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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 88 - nyag-rodhodumbarah - Part 1.

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champakam • March 21, 2003 


 SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 88 - nyag-rodhodumbarah - Part 1.

827. nyag-rodhodumbarah –  He Who has the Supreme Abode with Lakshmi 
and everything that is magnificent, but Who is at the command of the 
devotees who approach Him with folded hands.

om nyagrodhodumbarAya namah.

This is another nAma which is treated as two separate nAma-s by most 
vyAkhyAna-kartA-s except SrI BhaTTar and his followers.  This nAma is 
an outstanding example that illustrates the uniqueness of SrI 
BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam.  But first, let us look at the individual 
meanings of the two parts:

nyagrodhah – a) He Who is controlled by those who stand below, bowing 
to Him with folded hands.  
		b) He who controls those below Him.
		c) He Who is Primordial, and is above all.
		d) He Who is firmly rooted, and extends in all 
directions in the form of the universe.  
		e) He to Whom those below make a plea for benefits 
that they desire.  
		f) He Who subjugates the enemies of His devotees, and 
punishes them
		g) He Who is desired in their hearts by those who 
worship Him (rudh – kAme – to desire).  

SrI vAsishTha indicates the derivation of the word nyak from the root 
a'nc – gatipUjanayoh – to go, to worship.  ni is an upasarga or 
prefix.  nIcaih a'ncati iti nyak – One who bows low; The word rodhah 
is derived from the root rudh, which has a couple of different 
meanings – rudh – kAme – to obey; rudh – AvaraNe – to oppose.  The 
term nyag-rodah is also used to denote the vaTa vRksham – the banyan 
tree.  Some vyAkhyAnakartA-s look at the nAma as nyag-rohah, using a 
grammar rule that says that the `ha' can be replaced by `gha'.  The 
different interpretations are the results of the above variations.

a) SrI BhaTTar's interpretation is: nyag-bhUtaih – adhah-
kRtA'njalibhih, rudhyate – svaprasAdaunmukhyena vyasthApyate iti nyag-
rodhah – He Who is controlled by those who stand below, bowing to Him 
with folded hands.  SrI BhaTTar stresses the influence of a'njali on 
bhagavAn – a'njalih paramA mudrA kshipram deva-prasAdinI (vishNu 
dharmottara 33.105) - The sight of the a'njali (the act of joining 
hands in supplication), immediately pleases the Lord at once without 
delay.   ALavandAr points to this in stotra ratnam 28 (SrI v.v. 
rAmAnujan):

	tvad-anghrim uddiSya kadA'pi kenacit yathA tathA vA'pi sakRt 
kRto'njalih   |
	tadaiva mushNAtyaSubhAnyaSeshatah SubhAni pushNAti na jAtu 
hIyate   || (stotra. ratna 28)

"If anyone worships Your Feet with folded hands even once at any time 
under any pretence, at that very moment all the sins of this person 
are driven away, and infinite auspices accumulate for this person". 

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan refers to the instance of His being tied to the 
mortar by yaSodA – "kaTTuNNap paNNiaya peru mAyan", as an example of 
this Supreme ParamAtman being subservient to yaSodA's affection.  

b) In one if his interpretations, SrI vAsishTha uses the same roots, 
and comes up with the interpretation that "He is One who controls 
those below" – nyag ruNaddhi iti nyag-rodhah.  

c) SrI Sa'nkara looks at the nAma as nyag-rohah for the purposes of 
interpretation, and then invokes the grammatical 
rule "pRshodarAditvAt hakArasya dhakArAdeSah" which allows for the 
replacement of ha with gha in the above, resulting in nyag-rodhah.  
His vyAkhyAnam is: nyak  arvAk rohati sarveshAm upari vartata iti 
nyagrodhah – which is generally translated as "One Who is Primordial, 
and is above all".  This meaning can be derived by using the root 
ruh – bIja janmani prAdurbhAve ca – to grow, to increase, to rise, to 
reach.  

SrI satya sandha yatirAja also looks at the nAma as nyag-rohah 
(similar to SrI Sa'nkara above), but comes with a different 
interpretation.  He uses the meaning ruh – to grow, and gives the 
explanation that the nAma signifies that "He makes all beings obey 
Him, and grows or develops all the beings" – sarvANi bhUtAni nyakRtya 
rohati vardhata iti.  

In the tamizh translation for SrI Sa'nkara's vyAkhyAnam by SrI 
kAmakoTi kOSa sthAnam in 1948, one of the meanings given for the nAma 
is:  ""ellA uyirgaLaiyum kIzhp paDuttit tan mAyaiyAl mUDik kaTTup 
paDuttukiRAn" – The nAma signifies that He controls all beings that 
are below Him, and envelops them with His mAyA.  This interpretation 
can be derived by using the meaning "below" for "nyak", and the 
meaning "obey" for the word rodhah (rudh kAme – to obey).  

d) The term nyagrodhah also refers to the banyan tree, since this 
tree grows in the downward direction as much as it grows in the 
upward direction. (ruh – to grow) – nIcair-gatau parohair-vardhate; 
nyag rohati – grows downwards.  Because of this, this tree is very 
strongly rooted, and is extremely stable.  SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri 
interprets the nAma as referring to this attribute of bhagavAn, 
namely, that He is firmly rooted, and extends in all directions in 
the form of the universe.  

e) Another interpretation of SrI vAsishTha is – nyagbhih anurudhyate 
= prArthyate IpsitAptaya iti nyag-rodhah – "He to Whom those below 
make a plea for benefits that they desire".  

f) SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN gives the interpretation that "He is 
One who subjugates the enemies of His devotees, and oppresses or 
punishes them" – nyak-kRtya ruNaddhi niraye nikshipati sva-bhakta-
drohiNa iti nyag-rodhah.  (The root used is rudh – AvaraNe – to 
oppose, to oppress;  nyak-kRtyua - subjugating).  

g) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the interpretation: nyagbhih 
praNataih rudhyate hRdaya-pradeSe iti nyag-rodhah – He Who is desired 
in their hearts by those who worship Him (rudh – kAme – to desire). 

-To be continued.

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan





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