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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 73 - Part 4.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • May 10, 2002 


     SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 73 - Part 4.

688. stotA - a) He Who praises those who extol Him.
	b) He Who is also the form of the Eulogizer of bhagavAn.
	
Om stotre namah.

SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is "sva-stotAram stotum Seelam asya iti stotA"
- He Whose nature it is to praise those who praise Him is stotA.  He
quotes from vishNu dharma in support:  "yam stuvan stavyatAmeti
vandamAnaSca vandyatAm" (75.55) - "He Who praises bhagavAn is praised
by bhagavAn Himself, and he who adores bhagavAn becomes an object of
adoration for Him".  SrI BhaTTar gives the example of bhagavAn's
kailAsa yAtra in His kRshNa incarnation.   The incident referred to is
Lord kRshNa's praise of Siva in the form of a hymn during the kailAsa
yAtra.  Siva constantly meditates on bhagavAn through the tAraka
mantra, and so He becomes an object of stuti by bhagavAn, as He says in
hari vamSa - "One who praises Me becomes praiseworthy".   SrI kRshNa
datta bhAradvAj gives the same interpretation as SrI BhaTTar - stauti
sva-janAn iti stotA.  SrI baladeva vidyAbhUshan gives the reason for
bhagavAn praising His devotee - He wants to bring out the greatness of
such a devotee.  He quotes from the gItA - j~nAnI tvAtmaiva me matam
(7.18).  Solkam 7.17 of the gItA also conveys this idea:

teshAm j~nAni nitya-yukta eka-bhaktir viSishyate;   |
priyo hi j~nAnino'tyartham aham sa ca mama priyah   || 

where Lord kRshNa declares that the devotee who has exclusive devotion
to Him is extremely dear to Him.  SrI cinmayAnanda refers us to the
gItA Slokam 12.14 - mayyarpita mano-buddhir yo mad-bhaktah sa me
priyah.  

The dharma cakram writer elaborates on the attributes or qualities of
the devotee whom bhagavAn praises.  This devotee shows kindness to all,
has overcome anger, considers pleasure and pain as equal, is pure in
thought, word and deed, dedicates all his actions to bhagavAn, is
neither happy when he obtains objects of pleasure nor unhappy when he
is faced with objects of displeasure, is neither positively influenced
by praise nor negatively influenced by unkind words, etc. Lord kRshNa
describes such a devotee in Chapter 16 of the gItA among other places.

b) SrI Samkara's vyAkhyAnam is - stotA api sa eva, sarva AtmakatvAt -
so He is the Eulogizer as well.  SrI cinmayAnanda obsrves that the true
devotee who sings the divine hymns of the Lord dissolves in the Lord
(becomes one with the Lord), and is in at-one-ment with Him.  

689. raNa-priyah -  a) He Who delights in battle.
	b) He Who delights in the auspicious sounds in places of worship.
	c) He Who moves around happily in the form of the Sun etc. 

Om raNa-priyAya namah.

The word raNa has two meanings - raNa gatau, raNa Sabda arthah- it can
mean motion or sound.  The different interpretations draw on these two
different meanings.

Generically, raNa-priyah thus means one who delights in moving around,
accompanied by sound.   Thus, the term raNa is used to refer to battle,
where a vIra purusha moves around with joy in confronting his enemies. 
SrI Samkara and SrI BhaTTar use this meaning (battle) in their
interpretations.  SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the meaning "movement",
while SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj uses the meaning "sound".

He is raNa-priyah when it comes to dealing with the enemies of those
who have surrendered to Him and sought His protection.  He delights in
battle for the purposes of protection those who seek refuge in Him, and
for protection of righteousness.  The fight against rAvaNa in His rAma
incarnation, and the destruction of duryodhana and other demons in His
kRshNa incarnation are among the widely known examples of His guNa of
raNa-priyah.  These are for the protection of the good and the
destruction of the evil - paritrANAya sAdhUnAm vinASAya ca dushkRtAm
dharma smasthApaNArthAyaÂ….    

SrI BhaTTar quotes sage vAlmIki in yuddha kANDa:

	tatah sakAmam sugrIvam a'ngadam ca mahA-balam   |
	cakAra rAghavah prIto hatvA rAvaNamAhave    ||   (yuddha. 111.31)

"Sri rAma killed rAvaNa in the fight and felt happy that He fulfilled
the desires of the powerful sugrIva and a"ngada".  

SrI Samkara refers to His carrying the great pa'ncAyudha-s ever ready
for the protection of the world - yatah pa'nca mahAyudhAni dhatte
satatam loka rakshaNArtham ato raNa-priyah.  

b) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives an interpretation which is
different from the other vyAkyAna kartA-s:  raNo ravah mandireshu
ma'ngala dhvanih; sa priyo yasya iti raNa-priyah - The auspicious sound
in the temples is called raNah or ravah; since these are pleasant to
Him, He is referred to as raNa-priyah. 

c) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the meaning of movement for raNa, and
gives the interpretation that He is called raNa-priyah because He
delights in moving around in the hearts of everyone and removing the
darkness in them and enlightening them, or He delights in moving around
in the form of the Sun and removing the darkness in the world.

The dharma cakram writer points out that life intrinsically is a
struggle of one thing vs. another.  For one life to live, some other
life or some aspect of another life is destroyed.  For us to be
relieved from evil influences, we have to fight to overcome the evil. 
bhagavAn has the big task of fighting against the evils of the world,
and this is what He signifies by carrying the pa'ncAyudha-s.  This nAma
of bhagavAn should remind us that our life is a big struggle and a
fight to keep the bad from us, and to constantly assert the good in us.

 
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

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