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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 70 - kAma-devah, kAma-pAlah.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Narasimhan Krishnamachari • February 19, 2002 


              SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 70 - Part 1. 

	kAma-devah kAma-pAlah kAmI kAntah kRtAgamah   |
	anirdeSya-vapur_vishNur_vIro'nanto dhana'njayah    ||

om kAma-devAya namah
om kAma-pAlAya namah
om kAmine namah
om kAntAya namah
om kRtAgamAya namah
om anirdeSya-vapushe namah
om vishNave namah
om vIrAya namah
om anantAya namah
om dhana'njayAya namah

657. kAma-devah - a) The One who grants all desires.
	b) The Lord who is desired by those who seek the four purushArtha-s.

Om kAma-devAya namah

a) SrI BhaTTar derives his interpretation kAmAn dIvyati iti kAma-devah
- One who gives as a gift all that His devotees desire.  The term
"dIvyati" signifies dAna-karmA. He gives the support  for this
interpretation from mahA bhAratam:

	kAmadevastu bhagavAn sarveshAm sarva-kAmadah    | (bhA. Santi. 343.39)

" The Lord has the name kAma-deva as He grants all the desires of all
beings".

b) SrI Samkara gives the interpretation that bhagavAn has this nAma
because He is the God (deva) who is desired (kAma) by those who seek
the four kinds of goals - dharma, artha, kAma, and moksha. (kAmyata iti
kAmah - kAma because He is desired, and devaSca -  God).

kAmam or desire can be that which is consistent with dharma, or that
which is contrary to dharma.  The kAma that one should seek is the one
that is consistent with dharma.  BhagavAn refers to this in gItA 7.11 -
dharma aviruddho bhUteshu kAmo'smi bharatarshabha - In all beings, I am
the kAma which is unopposed to dharma.  The dharma cakram writer points
out that by worshipping bhagavAn, the kAma-deva, one can develop the
enrichment of the desire that is consistent with dharma, and move away
from the kAma that is opposed to dharma.  He points out that those with
the right kind of kAma see God in the world, and those who have the
wrong kind of kAma see the world in God. To win over the worldly kAma
and to grow the godly kAma, one should chant the nAma of kAma-deva with
this meaning in mind.

658. kAma-pAlah -  a) The Protector of the gifts that He bestows.
	b) The Protector of those who desire Him.

Om kAma-pAlAya namah.

a) In the previous nAma, SrI BhaTTar interpreted kAma-devah  as One who
bestows the gifts that the devotee desires, thus kAma referring to the
gifts desired by the devotee.  He interprets the current nAma as
referring to bhagavAn's guNa of protecting that which He has bestowed -
sa eva datta (kAmAn) anupAlanAt kAma-devah.

SrImad baladeva vidyAbhUshaN, a follower of the gauDiya vaishNava
sampradAyam, specifically refers to bhagavAn fulfilling the wishes of
the deva-s by killing keSi - keSi vadhena teshAm kAmam abhilAsham
pAlayati pUrayati iti kAma-pAlah.

b) In one of the interpretations that SrI cinmayAnanda gives, he
interprets kAma as referring to those who desire Him, and then assigns
the meaning to kAma-pAlah as One who protects those who desire Him. 

-To be continued.

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan



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