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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 86 - mahA-hradah.

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champakam • February 20, 2003 


    SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 86 - mahA-hradah.

809. mahA-hradah – a) The Vast Lake in which the sinners drown never 
to rise again, and the devotees dip again and again to get relief.
		b) He Who is associated with the deep waters, as in 
kAlIya mardanam, or in His reclining in the Milk Ocean.
		c) He Who has created the great oceans so that the 
earth does not become completely dry and perish.

Om mahA-hradAya anamah.

The root from which the word hrada is derived is hrAda – avyakte 
Sabde – to sound, to roar.   That which makes indistinct, undefined 
sounds is called hradah.  That which is huge, and makes this sound is 
mahA-hradah.  The term is used to refer to a deep lake, an ocean 
etc.  – hRadate iti hradah. 

a) SrI BhaTTar's explanation for the nAma is that bhagavAn as Buddha 
was like a deep lake in which the evil-doers sank, never to rise 
again – yatra pApa-karmaNah a-punar-utthAnam nimajjanti.  He refers 
us to Lord kRshNa's words in the gItA:

	tAn aham dvishatah krUrAn samsAreshu narAdhamAn    |
	kshipAmi ajastram aSubhAn AsurIshveva yonishu    ||          
(gItA 16.19)

"Those haters, cruel, the vilest and the most inauspicious of 
mankind, I hurl forever into the cycles of births and deaths, into 
the wombs of demons".  

SrI BhaTTar also points out that while He is the deep lake where the 
sinners will drown, He is also the deep lake where the devotees will 
find their great comfort, and will bathe again and again without ever 
getting satisfied – pApa-karmANah apunar-utthAnam nimajjanti, puNya-
kRto gAham gAham tRpyanti, sa mahA-hrAdah.  One is reminded of the 
nRsimha incarnation, where bhagavAn was simultaneously a cause of 
terror for hiraNyakaSipu, and with that same form, He was the cause 
of great delight for prahlAda.   

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan describes the term hradah as eddy, the deep ditch 
that sometimes lies in the path of running waters.  If one gets 
caught in one of these, it is well near impossible to get out of it 
alive.  BhagavAn is like one of these for the asura-s.  nammAzhvAr 
refers to bhagavAn as "vallarakkar pukkazhunda tayaradan peRRa 
marakata maNit taDam" in tiruvAimozhi 10.1.8 – bhagavAn is described 
as the large cool tank in which so many devotees immerse and benefit, 
and He is also the large tank in which the cruel asusra-s fall and 
drown, never to return (val arrakar pukku azhunda).  The reference to 
bhagavAn as the "cool reservoir of waters" for the devotees is common 
in AzhvArs' aruLic-ceyal-s and other works:  tiruma'ngai AzhvAr in 
tirunenDum tANDakam (19) – poRRAmaraikkayam neerADap ponAL, and the 
reference in SrImad bhAgavatam – esha brahma pravishTosmi grIshme 
Sitamiva hradam, are given as examples.  

SrI Sa'nkara's interpretation is that He is like the great lake since 
the yogi-s remain peacefully in His bliss by plunging into it – 
avagAhya tadAnandam viSramya sukham Asteyogina iti mahA-hradah.  SrI 
rAdhAkRshNa SAstri explains the nAma in tamizh as "aNDa muDiyAda 
Azhnda nIrt tEkkam pOnRu uLLa Anandak kaDal".- The not-so-easily 
accessible deep reservoir of water that is the Bliss of Ocean 
personified.  

b) SrI satya sandha yatirAja gives the explanation as `One Who is 
associated with the deep waters in kALIya mardana, or as He reclines 
in the Milk Ocean" – mahAn hrado yasya kAlIya mardana kAle vA, 
samudra Sayana kAle vA sa mahA-hradah.

c) SrI satya devo vAsishTha explains the nAma as referring to His 
creating the great oceans so that the world does not become 
completely dry and perish.  Here is his vyAkyAnam in his traditional 
Sloka form:

	mahA-hrado vishNur-amogha karmA karoti viSvam bahu-
sAdhanAptam   |
	mahA-hradam sa kurute samudram Sushyen-na bhUh sUrya-
kharAmSupAtaih   ||

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan




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