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SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 60 -Part 2.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • May 15, 2000 


	  SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 60 - Part 2.

569. jyotir-Adityah - a) The Resplendent Aditya.
b) He Who resides in the disc of the sun.
c) He Who glows like the sun


om jyotir-AdityAya namah.

a) His tejas is such that it makes the sun look like a dark spot by
comparison.  SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is "divyAScarya jyotir-mayatvAt
apUrvah jyotir-Adityah.  He gives reference to mahAbhArata:

"nishprabhANi ca tejAmsi brahmA caiva AsanAt cyutah"  (SAnti. 344.90)

"When nara and nArAyaNa began to fight with bhava (rudra), all the
luminaries became void of their luminosity, and brahma too slipped from
his seat".

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives the references to divya prabandham:  nandAda
kozhum SuDar (tirumozhi 1.10.9), umbar vAnavar Adiyam jyoti.

b) He is the cause of the brilliance of the sun  (dhyeyah sadA
savitRmaNDala madhyavartI nArAyaNah sarasijAsana sannivishTah).  He is
jyoti of the Aditya or the sun - the antaryAmi of the sun.   SrI
Samkara's vyAkhyAnam is:  jyotishi savitRmaNdale sthitah,
jyotir-Adityah.  
c) SrI kRshNa bhAradvAj gives the interpretation - dyotate dIpyati iti
jyotih  |  jyotih Aditya iva iti jyotirAdityah - He Who shines like the
sun.  He gives the following support:  "vedAhametam purusham mahAntam 
| Aditya varNam tamasah parastAt  || (SvetAS. Upa. 3.8), and "sarvasya
dhAtAram acintya rUpam Aditya varNam tamasah parastAt (gItA 8.9).  


570 (146):  sahishNuh - a) He Who is endowed with enormous patience.
b)  He Who forgives.
c) He Who suffers patiently for us with perfect detachment.
d) He Who conquers His foes.
e) He Who willingly accepts the offerings of His devotees.
f) He Who can bear the opposites - like heat and cold.

om sahishNave namah.

This nAma has occurred before as nAma 146.  See the write-up under that
nAma as well.

a) SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is "aparAdha sahanAt sahishNuh" - Because
He puts up with all kinds of aparAdha-s.  SrI BhaTTar refers to the
"fight that bhagavAn had with Siva", and bhagavAn's putting up with
Siva's aparAdham and forgiving him after he was defeated.  It appears
that the reference here is to the yuddha where Siva tried to support
bANAsura against bhagavAn.  SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives other instances
where bhagavAn has displayed His enormous patience.  He put up with the
enormous abusive language from SiSupAla - kETpAr Sevi Sudu kIzhmai
vaSavugaLE vaiyum pazham pagaivan SiSupAlan tATpAl aDainda tanmaiyan
(tiruvAimozhi 7.5.3); pala pala nAzha'ngaL Sollip pazhitta SiSupAlan
tannai alaivalaimai tavirtta azhagan (periAzh. 4.3.5). 

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives reference to SrImad rAmAyaNam - kshmayA
pRthivI samah - Lord rAma's patience is like that of Mother Earth
herself, who puts up with all our abuses and still does not retaliate. 
Another of his very interesting observations is that He was born to the
likes of devaki, aditi, kausalyA etc., and so inherited the patience
from them (recall the life histories of the three!), and displayed it
in each of His incarnations.  

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha notes that patience is bhagavAn's Nature, His
dharma, His conduct - sahate tat Silah, tad-dharmah, tad-sAdhuh.  His
dharma of patience is inculcated in every aspect of His creation,
including the structure of the body which is provided with a skeleton
that bears the weight and structure of the rest of the body without
collapsing etc.    

b) Under the vyAkhyAna for nAma 146, SrI BhaTTar eloquently describes
bhagavAn's guNa of forgiving the apacAra of His devotees when they
surrender to Him:

   "prAk, Urdhvam ca, sa'ncitAnAm, buddhyA, abuddhyA, sakalakaraNaih,
sarvadA, sarvathA ca, pracIyamAnAnAm, vidhi-nisheda Sasana
atila'nghanAtmanAm, sAdhAraNAnAm, asAdhAraNAnAm ca,
svAvaj~nA-nindAnInAm, sarvamsahena svenApi dus-sahAnAm, sva-bhakta
vishayANAm ca, anavadhikAnAm aparAdhAnAm, sahishNuh"

    "He forgives the accumulated sins that were committed in the past
or to be committed in the future, sins committed consciously or
unconsciously by all the organs of sense at all times and in all ways,
sins committed by not observing the SAstric injunctions or by doing
acts forbidden by the SAstra-s, sins that are common and uncommon, sins
committed by insulting Him and abusing Him, as well as the sins against
His own devotees". 

In SaraNAgati gadyam, SrI bhagavad rAmAnuja lists some of  the enormous
apacAra-s that we all commit, and asks His forgiveness on our behalf.  

	"mano vAk kAyaih anAdikAla pravRtta ananta akRtyakaraNa akaraNa
bhagavad-apacAra bhAgavata-apacAra asahya-apacAra-rUpa
nAnA-vidha-asahya apacArAn Arabdha kAryAn anArabdha kAryAn kRtAn
kRiyamANAn karishyamANAnSca sarvAn aSeshatah kshamasva" - 

"apacAra-s performed through thought, word and deed, sins committed
through the infinite number of births, the infinite sins  accrued from
performing acts that are forbidden and from not performing karma-s that
are prescribed, the apacAra-s committed towards Him and towards His
devotees (bhAgavata-s), all the varieties and shades of sins that we
commit that can't possibly be tolerated and forgiven, those that have
already begun to fructify and those are still to take their effects,
the sins that we have committed in the past, those that we are actively
committing now, and those that we will commit in the future"

bhagavAn forgives all these without any left-over IF WE UNCONDITIONALLY
SURRENDER TO HIM.  This is the basic concept of prapatti.  

SrI v.v. rAmAnujan refers us to divya prabandham - 

	"tan aDiyAr tiRattagattut tAmariyAL Agilum Sidagu uraikkumEl en aDiyAr
adu SeyyAr SeidArEl nanRu SeidAt enbar pOlum (periAzh. 4.9.2)", to show
the magnanimity of His forgiving nature.  

Interpretations b, c, and d are covered in the earlier write-up for
nAma 146.

e) SrI kRshnadatta  bhAradvAj gives the interpretation - "sahitum
tRptim anubhavitum bhakta upahRtaih phalAdibhih Silam yasya iti
sahishNuh", and "sodhum tRptim anubhavitum svajasevayA Silam asya iti
sahishNuh", which signify that He willingly accepts and is satisfied by
even the simple offerings such as fruits by His devotees, and by the
services that they offer.  Recall "patram pushpam phalam toyamÂ…" in
SrImad bhagavadgItA (9.26).

f) SrI Samkara's vyAkhyAnam for the current instance of this nAma is
that He is capable of putting up with opposites like heat and cold -
dvandvAni SitoshNAdIni sahata iti sahishNuh.  For bhagavAn, there is no
difference between these opposites, since He is unaffected by any of
these such as happiness vs. sorrow.  SrI anantakRshNa SAstri observes
that this was vividly demonstrated by bhagavAn in His intense penance
as nara nArAyaNa in badari. 

570. gati-sattamah - a) The best instructor in the path of dharma.
b) The Best among the refuges to be sought.
c) The Ultimate Support and the Greatest of all beings.

om gati-sttamAya namah.

The several ways in which this nAma has been interpreted correspond to:
 sad-gatih tamah; gatih sattamah ca; sat tamah gatih;  etc.  

a) SrI BhaTTar gives the vyAkhyAnam - sa eva parama
dharmAdhvadesikatvena gati-sattamah - gatau pratyayita tamah - He is
the Best Instructor there is for dharma (He gave us the gItA, the
veda-s, etc.).  SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives reference to tiruvAimozhi
which conveys the same idea:  ARRa nalla vagai kATTum ammAn (4.5.5); 
"nambanE! navinREtta vallavargaL nAthanE! (periAzhvAr tiru. 5.1.9); 
neRi vASal tAnEyAi ninRAn (mudal tiru. 4) - where neRi means the path
of dharma.
b) SrI Samkara interprets this nAma as representing the two attributes
of bhagavAn - gatih and sattamah - He is the path and He is the Best -
gatiSca asau sattamaSca iti gati-sattamah.  He is the ultimate resort
and support of all (gatih), and He is the greatest of all beings
(sat-tamah).  
c) SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives the interpretation that He is the best
among the objects/places that are to be sought.  This is because He is
forgiving  and patient (previous two nAma-s), and so He will not ignore
those who have sinned, and so He is the easiest path and therefore the
best path in this sense also.  SrI kRshNadatta bhAradvAj gives the
interpretation:  "gantavya sthAne gatiprayogah - The term gatih is used
in the sense of the place worthy of reaching".  He further adds: 
"SrIman nArAyaNa caraNAvinda sAnnidhyameva savottamam gantavyam".  SrI
satyadevo vAsishTha also echoes the same interpretation - gati Sabdena
iha gatirASrayah gRhyate, tena gatirASritAnAm SreshThatamo
gatisattamah.  

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 
 













 





   









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