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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Part 5.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • May 16, 2002 


      SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 73 - pUrNah, pUrayitA.

690. pUrNah - He Who is complete.

Om pUrNAya namah.

The root from which the nAma is derived is pUrI - ApyAyane - to fill,
to satisfy.   

SrI BhaTTar gives the interpretation that since He is
avApta-samasta-kAman (One Who has all His desires fulfilled, and has
nothing else to wish for), He is pUrNah.  SrI BhaTTar notes that this
is why it is easy to please Him with just words of praise, with no
expenditure of any kind involved, no physical strain, and no need for
elaborate worship.  nammAzhvAr sings His pURNattvam in  tiruvAimozhi
(4.5.7, 4.510) - ellA ulagum uDaiyAn tannai, tanadE ulagena ninRAn
tannai (references from SrI v.v. rAmAnujan).   SrI cinmayAnanda points
out that He is lakshmI-pati, and there is nothing that He does not
have.

SrI Samkara comments that He has all objects of desire, and all Sakti-s
or energies, and so He is pUrNah - sakalaih kAmaih, sakalAbhih
SaktibhiSca sampanna iti pUrNah. Thus, He not only has all that is
desired, but also has all the powers to fulfill all that is desired. 
He is also pUrNah in the sense that He is everywhere, and permeates and
pervades everything (SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri).  Since everything is part
of Him, and there is nothing that is not part of Him, there is nothing
for Him to desire.  SrI SAstri refers us to the well-known upanishadic
passage "pUrNamadah pUrNamidam pUrNAt pUrNamudacyate; pUrNasya
pUrNamAdAya pUrNamevAvaSishyate" (SAnti pATha of ISAvAsya uapnishad,
bRhadA. 5.1.1) -  He is complete in all respects; whatever emanates
from Him is complete; His fullness is such that even though many things
emanate from Him that are complete, He remains complete in all
respects.   Other upanishadic references he gives are: pUrNam apravarti
(bRhaDA. 2.1.5), and tadetat pUrNam apravarti  (chAndoygya. 3.12).  

SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj adds additional anubhavam for this nAma - a)
He is filled with infinite kalyANa guNa-s, and so He is pUrNah -
pUryate ApyAyate sma kalyANa guNaih iti pUrNah;  b) He is easily
fulfilled and satisfied with the simple offerings from His devotees,
such as flowers, fruits, etc. - bhaktArpitaih phala kusumAdibhih
tarpita iti pUrNah.  

SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN builds on his vyAkhyAnam for the previous
nAma, and interprets the current nAma to mean that He is perfect in the
sense of finishing off His enemies once for all without trace.  

Thus, among the different anubhavam-s for this nAma are: a) He is full,
with all desires fulfilled; b) He is complete with all the kalyANa
guNa-s; c) He is easily satisfied and fulfilled with the simple
offerings of His devotees; d) He is filled with all the Sakti-s that
are needed to fulfill any possible desire; e) He permeates and pervades
everything, and there is nothing that is not part of Him. 

The dharma cakram writer discusses the implications of this nAma to our
daily life.  PUrNa is the fulfilled or completely satisfied state.  The
general observation in our lives is that as we succeed more in our
material life, we become more and more dissatisfied, because our needs
and wants keep growing more.  The modern day education only helps grow
this material need.  The term 'kalvi' signifies 'kalludal', digging
into.  The true purpose of kalvi should be to bring out the good in us
and to develop the desire to seek Him.  But the modern day education
only digs out more desire, more wants, and helps us lose whatever
little good we might have had to start with.  We become even more of
pleasure seekers and wealth seekers as we get the modern education. 
The more devices we discover to defend ourselves, the more the fear in
us increases of possible attacks.  Lack of trust and faith in Him is
the general result of the education we receive nowadays.  The
significance of this nAma for us should be to realize that the joy we
are seeking externally is really within us, and to realize our true
nature and become fulfilled through this realization of the true nature
of our selves.    

691. pUrayitA - The Fulfiller of the desires of His devotees.

Om pUrayitre namah.

bhagavAn has the nAma pUrayitA because He bestows anything that anyone
desires depending on their merit - dharma, artha, kAma or moksha.  SrI
BhaTTar gives the interpretation that He has this nAma because He 
fulfills the desire of the devotees to sing His praise.  In other
words, bhagavAn is pUrayitA by becoming a stava-priyah (nAma 685) for
the sake of His devotees, and fulfilling their desire to praise Him,
even through He is a pUrNah (previous nAma), and thus does not need the
praise of the devotees.   His true devotees would only seek the chance
to do kaimkaryam to Him by pleasing Him through praise etc., and this
is what He fulfills, as signified by the nAma pUrayitA.

SrI Samkara continues on his interpretation for the previous nAma, and
points out that bhagavAn is not just fulfilled Himself (pUrNah), but He
makes others fulfilled as well (pUrayitA) at the appropriate time, by
bestowing whatever they seek.

The dharma cakram writer gives some instances of the unique ways in
which bhagavAn fulfils the desires of those who seek His help, all the
time upholding dharma.  The story of arjuna and duryodhana seeking help
from Lord kRshNa for the mahAbhArata war is interesting.  Lord kRshNa
bestowed both arjuna's and duryodhana's wishes, though ultimately He
made sure that dharma won.  BhIshma, the great devotee of kRshNa,
declared to duryodhana that he will fight so ferociously that he will
make kRshNa break His vow and take to arms during the war.  BhagavAn
fulfilled bhIshma's promise, because it was the wish of a devotee.  By
fulfilling His devotees' wishes, all He is doing is fulfilling His own
wishes, since He wants to ensure that His devotees' words are true. 
The reason that bhagavAn always fulfills His devotees' wishes is
because their wish is never contrary to His wish under any
circumstance.  In the mahAbhArata war, even though bhIshma was on
duryodhana's side, he blessed yudhisThira that he should win the war,
which was the same as bhagavAn's wish.  

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan  


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