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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 82 - catur-bhAvah, catur-veda-vit.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Narasimhan Krishnamachari • December 30, 2002 


     SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 82 - catur-bhAvah,
catur-veda-vit.

776. catur-bhAvah – a) He Who gives expression to the four vyUha forms
through four kinds of actions.  
		b) The Source of the four – varNa-s, ASrama-s, pururshArtha-s, etc.
		c) He Who created the four kinds of species. 

Om catur-bhAvAya namah.

The root from which the word bhAvah is derived is bhU -  sattAyAm – to
be, to live, to be born.  SrI vAsishTha notes that the meaning for the
word bhAva can be “One who exists, one through whom existence takes
place, one who came into existence by himself, one who makes others
appear”etc.    

a) SrI bhaTTar interprets the word ‘bhAva’ as standing for ‘bhAvanA’,
which means ‘manifesting, revealing’. – bhAvah = bhAvanA =
abhivya’njanam, which means ‘manifesting, revealing’.  He continues his
interpretation linking the nAma to the previous ones, which dealt with
His vyUha forms, and interprets the current nAma as revealing the
expression of these vuYha forms through actions.  Creation, sustenance,
protection of the beings, and propagation of the SAstra-s are the four
actions or duties.  These are distributed respectively as follows:   
 
vAsudeva – sRshTi, universe creation; sa’nkarshaNa – sthiti, keeping
the universe in form; pradyumna – rakshaNa, protection; aniruddha –
sAstra pradAnam – bequest of a good number of instructional scriptures
as guides for living.
abhivya’njanam – manifesting, revealing.

b) SrI SaÂ’nkara gives the interpretation that the nAma represents that
bhagavAn is the Source of the four kinds of purushArtha-s: dharma,
artha, kAma and moksha – dharam artha kAma mokshAkhya purushArtha
catushTayam bahavati – utpadyate asmAt iti catur-bhAvah.

SrI cinmayAnanda takes the generic meaning “The Source of the Four”,
and then expands on it.  He is the Source of the four varNa-s, the four
ASrama-s, the four purushArtha-s etc.  (see b above).   He gives
reference to the gItA Slokam 4.13 in support:

	cAtur-varNyam mayA sRshTam guNa karma vibhAgaSah   |
	tasya kartAramapi mAm viddhi akartAram avyayam   ||   (gItA 4.13)

“The system of four stations was created by Me according to distinction
of guNa-s and karma.  Though I am their creator, know Me as non-agent
and immutable”.  

c) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the interpretation that the current
nAma signifies His creation of the four kinds of species: 
svakRtavyavasthayA catur-vidhAm sRshTim utpAdayati – One Who has
created the four kinds of species through His own Free Will.  The four
species are:  those that come from an egg, such as birds, serpent,
etc.; the humming kind, such as the mosquito, bee, etc.; the species
such as trees, and the human species.  

777. catur-veda-vit – a) He Who is known by those who are learned in
the four veda-s.
            b) He Who is the Knower of the four veda-s.
            c) He Who makes it possible to know the four veda-s.

om catur-veda-vide namah.

Literally, the term catur-veda-vit refers to one who is an expert in
all the four veda-s.  This unequivocally applies only to bhagavAn. 
Other who are learned in the four veda-s, see but a drop of the Great
Ocean that He is, because the magnificence displayed in the vyUha and
vibhava is vast like the ocean, which cannot be comprehended by anyone.

 
a) nammAzhvAr addresses Him as “maRaiyAya nAl vEdattuL ninRa malarc
cuDarE” in tiruvAimozhi 1.3.10 (SrI v.v. rAmAnujan).  SrI V. N. Vedanta
deSikan points the use of the two words maRai and vedam, in this
pASuram.  MaRai refers to this great secret being concealed from the
undevoted, and vedam refers to its being revealed to the great
devotees.   In gItA 15.15, Lord kRshNa reveals that He is the Only One
Who is to be known from all the veda-s, He is the One Who created the
veda-s, He is the One Who brings about the fruition of the rituals of
the veda-s, and He is the One Who knows the veda-s – “vedaiSca sarvam
ahameva vedyah  | vedAnta-kRt, veda-videva cAham  ||”.  To know Him as
He is in parama padam is extremely difficult, to say the least.  But in
His vyUha and vibhava incarnations, with His Grace, a tiny part of His
mahimA can be realized.

b) SrI SaÂ’nkaraÂ’s vyAkhyAnam is that He has this nAma because He is the
Only One Who knows the meanings of the veda-s as they are -  yathAvat
vetti caturNAm vedAnAm artham iti catur-veda-vit.   SrI kRshNa datta
bhAradvAj gives a similar interpretation – catvAro vedA RgAdayah  | 
tAn aSeshAn vetti iti catur-veda-vit.

SrI rAdhAkRshNa Sastri comments that not only it is true that He alone
knows the four veda-s completely and with their correct meanings, but
He is also the veda-s Himself.  Thus, knowing Him is only possible for
those who have learned the veda-s correctly and with their true
meanings.   SrI cinmayAnanda comments that a student of veda can be
considered to have achieved his studyÂ’s objective only when he has
realized the Lord.

c) SrI baladeva vidyAbhUshaN has a different anubhavam of the nAma –
bhagavAn has this nAma because He is the One Who enables His devotees
to know the four veda-s – caturo vedAn vedayati bhaktAn iti
catur-veda-vit.  In other words, only through devotion to Him will a
student of veda be able to know and understand the veda-s and their
meanings correctly.  

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

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