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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 74 - Part 5.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • June 17, 2002 


     SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 74 - vAsu-devah.

700. vAsu-devah -  a) He Who pervades and sports.
b) The Son of vasudeva.
c) The presiding Deity of the well-known 12-lettered vAsu-deva mantra.
d) The Deity Who is adored by His devotees.
e) He Who lives in everything and Who keeps them moving around.

Om vAsudevAya namah.

This nAma occurred earlier as nAma 334 (Slokam 36), and will occur
again as nAma 714 (Slokam 76).
The meaning given for this nAma under Slokam 36 was "He Who pervades
and sports".  Please refer to the write-up under Slokam 36 for the many
references.  SrI BhaTTar points out under nAma 334, that this nAma,
like the nArAyaNa nAma, is a guhya mantram, and its meaning should be
properly learnt from a qualified AcArya.  I am sharing what little I
understand based on what is written in the different vyAkhyAna-s.

a) For nAma 334, SrI BhaTTar's interpretation was that bhagavAn is
called vAsu-deva because He is vAsu (One in whom everything lives like
in a mother, and One who envelopes and protects everything like a bird
with its wings), and He is a deva (One Who sports, or has this process
of pervasion, permeation, creation, protection, destruction, etc., as a
part of His leelA).  So He is both a vAsu and a deva, and so He is
called vAsu-devah.  

For this nAma in Slokam 36, SrI Samkara also derives the meaning based
on the combination of the words vAsu and deva, but he suggests that in
addition to His divine play in permeating everything and being the
dwelling place for everything, His play includes His covering
everything with His mAyA (vasati - AcchAdayati - covers, conceals,
sheaths, envelops, etc.  - vasati, vAsayati, AcchAdayati vA sarvam iti
vAsuh).    For the nAma in Slokam 76, he unequivocally associates His
play (being a deva) with enveloping the whole universe (vAsu) with His
mAyA - jagat AchchAdayati mAyayA iti vAsuh sa eva deva iti vAsu-devah. 
 The term 'mAyA' in the advaita system is interpreted as "illusion",
whereas in the viSishTAdvaitic system it refers to the wonderful power
of ISvara, whose effects are very real.

b) For the current occurrence of the nAma, both SrI Samkara and SrI
BhaTTar gives the explanation that He is called vAsu-deva because He is
the son of vasudeva (vasudevasya apatyam vAsu-devah).   SrI kRshNa
datta bhAradvAj gives the support from SrImad bhAgavatam, where
bhagavAn declares that He is called vAsu-deva because He was born as
the son of vasu-deva in the yadu kulam:

	avatIrNo yadukule gRha Anaka dundubheh    |
	vadanti vAsu-deveti vasu-deva-sutam hi mAm    ||   (bhAga. 10.51.41)

c) Under Slokam 76, SrI BhaTTar explains the nAma vAsu-deva in terms of
the twelve-lettered mantra, namely that the nAma vAsu-deva refers to
the Deity that presides over this (vAsu-deva) mantra.  The same
para-vAsu-deva from SrI vaikunTham took incarnation as vyUha vAsudeva
in the Milky Ocean (SrI BhaTTar's interpretation for nAma 714), and He
also took the incarnation as the son of devaki and vasu-deva in mathurA
(SrI BhaTTar's interpretation for nAma 700).  SrI v.v. rAmAnujan
observes that it is the same vyUha vAsu-deva that descended from SrI
vaikunTham, that also took birth as the child of vasu-deva, delighted
the hearts of the gopi-s, was the para-tattvam for the yogi-s, and at
the same time was the death for kamsa and a terror for his other
evil-minded associates.  

d) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj includes an additional interpretation
that has not been given by the others - He has the nAma vAsu-deva
because He is adorned by His devotees - vAsyate sevyate bhaktaih iti
vAsuh; sa cAsau deva iti vAsu-devah.  The root from which he derives
this interpretation is vAs - upasevAyAm - to scent, to make fragrant.  

e) One of the meanings for the root "div" (from which the word deva is
derived) is "to move around" - div krIDA vijigIshA vyavahAra dyuti
stuti moda mada svapna kAnti gatishu.  SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses
this last meaning (gacchati, gamayati) for the word deva, and gives the
interpretation for the nAma as "One Who dwells in everything, and makes
it possible for everything to move around".   He gives reference to the
ISAvAsya Upanishad mantra "ISAvAsyam idam sarvam yad-ki'nca jagatyAm 
jagat" as support.

SrI cinmayAnanda gives the interpretation that He has this nAma since
He lives in every living entity as the jIva-entity.  He supports his
interpretation with a reference to the gItA Slokam 18-61:

	ISvarah sarva bhUtAnAm hRd-deSe'rjuna tishThati   |
	bhrAmayan sarva bhUtAni yantrArUDhAni mAyayA    ||   (gItA 18.61)

"The Lord, O arujuna, abides in the heart of every being, spinning them
round and round, mounted on a wheel as it were, by His power".

The gItA bhAshyam for this Slokam by bhagavad rAmAnuja indirectly
supports this interpretation by the use of the name vASu-deva for
bhagavAn in this context  - "ISvarah sarva-niyamana-Seelo vAsu-devah
sarva-bhUtAnAm hRd-deSe sakala-pravRtti-nivRtti mUla-j~nAnodaye deSe
tishThati".   

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan


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