SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 73 - Part 6.
From the Bhakti List Archives
• May 24, 2002
SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 73 - puNyah. 692. puNyah -a) The Purifier. b) He Who is excellent in performing pious activities. Om puNyAya namah. This nAma occurs again as nAma 925 in Slokam 98. There are two ways the derivation of the word "puNyah" has been approached - one from the root pU - pavane - to purify, and the other puN - Subha karmaNi - to be pious. The details will be seen below under the respective authors. SrI BhaTTar gives the definition - punAti iti puNyah - He who purifies is puNyah, which is derived from the root pU - pavane to purify. SrI BhaTTar points out that bhagavAn has this nAma because He purifies even the worst of the sinners and makes them fit for extolling Him. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan observes that the nAma "puNyan" for bhagavAn in tamizh is a favorite of the AzhvArs. Among the references he gives are from tirumazhiSai AzhvAr - "anantan mEl kiDanda em puNNiyA!" (tiruccanda viruttam 45), and from tiruma'ngai AzhvAr - "un aDiyEn manam pugunda ap pulava! puNNiyanE!" (periya tirumozhi 3.5.7). SrI Samkara interprets this nAma to mean that He is a Purifier because thought about Him purifies the person who thinks about Him - smRtimAtreNa kalmashANi kshapayati iti puNyah. The dharma cakram writer explains that just as the thoughts of indriya-sukham are thoughts that are not conducive to His realization, the thoughts about Him produce the purity that leads to His realization. Under nAma 925, SrI BhaTTar gives the above as his second interpretation for this nAma - that by the mere contemplation of His kIrti pertaining to His helping His devotees, we become pure. He gives the example of bhagavAn's protection of gajendra, and observes that the meditation of His kIrti through acts such as this will purify us. This same interpretation and example are presented by SrI baladeva vidyAbhUshaN for this nAma under Slokam 98. For the occurrence of this nAma in Slokam 98, SrI Samkara gives the interpretation that bhagavAn has the nAma puNyah because He enables all to be righteous by His teachings through the Sruti-s and smRti-s - sarveshAm Sruti smRti lakshaNayA vAcA puNyam AcashTa iti vA puNyah. Under the current Slokam, SrI baladeva vidyAbhUshaN comments that bhagavAn is a Purifier of this world in the sense of eliminating or removing the wicked (such as kamsa). SrI satyadevo vAsishTha derives the nAma starting from the root pU - pavane - to purify, and gives the derivation - pavata iti, pUyate vA anena iti puNyah - pavitrah pApAnaviddhah Subho vA - He who purifies, or One by whom things are purified is puNyah; or, One who is pure, devoid of any sin, auspicious, etc. He gives the example of bhagavAn in the form of the Sun purifying all objects in the universe, in addition to being pure Himself. In addition to the above derivation and interpretation,both SrI satyadevo vAsishTha and SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj also give the alternative derivation of the nAma starting from the root puN - Subha karmaNi - to be pious. SrI bhAradvAj gives the derivation as "puNati Subham karma Acarati iti puNyah - One Who observes pious activities is puNyah. By the grammatical rule "tatra sAdhuh" (ashTAdyAyI 4.4.98), with the addition the yat pratyaya to puNa, the term puNyah means "One who is excellent in observing the pious activities", and not just in the sense of being good. BhagavAn sets the example to His devotees on performing pious acts by performing them Himself. He leads by example. Thus, bhagavAn is puNyah (the Purifier) because a) He purifies even the worst of sinners by making them think of Him; b) He purifies this world by eliminating the wicked from our midst during His incarnations; c) His thought is a purifier for those who meditate on Him; d) He purifies everything in the form of the Sun; e) He guides us to be righteous through the Sruti and smRti. Alternatively, He is puNyah (One who excels in observing pious activities) because He excels in the practice of pious activities so that He sets an example for others to follow. -To be continued. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience http://launch.yahoo.com -------------------------------------------------------------- - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH - To Post a message, send it to: bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com Group Home: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bhakti-list Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/ Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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