characterized by majesty), the vyAghra
gati (associated with the anger of an angry tiger), and simha gati (the
walk of lordliness associated with its position as the king of the
four-legged species and by its ability to overpower and conquer the
other four-legged species).  In SrImad rAmAyaNam we have the reference
to the beauty of Lord rAma’s gait – gaja simha gatI vIrau SardUla
vRshabhaupamau, referring to the four gaits described above.   

d) SrI Sa’nkara uses the meaning “goal” (the ultimate end) for the word
gati, and gives the interpretation that the nAma means “He Who is the
Goal of the four varNa-s and ASrama-s” – ASramANAm varNAnAm caturNAm
yathokta-kAriNAm gatih catur-gatih – He is the goal of the four stages
of life or ASrama-s (brahmacarya, gRhasta, vAnaprastha and sannyAsa), 
and the four castes (brAhmaNa, kshatriya, vaiSya, and Sudra), when
their respective codes of conduct are observed.    

e) SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN gives the interpretation that He has this
nAma because He is the Refuge for the four kinds of bhakta-s – the
Arta, ji~jnAsu, arthArthI, or j~nAnI – caturNAm ArtAdInAm bhaktAnAm
yathA-bhAvam AsryatvAt catur-gatih.  SrI satya sandha yatirAja also
gives this interpretation, and gives the reference to the gItA Slokam
7.16:

	catur-vidhA bhajante mAm janAh sukRtinoÂ’rjuna    |
	Arto ji~jnAsur-arthArthI j~nAnI ca bharatarshabha    ||  (gItA 7.16)

“Four types of men of good deeds worship Me, O arjuna.  These are the
distressed, the seekers after knowledge, the wealth-seekers, and men of
knowledge”. 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan


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