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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokma 74 - Part 6.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • June 21, 2002 


     SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 74 - vasuh.

701. vasuh - a) The Dweller (in the hearts of His devotees)
	b) The Best of wealths that is sought after.
	c) He Who resides in the Milk-Ocean.
        d)He Who is in the form of the vasu-s.
        e)He Who lives in everything and in whom everything lives.
        f)He Who conceals Himself (from those who are not devoted to
Him).
        g)He Who is the final dwelling place for all.

Om vasave namah.  

We encountered this nAma earlier as nAma-s 105 (Slokam 12) and 271
(Slokam 29).

The term vasu refers to one who dwells, wealth, one who conceals, etc.
(see nAma 697). 

a) For the first occurrence of this nAma in Slokam 12, SrI BhaTTar
comments that bhagavAn is vasuh because He dwells in the hearts of His
devotees as He is pleased even with the slightest of devotion.  SrI
v.v. rAmAnujan refers us to nammAzhvAr's tiruvAimozhi 8.8.1, where he
declares this saulabhyam of perumAL:  kaNgaL Sivandu peria vAiÂ…..on
Sa'ngu gadai vAL AzhiyAn oruvan aDiyEn uLLAnE (The one unique Lord
shines as my soul's soul inside me). Sri rAmAnujan's anubhavam is that
if someone counts number sequentially starting from one, when they
count 26, He will consider that they have finished counting the 24
tattva-s, and the 25th as AtmA, and when they count the number 26, He
will consider that this person is thinking of Him as the 26th, and will
rush to dwell in this person.  If someone casually keeps recalling the
names of familiar hills, and somewhere mention the names of tirumalai
or tirumAl irum Solai, He will consider this as their recollecting His
place, and will rush to their side.  Such is His desire to help the
devotee and redeem the jIva.  SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN quotes
bhagavAn's own words - mad-bhaktA yatra gAyanti tatra tishThAmi nArada
- "Wherever my devotees invoke My name, I am present there."

b) Under Slokam 29, SrI BhaTTar's interpretation is that bhagavAn is
vasuh because He is the wealth or treasure sought after by great people
to the exclusion of all other wealth - "vAsu-devah sarvam" iti
prakAreNa garIyasAm svayameva dhanam iti vasuh.  SrI rAmAnujan points
out that these are the people who consider that "uNNum SORu parugu nIr
tinnum veRRilai ellAm kaNNan" (tiruvAi. 76.7.1).   The dharma cakram
writer points out that just like a child which gets distracted with
some toys and forgets its mother, we get distracted with the trivial
materialistic wealth often and forget Him;  but just as the mother
embraces the child when it cries for her, bhagavAn embraces us when we
cry for Him instead of for the materialistic pleasures, and realize
that He is the wealth of all wealths.

c) For the current occurrence of the nAma, SrI BhaTTar's interpretation
is in the context of kRshNa incarnation, and he explains the nAma vasuh
as referring to His dwelling in the Milk-Ocean, from where He takes His
incarnations for our benefit.  SrI BhaTTar quotes the following in
support: 

sa lokAnAm hitArthAya kshIrode vasati prabhuh |   (mahA bhAra. SabhA.
47.26) - "The great Lord resides in the Milk-Ocean for doing good to
the people of the world"

esha nArAyaNah SrImAn kshIrArNava niketanah    |
nAga parya'nkam utsRjya hyAgato mathurAm purIm    ||  (harivamSam
113.62)

"This nArAyaNa, Who is always with lakhsmi, resides in the Milk-ocean; 
He has come to the city of MathurA leaving serpent-couch (AdiSesha).

d) e) f) SrI Samkara's interpretation in Slokam 12 is that that nAma
signifies that He is the in-dweller in all beings, and all beings dwell
in Him, or that He is one of the eight vasu-s Himself (vasUnAm
pAvakaScAsmi - gItA 10.23);    In Slokam 23, SrI Samkara gives several
interpretations:  He is the Wealth that He gives Himself to His
devotees;  He is vasuh because He conceals Himself with His mAyA (vas
to cover);  He is one of the vasu-s in the form of vAyu
(vasur-antarikshasat - kaThopanishad 2.2.3 - He is vasu dwelling in the
atmosphere.  The dharma cakram writer identifies the nAma with fire,
which according to him is the most important of the ashTa vasu-s in
nature.

g) SrI cinmayAnanda gives the explanation that He is the final refuge
of all, and this is what is signified by this nAma. 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan   



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