SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 71 - Part 4.
From the Bhakti List Archives
• March 29, 2002
SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 71 - brahma-vit.
671. brahma-vit - a) The Knower of the veda-s.
b) He Who restored the veda-s during His matsya incarnation.
c) He Who knows everything big, both seen and unseen, and those that
can only be inferred.
om brahma-vide namah.
brahma vetti iti brahma-vit - He Who knows brahma is brahma-vit.
a) The term brahma in the current nAma is interpreted as referring to
the veda-s by SrI BhaTTar. The veda-s are endless - anantA vai vedAh,
and Lord SrIman nArAyaNa is the Only One who knows all there is to know
of the veda-s in their entirety:
anAdi nidhanam brahma na devA na Rshayo viduh |
ekas tad veda bhagavAn dhAtA nArAyaNah svayam || (mahA. Moksha.
380.19)
"The veda is both beginningless and endless. Neither the gods, nor
the sages, know it in entirety. The one great Creator, bhagavAn
nArAyaNa alone knows it, by Himself". Note that the veda-s are the
ones that reveal Him, and just as He cannot be entirely known, so also
the veda-s cannot be entirely known, except by Him. SrI v.v.
rAmAnujan gives reference to the gItA - vedAnta-kRt veda-videva cAham
(15.15) - "I am the One who brings about the fruition of the vedic
acts, and I am the Knower of the veda-s".
bhagavad rAmAnuja in his commentary on verse 15.15 of the gItA
indicates that by "knowledge of the veda" is meant the understanding
that He is the One who is the object of worship to all other devatA-s
such as agni, vAyu, etc. - aham hi sarva yaj~nAnAm bhoktA ca prabhureva
ca (9.24), that He is One who brings fruition to all the offerings -
labhate ca tatah kAmAn mayaiva vihitAn hi tAn (7.22), that He is the
One to be known from the veda-s - vedaiSca sarvaih ahameva vedyah
(15.15),. Anyone who does not clearly understand these, and interprets
the veda-s in any other sense, is not a knower of the veda-s.
SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives references to peria tirumozhi of tiruma'ngai
AzhvAr in support of SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnakm: paNDAya vEda'ngaL
nAngum aindu vELvigaLum kELviyODu a'ngam ARum kaNDAnai (2.5.9), paNDai
nAn maRaiyum vELviyum kELvip pada'ngaLum pada'ngaLin poruLumÂ… tAnAi
ninRa em perumAn (5.7.1).
b) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj uses the meaning vid - lAbhe - to get or
to find, and interprets the nAma in terms of His matsya incarnation
where He restored the veda-s when they were escaping from brahma's
mouth - visramsitAn uru bhaye salile mukhAt me AdAya tatra vijahAra ha
veda mArgAn - SrImad bhAgavatam - 2.7.12) - (The four-faced brahma's
words - Because of my great fear at the vast waters at the end of the
millennium, the veda-s came out of my mouth, and the Lord who enjoys
those waters protected the veda-s).
c) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the meaning brahma = anything big,
seen or unseen, and gives the interpretation that bhagavAn is
brahma-vit, because He alone knows all things big, that are seen or
unseen, or that can be perceived only through j~nAna, and He is the
One who creates them, sustains them, and grows them bigger. His samkRt
wording is worth repeating - vivRddham vivardhanam vA brahma, dRSyam
adRSyam j~nAna mAtra gamyam ca yat, tad sarvam ko vetti iti praSne
vaktum Sakyate, sa eva sarvasya AdhAro bhagavAn vishNuh vetti iti,
tasmAt sa brahma-vit.
The dharma cakram writer points out that the true knowledge of the
veda-s lies in understanding the differences between the prakRti, the
jIva, and paramAtman, and in particular, in realizing the distinction
between the jIva and the Supreme One. Those who try to analyze and
dissect the lives of rAma, kRshNa, etc., as if they are ordinary jIva-s
like us, are the ones who are truly ignorant of the veda-s, since they
have not realized the difference between the jIvAtmA and paramAtmA.
The veda-s are a secret (maRai) to those who don't have the mental
maturity to realize the truth behind the veda-s. The realization that
He is not just a purusha but the purushottama, that He is beyond the
three guNa-s, that He is the Supreme in everything, that there is
nothing that binds Him or constrains Him, etc., is the true knowledge
of the veda-s.
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
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