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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 86 - sarva-vAg-ISvara-ISvarah.

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champakam • February 19, 2003 


    SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 86 - sarva-vAg-ISvara-ISvarah.

808. sarva-vAg-ISvara-ISvarah – The Lord of all who have a mastery 
over all words. 

Om sarva-vAg-ISvara-IsvarAya namah.

He Who is the Lord of all who have mastery over vAk or speech is 
sarva-vAg-ISvara-ISvarah – The ISvara of those who are "sar-vAg-
ISvara-s".  The different interpreters give different anubhavam-s on 
who these "masters over speech" are.

SrI BhaTTar continues his interpretation in terms of bhagavAn's 
Buddha incarnation.  He interprets the nAma as signifying that 
bhagavAn was the clear winner over the "learned masters" among the 
rAkshasa-s in arguments and disputations.   SrI v.v. rAmAnujan 
comments that vAcaspati is known for piling points after points in 
support of his position in any argument.  That skill of vAcaspati is 
but a tiny fraction of bhagavAn's power.  The point to be kept in 
mind here is that in his Buddha incarnation, bhagavAn was advancing 
arguments to promote nAstikam among the asura-s, and so his arguments 
in the current context were not consistent with the SAstra-s.

SrI Sa'nkara interprets sarva-vAg-ISvara as a reference to brahmA, 
and since bhagavAn is the Lord of brahmA, He has the nAma saarva-vAg-
ISvara-ISvarah.  SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri points out that brahmA with 
his four faces and four mouths, gives the veda-s to the rest of the 
world, and so he is sarva-vAgISvaran, and he got this power from 
bhagavAn, the sarva-vAg-ISvara-ISvara.   

SrI satya sandha yatirAja considers the reference of the 
phrase "sarva-vAg-ISvara to rudra, and so describes the namA as 
indicating that He is the Lord of rudra:  sarveshAm vAcah sarva-vAcah 
tAsAm Isvarasya rudrasya ca ISvaratvAt sarva-vAg-ISvara-ISvarah.   
SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN lists brahma, rudra, etc., as those 
learned in the SAstra-s, and bhagavAn being the Lord of all of them, 
has this nAma – sarvAh SrutyAdilakshaNA vAco yatra sa sarva-vAk;  
nikhila SAstra pratipAdya ityarthah;  yata ISvara-ISvara vidhi-
rudrAdi niyAmakah.  Same idea is reflected in SrI kRshNa datta 
bhAradvAj's interpretation – sarveshAm vAg-ISvarANAm sura-guru-
druhiNAdInAm ISvarah – SastA iti sarva-vAg-ISvara-ISvarah.  

SrI cinmayAnanda quotes the kenopanishad passage where the question 
is first asked:  keneshitAm vAcam imam vadanti – At whose behest do 
people utter speech?, and the answer is given: tadeva brahmam tad 
viddhi – It is Brahman from which all these arise.  SrI cimnayAnanda 
explains the nAma thus:  "It is not the instruments of actions and 
perceptions that act by themselves, as they are all made up of inert 
matter.  The immediate animation to the equipment is given by 
the `inner instruments'.  Therefore, for all the sense-organs, the 
mind-intellect-equipment is their immediate lord.  But these subtle 
instruments themselves get their dynamism to act only in the presence 
of SrI nArAyaNa".                                  

SrI vAsishTha comments that the gods or devatA-s for speech and sound 
are vAcaspati, agni, vidyut, etc., and He is the Lord of all those 
gods who are the gods of vAk, and so He is called sar-vAg-ISvara-
ISvarah – sarva vAgISvarANAm api ISvarah.  SrI vAsishTha comments 
that even though there are a large number of species, each with its 
own unique structure of the organs that produce sound from them, all 
of these originate from Him, and ultimately subside in Him. 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan 





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