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Re: SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 71 - Part 3 - brahma-vivardhanah.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Narasimhan Krishnamachari • March 25, 2002 


         SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 71 - brahma-vivardhanah.

670. brahma-vivardhanah - a) He Who makes dharma grow. 
           b) He Who grows and nurtures everything in a big way.     
 
          
Om brahma-vivardhanAya namah.

a) SrI BhaTTar's interpretation here uses the meaning "tapas", which
in itself includes dharma, for the term brahma.  The Sruti text is
"tapo
brahma", and He Who makes it grow is brahma-vivardhanah - tapo
brahma, tam vivardhayati iti brahma-vivardhanah.  SrI satyadevo
vAsishTha gives reference to the Sruti - brahma vai yaj~nah (aiyt.
BrAh. 7.22).  SrI v.v. rAmAnujan adds that tapas involves getting
detached from objects of sensual enjoyment; the more one grows tapas,
the more will be the growth towards enjoyment of Him.

SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the interpretation that because He
nurtures the tattva of brahma in the hearts of His devotees, He is
called brahma-vivardhanah -  brahma tattvam, tat viSesheNa vardhayate
sva-jana hRdayeshu iti brahma-vivardhanah.  SrI cinmayAnanda includes
austerities, veda-s, truth, and knowledge under the term tapas, and
since He grows these in His devotees, He has this nAma.

b) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives another interpretation which uses
the meaning "big" for brahma.  Because He grows things indefinitely and
infinitely, as in the case of a seed yielding a tree, which yields
many more seeds, and the process continue on and on, He is called
brahma-vivradhanah - 

  vivardhanam viSvamidam samastam yatah svayam brahma-vivardhanah sah |
   bIjAcca vRksham kurute vivRddham vRkshAcca bIjAn kurute bahUn sah ||

The dharma cakram writer includes tapas, dhAnam, and yaj~nam under
the term brahma for this nAma.  I have summarized his write-up in the
following:  tapas is the means by which one keeps improving his or
her own self.  When one sacrifices what one has for the benefit of the
society, it is called dhAnam. Doing all our actions through thought,
word, and deed without feeling self-ownership, and dedicating them to
bhagavAn, is yaj~nam.  All karma should be performed without
attachment.  This way of doing karma leads one to forsake the worldly
pleasures, and seek union with God instead.  All the actions that one
undertakes with this feeling become tapas, dhAnam, or yaj~nam.  The
more we indulge in actions in this spirit, the more the world
improves and becomes purer. tapas through deed, or through body, is the
service to bhAgavata-s.   Talking only good things, chanting the
veda-s,
etc., become tapas by word.  Thinking only good thoughts, and not
thinking bad thoughts, becomes tapas through thought.   All this tapas
should be undertaken with no desire for fame or name, and should be as
ordained in the SAstra-s.   Similarly, dhAnam should be done with full
joy in giving, and not with reservation or sadness that one is parting
with one's possessions, or expecting something in return.  Yaj~na
should
again be undertaken with selflessness, and not for show or recognition,
and should be consistent with SAstra-s, and performed with SraddhA. 
It is His thought that grows this path of tapas, dhAnam, and yaj~nam. 
Therefore He is called brahma-vivardhanah.

The above ideas (of sAttvic tapas, dhAnam  and ya~jnam) are clearly
enunciated by bhagavAn in gItA Chapter 17 - SraddhA traya vibhAga
yogah.
 
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan





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