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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 88 - nyag-rodhodumbarah - Part 2.

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champakam • Sun Mar 23 2003 - 04:56:32 PST 


  SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 88 - nyag-rodhodumbarah - Part 2.

udumbarah:

a)	He Who has the most auspicious SrI vaikuNTham as His own.
b)	He Who is `above the sky', i.e., superior to all.
c)	He Who nourishes the world in the form of food etc.
d)	One Who has the best of sounds – the veda-s, as His form.
e)	He Who is praised by the highest and best of sounds - 
bhajans, nAma-sa'nkIrtana-s etc.
f)	He Who has the superior pItAmbaram as His garment (ud-
ambarah).

ut is an upasarga (prefix).  ambaram refers to the sky (derived from 
am – gati Sabda sambhaktishu – to go, to eat, to sound).  ut + ambara 
= ud-ambara, which becomes ud-umbara because of a grammatical rule - 
pRshodarAdi lakshaNam.     

a) SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is:  sarva-guNaih udgatam ambaram – param 
dhAma asya iti ud-umbarah – He Who has as the Supreme Abode, SrI 
vaikuNTham, is udumbarah.  This abode is Supreme because it has 
Lakshmi, and it rises above all other things by its magnificent 
qualities (ut).  

b) SrI Sa'nkara's vyAkhyAnam is that "He is `above the sky' i..e., He 
is superior to all – amabarAt udgatah ud-ambarah.  SrI cinmayAnanda 
adds that the cause is subtler than the effect, and thus, the 
essential principle, nArAyaNa, transcends even the concept of space.

c) SrI Sa'nkara gives an alternate interpretation using the 
meaning "food" for the word "Urk", and gives the explanation for the 
nAma as "Urk annam, tad-AtmanA viSvam poshayan udambarah – He Who 
nourishes the world in the form of food etc.  He gives the support 
from Sruti – UrgvA annAd yad udumbaram (tait. brAh. 1.2.7, 1.3.8).

d) SrI vAsishTha uses the root am – Sabde – to sound, and interprets 
the nAma ud-umbarah as "One Who has the best of sounds – the veda-s, 
as His form" – uccaih sarvata uttamo veda-rUpah Sabdo yasya sa ud-
umbarah sarveSvaro vishNuh.  

e) Based on the same root, SrI vAsishTha gives another explanation – 
He Who is praised by the highest and best of sounds: bhajans, nAma-
sa'nkIrtana-s etc., – ut sarvata utkRshTatvena ambyate = Sabdyate = 
sa'nkIrtyata iti ud-umbarah.   

f) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the interpretation: ut utkRshTam 
ambaram pItAmbaram yasya sah udumbarah  -  He Who has the superior 
pItAmbaram as His garment is ud-ambarah.  Here, he uses the word 
ambaram with the meaning "garment".

nyag-rodha-udumbarah:  

Now that we have seen the separate meanings of the two nAma-s nyag-
rodah and udumbarah, let us revisit the interpretation of SrI BhaTTar 
for this as one nAma.  We note that SrI BhaTTar's explanation for the 
part nyag-rodah was that "bhagavAn is One who is subservient to the 
devotees who stand in front of Him with their folded hands", and 
for "udumbarah", the interpretation was that "He is One Who has the 
Supreme Abode as His, with Lakshmi and with all that is 
magnificent".  The reasons for combining the two into one nAma now 
stands out at us:  "Even though bhagavAn is One Who is endowed with 
everything that is Supreme, He is just at the command of His devotees 
when they stand in front of Him with folded hands".  SrI BhaTTar's 
words are: atyucchrita-sevyo'pi atyanta-nIcAnAmapi anuvartana-
sAdhyah – Though He is worshipped by the highest of the gods, He is 
within easy reach of the lowliest of persons (because it is possible 
to please Him easily.  No language or words can capture this 
saulabhyaam of emperumAn.  This nAma in SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is 
perhaps one of the best examples of the uniqueness of his 
contribution through his vyAkhyAnam, appropriately titled 
as "bhagavad guNa darpaNam", where he repeatedly brings out the two 
supreme qualities of bhagavAn – His saulabhyam and His sauSeelyam. 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan 





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