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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 83 - nivRttAtA - Part 2.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • January 3, 2003 


      SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam – Slokam 83 - nivRttAtmA.

    SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 83 - nivRttAtmA - Part 2.

(The following list has been revised, and is slightly different from
the one posted yesterday.  So it is included here).

780. nivRttAtmA – a) He whose Nature is different from, and superior
to, everything else (Trasncendental Form).
b) He whose mind is turned away from worldly attachments.
(nara-nArAyaNa incarnation)
c) He who is the AtmA of those who practice the nivRtti dharma
(Bestower of benefits according to karma).
d) He whose nature is that He is free from the bonds of samsAra, even
when He takes His incarnation amongst us (kRshNa incarnation).
e) He who does not turn away from anything or anywhere because of He is
Omnipresent. (a-nivRttAtmA  - SaÂ’nkara)
f) He Who withdraws the jIva-s into Him during pralaya
g) He Who has permeated everything completely.
h) He Whose Mind turns away from sacrifices that are performed by those
who are not qualified.
i) He Who is Himself unimpacted or withdrawn with respect to the
effects of pralaya of sRshTi.
j) He whose mind turns away from any feeling of self-glory over His
kIrti or fame.
 
Om nivRttAtmane namah.

(Interpretations a to d were posted yesterday.  This is the
continuation).

For the rest of the write-up, new information that was not included in
the previous write-ups is included below.

SrI SaÂ’nkaraÂ’s interpretation in Slokam 25 is that bhagavAn is called
nivRttAtmA because He is free from the bonds of worldly life – The
unbound Self – samasAra-bandhAn nivRtta AtmA savrUpam asya iti
nivRttAtmA.  SrI BhaTTarÂ’s interpretation a) above is along the same as
lines as this.  For the incidence of the nAma in Slokam 48, SrI Samkara
vyAkhyAnam is – svabhAvato vishayebhyo nivRtta AtmA manah asya iti
nivRttAtmA – He turns away from material pleasures naturally.   SrI
BhaTTarÂ’s interpretation b) is along the same lines, even though SrI
BhaTTar links the guNa to His nara-nArAyaNa incarnation specifically.  

e) For the current instance, SrI SaÂ’nkara uses the pATham a-nivRttAtmA,
and then gives the interpretation that because He is present
everywhere, there is no turning away from anything for Him, and so He
is a-nivRttAtmA.

New interpretations (f, g, and h) that have not been presented earlier
are from satya sandha yatirAja:

f) nivRttAAtmAno yena pralaya iti – He is nivRttAtmA because He
withdraws the AtmA-s (jIva-s) into Him during pralaya.

g) ni – nitarAm – wholly, completely; vRttah – sakala vishayeshu
pravRttah – exists in everything;  One Who exists in everything, On Who
has permeated everything completely. 

h) ayogya-kRta ya~jnAdibhyo nivRtto vA AtmA mano yasya sa nivRttAtmA –
He Whose mind turns away from the sacrifices that are made by those who
are not authorized or not qualified to perform these sacrifices.

i) For the instance of the nAma in Slokam 64, SrI vAsishTha uses the
meaning “asa’nga - unassociated with” for the word nivRtta, and gives
the interpretation that bhagavAn is called nivRttAtmA because at the
time of pralaya He is not impacted by the effect of pralaya (i.e., He
does snot cease to exist), and at the time of creation He is not
impacted by the effect of creation (that is, He is not created).  So He
is unassociated with the effects of the pralaya, sRshTi, etc.  –
bhagavAn vishNuh sRshTi kAle pralaya kAle ca sRshTim pralayau
yathA-kramam vidadhadapi, sva-svarUpavato nivRttAtmA bhavati asaÂ’ngah,
pralaya kAle vA sRshTer nivartata iti nivRttAtmA vishNurukto bhavati.  

j) SrI rAmAnujan also gives his anubhavam of bhagavAn's detachment from
any feeling of self-glory over His greatness.  Here He is, creating
this great wonder with all its innumerable creatures and all the
planets and the different worlds.  He is the svAmi of all these worlds
- vIRRirundu Ezhulagum tanik kOl Sella; varambilAda mAyai mAya!.
varambilAda kIrtiyAi! (tiruccanda viruttam 96).   With all this
greatness, one would expect that He should have some attachment of
ownership to His wonderful creation, and pride of this great creation
of His.  Yet, He does not have any of this sense of pride, and is only
interested in our welfare instead, in whatever He does.  Such is His
greatness.   In this sense also, bhagavAn is nivRttAtmA.

SrI cinmayAnanda observes that the significance of the nAma lies in
indicating to us that we have to detach our mind from sense indulgences
in order to realize Him.  SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri notes that bhagavAn is
the only one who can retrieve those who are attached to all kinds of
material and sense objects, because He is the only one who is not
attached to anything.   Only the one who is not stuck in the mud can
retrieve one who is stuck in it.  

The writer in dharma cakram points out that the significance of this
nAma is to realize that we should live a life with detachment in
material objects in order to realize the Truth, and meditating on this
nAma of mahA vishNu will help us live that kind of life. Meditating on
the Lord who has no attachments will lead us to live a life without
attachment. He gives the life of Lord Rama as an example of the life of
nivRttAtmA.
SrI SaÂ’nkara pATham:  
As indicated earlier, for the four instacvne of nivRttAtmA in SrI
BhaTTarÂ’s scheme of interpretation, the corresponding treatment by SrI
SaÂ’nakara is the use of the nAma nivRttAtmA in Sloka-s 25 and 64,
vimuktAtmA in Slokam 48, and a-nivRttAtmA in Slokam 83.  The adoption
of a specific pATham by a given vyAkhyAna kartA can be for one of the
following reasons:
1.	It may be a result of the specific anubhavam that these great
devotees of nArAyaNa have, and the way they feel the enjoyment of the
nAma.
2.	In addition to the above, the specific pATham may give a beneficial
edge in providing an interpretation that supports the specific
philosophy that the particular vyAkhyAna kartA propounds or follows.
3.	Adopting different pAThams may be a way of avoiding the issue of
punar-ukti (repetition or redundancy).  
SrI SaÂ’nkaraÂ’s interpretations for the above nAma-s in Sloka-s 25, 48,
63 and 83 respectively, do not seem to suggest that he has adopted the
pATham that he has chosen, for illustration of any specific advaita
philosophy related issues.  So it can be assumed that his choice is
more a reflection of 1 and/or 3 above.

vimuktAtmA:

a)	He Who is a naturally free Soul, since He is never born, not touches
by effects of karma, etc.
b)	He Who liberates the souls or jIva-s.

SrI SaÂ’nkaraÂ’s alternate pATham in Sloka-s 48 is vimuktAtmA. We did not
cover this as part of Slokam 48, and so we will cover this here.  
The root involved is muc – mokshaNe – to set free, to leave, to
abandon.  Vi is an uapasarga.  
a) The interpretation given by SrI SaÂ’nkara is: svabhAvena vimukta AtmA
yasya iti vimuktAtmA – One Who is naturally free.  SrI rAdhAkRshNa
SAstri gives the interpretation that the nAma stands for One Who has
attained “viSesha mukti”, or liberation in a unique or special way. 
BhagavAn is naturally free in a unique way since He does not have birth
and its associated avidyA, desire, etc., like every one else does.  He
is not affected by karma, the three guNa-s, etc.  SrI cinmayAnanda
translates the nAma as “The ever-liberated Self”.  
b) SrI satya sandha yatirAja, a follower of the dvaita tradition, also
uses the pATham as vimuktAtmA here, and gives an interpretation
different from SrI Sa’nkara – vimuktA AtmAno jIvA yena iti vimuktAtmA –
He by Whom the jIva-s are liberated or released is vimuktAtmA.  
SrI satyadevo vAsishTha observes that there is essentially no
difference in the meaning of the words vimuktAtmA and nivRttAtmA. 
The dharma cakram writer describes the four kinds of karma – nitya,
naimittika, kAmya, and nishiddha.  nitya karma-s are (such as trikAka
sandhyAvandanam) those which are to be done necessarily; doing them
does not accumulate puNya, but not doing them accumulates papa. 
Performance of naimittika karma-s (such as observance of ekAdaSi) will
lead to specific benefits.  Acts that are done with specific desire for
benefits (such as special sacrificial rites undertaken with specific
benefits in mind) are called kAmya karma-s.  The nishiddha karma-s are
the ones that are forbidden.  BhagavAn is not subject to the effects of
any type of karma, because He does not undertake any karma for His
benefit;  whatever He does is for the benefit of the jIva-s.  
a-nivRttAtmA:
SrI SaÂ’nkaraÂ’s interpretation for this version is that bhagavAn is
a-nivRttAtmA, One Who never turns away from anything, because He is in
everything and everywhere – sarvatra vartamAnatvAt s-nivRttah kuto’pi
a-nivRttAtmA.  Not too many other interpreters have used this version.

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan


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