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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 75 - Part 4.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • July 12, 2002 


 Dear SrI Mani:
I had submitted the following on 7/9/02, but I suspect it did not make it to the list because of some yahoogroups related problem at my end.  So I am re-sending it.  I hope it is not a repeat.
Regards,
-Krishnamachari
  Narasimhan Krishnamachari  wrote: SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 75 - sad-bhUtih, sat-parAyaNam.

708. sad-bhUtih - a) The wealth, in all forms, for the good.
b) He Who is endowed with rich glories (aiSvaryam)
c) He Who alone truly exists.
d) He Who manifests Himself in infinite forms.

om sad-bhUtaye namah.

The term bhUti can refer to wealth, prosperity or existence (amara
koSam) - bhavatyanayA SrImAn iti bhUtih; bhavatAt iti vA. 

a) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the derivation - satAm mahAtmanAm
bhUtih sampattih iti sad-bhUtih - The wealth for the good. SrI BhaTTar
points out that for the true devotee, He is the son, friend, messenger,
charioteer, and everything else also. SrI aNNan'ngarAcArya svAmi
points out that this means that He is their help in all forms. 

b) SrI cinmayAnanda gives the interpretation that this nAma means "One
Who has Rich Glories". He interprets bhUti as referring to His
aiSvaryam - wealth, power, happiness, etc. Alternatively, he gives the
interpretation that the nAma refers to "One Who has taken different
incarnations", exhibiting in all of them the glories of the Supreme.

c) SrI Samkara gives the meaning bhAsamAnatvam (Effulgence) to the term
'bhUti", and "true existence" to the term sat, and thus gives the
interpretation that this nAma of bhagavAn signifies that He alone truly
exists, and has the effulgence which is revealed without any other
external object. Without Him nothing else exists, and without His
Effulgence, nothing else is revealed. One translator has translated
SrI Samkara's original vyAkhyAnam as follows: "As the supreme Self is
ever-existing as Consciousness and shining, He is unsublated being". 

d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the root bhU - sattAyAm - to be, to
live, for the term bhUti, and thus gives the interpretation suggestive
of "His truly existing in different forms" (sati = SASvatI, bhUtih =
bhavanam = vividha bhAvena pariNAmah, sad-bhUtih). He gives as an
illustration the fact that the tree exists in the seed, and the seed
exists in the tree, and both are real and true. Time does not destroy
this relationship, and this relationship is eternal. This same
relationship extends to everything in the universe. Thus, bhagavAn is
both the nimitta kAraNam and the upAdAna kAraNam (tathaiva idam brahma
jaDa cetana rUpasya asya viSvasya nimittam kAraNam na tu upAdAna
kAraNam, bIjAnAm vapte ca). 

708. sat-parAyaNam - a) The Support for the good.
b) The supreme Goal for the good.
c) He Who has the good people as His support.

om sat-parAyaNAya namah.

SrI BhaTTar gives two alternate versions for this nAma - sat-parAyaNam
or sat-parAyaNah. The first version is in neuter gender, and the
second one is in masculine gender. SrI BhaTTar's interpretation
corresponds to the meaning "BhagavAn is the supreme support for the
good" for the first version, and for the second, he gives the
interpretation "The good are His supreme support".

a) sat-parAyaNam: satAm parama ayanam iti sat-parAyaNam (SrI kRshNa
datta bhAradvAj) - "He Who is the Supreme Support for the good". In
support of the interpretation of the nAma as "sat-parAyaNam", SrI
BhaTTar quotes the mahA-bhArata Slokam 173.24 from droNa parva:

kRshNASrayAh kRshNa balAh kRshNa-nAthASca pANDavAh |
kRshNah parAyaNam teshAm Â….. 
||

"The pANDava-s have kRshNa as their resort, kRshNa as their strength,
kRshNa as their savior. In short, kRshNa is their great support". So
He is their sat-parAyaNam. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan quotes nammAzhvAr's
well-known agagillEn pASuram "pugal onRu illA aDiyEn un aDi-kIzh
amarndu pugundEnE" (tiruvAi. 6.10.10), as support for SrI BhaTTar's
interpretation.

b) Among those who have provided translations for SrI Samkara's
vyAkhyAnam, some have used the version "sat-parAyaNah" and some have
used "sat-parAyaNam". SrI Samkara's vyAkhyAnam is - satAm tattva
vidAm param prakRshTam ayanam iti sat-parAyaNam or sat-parAyaNah,
depending on the source. Translators have interpreted the nAma as
meaning that He is the supreme Goal for the good people. SrI Samkara
elaborates that "satAm" here refers to those who are the knowers of
Reality, or the true nature of God - satAm - tattva vidAm. 

c) sat-parAyaNah: If the version "sat-parAyaNah" is used, SrI BhaTTar
gives the interpretation "santoh asya parAyaNam" - The good are His
supreme support. For this interpretation, SrI BhaTTar quotes the
following in support: mama prANA hi pANDavAh (mahAbhA. Uttara. 90.33)
- "The pANDava-s are verily my life-breath"; j~nAni tvAtmaiva me matam
(gItA 7.8) - "It is My view that the wise men are my inner soul". 
tirumazhiSai AzhvAr sings this dependence of bhagavAn on His bhakta-s -
"nAraNanE! nee ennai anRi ilai! (nAnmugan tiru. 7), which has been
referenced before (e.g., under nAma 706 in this Slokam).

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

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