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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 69 - Part 4.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • February 5, 2002 


 
      SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 69 - keSi-hA and harih.


655. keSi-hA - a) He who killed the asura by name keSi.
	b) He who directs agni, sUrya, indra, vAyu etc. in their functions.

Om keSighne namah.

a) keSi-nAmAnam asuram hatavAn iti keSi-hA.   kamsa sent the asura keSi
to destroy child kRshNa, and keSi who took the form of a horse to
destroy kRshNa was destroyed by kRshNa.  The references in tiruppAvai
to "mA vAi kINDAn", and in 2nd tiruvantAdi to "kUndal vAi KINDAn" are
to this incident.

b) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha takes the meaning of the root hA- to go, and
derives his interpretation for the nAma based on the Rg-vedic
description of keSi referring to agni, vAyu, and sUrya (see the mantra
below.  KeSi is one who has keSa or hair.  smoke is the "hair" of the
fire; the rays of sUrya are the keSa-s of sUrya;  indra (lightning) is
the keSi which is not seen - the reference to dadRSe na rUpam in the
mantra (Ralph Griffith translates this as referring to vAyu instead of
indra in his traslation); These are explained in Yaska's niruktam in
detail (12-24,25).

The Rg-vedic mantra he quotes in support is:

	trayah keSina RtuthA vicakshate samvatsare vapata eka eshAm   |
	viSvameko abhicashTe SacIbhirdhrAjirekasya dadRSe na rUpam   || 
(1.144.44)

Thus, in this interpretation, bhagavAn is called keSi-hA because He
directs agni, sUrya, indra, or vAyu perform their functions.

SrI vAsishTha has given several other interpretations for this nAma
(e.g., keSi referring generically to a horse, keSi referring to AtmA,
heart, etc.), which are not being covered here.  Those interested can
refer to his original vyAkhyAna in samskRt, with translation in hindi.

656. harih - a) The Green-hued.
             b) He Who removes the distress of His devotees
             c) He Who wards off samsAra with its cause from His
devotees.
             d) The Destroyer of the Universe at the time of pralaya.


Om haraye namah.

a) The term hara refers to green color.  BhagavAn's words from mahA
bhArata are given in support by SrI BhaTTar:

	iDopahUtam Â…Â….
	varNaSca me harih SreshThah tasmAd harir-iti smRtah  ||  (mahA. SAnti.
343.39)

"My superior complexion is green, and therefore I am called Hari".

One is reminded of the familiar pASuram "paccai mA-malai pOl mEniÂ…)
(tirumAlai 2).  

b) SrI aNNa'ngarAcArya gives the interpretation "ArtigaLai harippavar"
- He who removes the distress of His devotees.  
	
c) (samsAram) harati iti harih - He who wards off samsAra with its
cause from His devotees is harih (SrI Samkara).  Alternatively, pApAnAm
harati iti harih - He who wards off the sins of His devotees. 

d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha extends the anubhavam to include bhagavAn's
destruction of the world at the time of pralaya, and His destruction of
 the darkness in our minds always. 

The dharma cakram writer observes that the sight of green gives a
feeling of peace to the mind; the thought of Hari, the green-hued One,
similarly gives peace to the mind. The "hari nAma" is chanted whenever
one starts anything auspicious, and this is to remove all obstacles and
sins that may be committed in the process.  SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri
notes that in kali santaraNa Upanishad, the repetition of the 16 nAma-s
in the following familiar chant is prescribed for the removal of all
sins caused by kali.
	
	hare rAma hare rAma rAma rAma hare hare    |
	hare kRshNa hare kRshNa kRshNa kRshNa hare hare    || (kali santaraNa
upa. 6.2)

 -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan





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