Search:
Bhakti List Archives

SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 76 - Part 1.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Narasimhan Krishnamachari • July 25, 2002 


SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 76.

	bhUtA-vAso vAsu-devah sarvAsu-nilayo'nalah    |
	darpa-hA darpa-do'dRpto dur-dharo'thA'parAjitah    ||

om bhUtA-vAsAya namah
om vAsu-devAya namah
om sarvAsunilayAya namah
om analAya namah
om darpaghnAya namah
om darpadAya namah
om dRptAya namah
om dur-dharAya namah
om aparAjitAya namah

713. bhUtA-vasah - a) He Who is the abode of all creatures.
	b) He Who dwells in the hearts of His devotees.
	c) The dwelling place of the Great Elements.

Om bhUtA-vAsAaya namah.

The word bhUtAh can be derived from the root bhU - bhav - to be; 
bhavanti iti bhUtAni.  The word vAsAh is derived from the root vas -
nivAse - to dwell.   SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the derivation -
samantAd vasanti bhUtAni yasmin sah bhUtA-vAso vishNuh - He in Whom all
beings everywhere live is bhUtA-vAsah.  

The nirukti description (a summarization of SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam)
for the nAma is "yasmin vasanti bhUtAni bhUtA-vAsa sa kathyate" - He in
Whom all beings reside is called bhUtA-vAsah.  SrI v.v. rAmAnujan
comments that Lord kRshNa revealed through several viSva rUpa darSana-s
that He is bhUtA-vasah, One in Whom all beings reside. SrI rAmAnujan
gives references to the gItA and to divya prabandham  in support:

	paSyAmi devAns-tava deva dehe sarvAns-tathA bhUta viSesha sa'nghAn   
|
	brahmaNam Isam kamalAsanastham RshiNSca sarvAn uragAnSca dIptAn  ||
(gItA 11.15)

"O Lord, I behold in Your body all the gods and all the diverse hosts
of beings, brahma, Siva, the seers, and the lustrous snakes" -
(arjuna's words as he has the viSva rUpa darSanam).

	mattah parataram nAnyat ki'ncidasti dhana'njaya    |
	mayi sarvam idam protam sUtre maNigaNA iva    ||   ( gItA 7.7)

"There is nothing higher than Myself, O arjuna.  All this is strung on
Me, as rows of gems on a thread".

- nammAzhvAr refers to perumAL as "uyirgaL ellA ulagum uDaiyavan" 
(tiruvAi. 3.2.11);  He is the Soul of all souls.

- periAzhvAr  describes yaSOdA's anubhavam of finding all the universes
inside His mouth - "vaiyam Ezhum kaNDAL piLLai vAyuLE" (periAzhvAr
tiru. 1.1.6)

SrI Samkara vyAkhyAnam is: bhUtAni atra abhimukhyena vasanti iti
bhUtA-vAsah  - He in whom all beings, in essence, dwell, is
bhUtA-vAsah. 

b) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj interprets the nAma as "He Whose dwelling
is dwells in the devotees who perform His worship and sing His praise"
- bhUteshu bhajana parAyaNeshu prANishu AvAso yasya iti bhUtA-vAsah.  

c) SrI cinmayAnanda interprets the terms bhUtAh as referring to the
five Great Elements, and thus interprets the nAma to mean "He Who is
the very dwelling place for the Great Elements".  He quotes the
following from hari vamSa as support:  "vasanti tvayi bhUtAni
bhUtAvAsas-tato bhavAn" (279.52). 

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives some examples to illustrate His guNa of
bhUtA vAsah in the context of His being the Controller of the five
great elements.  Even though we human beings are constituted of the
five great elements, our principal nature is that of pRthvI, while that
of the fish is primarily the nature of water.  The fish is created such
that its lungs don't fill with water as it lives in water, whereas the
fish cannot live outside the water and on the land.  Those that fly in
the air are primarily of the nature of vAyu.  He says that if the ashes
from burnt cowdung are let stand for 50 years, there will be an insect
that originates from this that will be fire-proof, and thus has fire as
its principal nature.  Thus, bhagavAn has created the different
creatures in different ways, and associated them with the pa'nca mahA
bhUta-s in different ways.  There is variety also in the way the
different creatures reproduce themselves.  Some creatures that live in
water lay their eggs outside water, on land, because of the need for
heat in hatching the egg.  Even in poison, there are germs that survive
and live and thrive.  All these are illustrations of the fact that He
is bhUta AvAsah - One in Whom everything lives, and One Who lives in
everything.  SrI vAsishTha reefers us to the Rg vedic hymn - vishNoh
karmANi paSyata (1.22.19) - Look at vishNu's works, whereby He has let
His great ways be seen.

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan  



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better
http://health.yahoo.com


--------------------------------------------------------------
           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
To Post a message, send it to:   bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Group Home: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list
Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/
 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/