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SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 53 - Part 2.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • May 21, 1999 


		SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 53 - Part 2.

		SarIra-bhUta-bhr*t - a) He who supports all the tattva-s which
constitute the SarIra.
 b) He who supports all beings which are part of His body.
 c) He who protects the devatA-s who are associated with different
parts of the body.
 
 om SarIra-bhUta-bhr*te namah.
 
 The term bhUta can refer to the pa~nca mahA bhUta-s, the 24 tattva-s
or Reals of which the pa~nca mahA bhUta-s are a subset, or to the
entire universe of all beings.  Thus there are different
interpretations for the nAma.   SrI BhaTTar uses the meaning of bhUta
as referring to the 24 tattva-s or Reals that are the elements involved
in creation - prakr*ti, mahat, ahankAra, sound, ether, touch, air,
sight, light, taste, water, smell, earth, mind, eye, ear, nose, mouth,
skin, tounge, hand, leg, anus, and the organ of reproduction.  These
are the SarIra-bhuta-s are the elements of creation.  BhagavAn supports
these tattva-s through His body, i.e., they are part of Him.  SrI
BhaTTar gives reference to mahAbhArata - tasya mUrdhA samabhavat dyauh
sa-nakshatra devatA - His head was the sky along with the stars and the
deities - SAnti parva 348.49.  SrI v.v. rAmAnujan refers to
tiruvAimozhi 10.7.10 where nammAzhvAr refers to these 24 tattva-s: 
"po~ngaimpulanum poRi aindum karumEndiriyam aim-bUtam I~ngiv-vuyirEi
pirakiruti mAnA~ngAra mana~ngaLE" - the five senses such as sound, the
five sense-organs, the five action-oriented limbs, the five elements
like earth, prakr*ti, mahat, ahamkAra, and manas or mind.  
 
 A more general meaning for the word bhUta is anything that exists
(from bhU - satyAyAm - all that is true or exists - SrI v.v.
rAmAnujan).  Since all these beings are His body, and since He supports
(bhr*t) these bhUta-s which are part of His SarIra, He is
SarIra-bhUta-bhr*t. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan and SrI P. B. aNNa~ngarAcArya
svAmi have given this interpretation.  SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives the
support again from tiruvAimozhi 10.7.2 - "tAnEyAgi nirAindu ellA ulagum
uyirum tAnEyAiÂ… ninRozhindAn".
 
 SrI Sa~nkara gives the interpretation that since bhagavAn nourishes
the elements of the body, and since He Himself is the prANa (the vital
air), He is SarIra-bhUta-bhr*t.
 
 SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives an alternate interpretation.  Different
devatA-s are associated with different parts of our body - the Sun with
the eyes, the moon with the mind, the skin with vAyu, the color or
vArNa with ISA etc.  BhagavAn is the Protector of these SarIra-bhUta-s
or devatA-s, and so He is called SarIra-bhUta-bhr*t.
 
498. bhoktA - The Enjoyer.

om bhoktre namah.

This nAma occurred earlier as nAma 145.

There the nAma was explained as referring to bhagavAn's guNa of
enjoying even the simplest offerings from His devotee.  "patram,
pushpam, phalam, toyam..." from the gItA (9.26) was referenced.  He is
also the Ultimate Enjoyer of the offerings to all the gods (bhoktAram
yaj~na tapasAm sarvaloka maheSvaramÂ… gItA 5.29).  Under the current
nAma SrI BhaTTar extends this guNa of bhokta to include not only the
offerings to the gods (havya), but also to the kavya, the offering to
our pitr*-s or the deceased ancestors - havya kavya bhujo vishNoh
udak-pUrve mahodadhau (mahAbhArata Santi parva 348.3) - bhagavAn is
stationed in the north-est ocean and consumes the havya and kavya that
are offered with sincerity.   SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives several
references to support the interpretation:

- tiruvAimozhi 5.6.4 - Seigaip-payan uNbEnum yAnE ennum (5.6.4); 
- ahamannamahamannamahamannam  ahamannAdo'hamannAdo'hamannAdah -
taittirIya upanishad - I am the food or the object of enjoyment for My
devotees, and I am the Enjoyer or consumer of the offerings of My
devotees as well; 
- nammAzhvAr's tiruvAimozhi 9.6.10 - vArik-koNDu ennai vizhun~guvan
kANil enRuÂ….ennil munnam pArittu tAn ennai muRRap paruginAn - AzhvAr
and bhagavAn are competing with each other to enjoy each other, and
bhagavAn succeeds in the competition! 
- tiruvAimozhi pASuram 10.10.11 - avA aRac-cUzh ariyai - He who mingles
with His devotees intimately and to His heart's content. 

The obvious examples of kaNNan accepting with great delight the handful
of puffed rice from kucela, and His accepting the food offered by
vidura over that offered by duryodhana are well-known. 

SrI cinmayAnanda gives two derivations for the meaning for bhoktA
-bhunakti iti bhoktA - The Protector, and bhunkte iti bhoktA - The
Enjoyer.  SrI satyadevo vAsishTha nicely expresses this - rakshako
bhakshaNaSca.  He creates, protects, and then swallows at the time of
pralaya.  

The dharma cakram writer explains the function of bhagavAn as bhoktA in
a way that applies to our day-to-day life.  BhagavAn is in all of us -
in some cases He is the observer, in others He is the guide, in yet
others He is the Enjoyer, etc. (gItA 13.22).  For those who spend their
time in worldly pursuits, He is just the observer.  For those who
observe the path of dharma, He is the bhartA in times of need - as in
the case of pANDava-s.  For those who offer to bhagavAn the worldly
gains that they get, such as the fame etc. that come to them, He is the
bhoktA, i.e, He accepts these as offerings, and He bestows on them His
anubhavam instead.   The more we dedicate our actions and the benefits
of these actions to Him, and thus make Him the bhoktA, the more He
reveals to us what true happiness is, and the more we are relieved of
undesirable attributes such as ahamkAram, mamakAram, etc.  The
significance of this nAma thus is for us to realize that we should
dedicate all our actions and their effects to bhagavAn as the bhoktA,
and we should instead enjoy Him and attain eternal bliss.

SrI BhaTTar interprets the next few nAma-s in terms of the guNAnubhavam
of the incarnation of bhagavAn as SrI rAma.  Earlier, nAma-s 390 to
421had been interpreted also in terms of SrI rAmAvatAra.

498. kapIndrah - a) The Lord of the monkeys.
b) The Great Boar - varAha.
c) He who controls all movement in everything.

om kapIndrAya namah.

kapInAm indrah kapIndrah.  SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is:  BhagavAn
assumed the human form which was very different from His Nature in
order to propagate the performance of sacrificial acts laid down in the
veda-s which He had Himself promulgated earlier in the form of
hayagrIva, and the deva-s assumed the form of monkeys which are even
more different from their nature.  He was the indra or the Lord for the
gods who were his servitors, and hence He is called kapIndra.  This is
supported by the following Sloka from vAlmIki rAmAyaNa -

	sarva-lokeSvarah sAkshAt lokAnAm hita-kAmyayA    |
	sarvaih parivr*to devaih vAnaratvam upAgataih          || (yuddha
114.16)

loka here means the world, the people of the word, and also the veda-s.
 So His incarnation is for the protection of the world and its people,
but also for the protection of the veda-s.  

SrI rAdhAkr*shNa SAstri observes that for One who could control
thousands and thousands monkeys, it is a trivial task to control the
indriya-s of mortals like us.  The dharma cakram writer points soul
that our mind which is like a monkey can be controlled if we seek the
help of bhagavAn and meditate on Him, and then we can win over the
aj~nAna just as the controlled monkeys won over rAvaNa in the battle. 
Our soul is caged and imprisoned by the aj~nAna, just as sItA pirATTi
was imprisoned by rAvaNa, and it is only by controlling the mind which
is like a monkey that we can get rid of this aj~nAna and release the
soul from its bondage.  This nAma should teach us that it is possible
to achieve this with the help of bhagavAn, kapIndrah.

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha interprets the word kapi based on kapi
sa~ncalane - anything that moves about, and applies this to the sun,
the moon, and all other objects that move.  He thus interprets the nAma
to mean "He who gives the power of movement to everything that moves". 
 This can then be extended to even the movement of the pure blood and
impure blood simultaneously inside the body without getting mixed up,
the AtmA moving from one body to another, etc., and thus He is
kapIndrah, the Controller of movement in everything and everywhere.  

SrI Sa~nkara points out that kapi can also refer to a boar (varAha),
and so kapIndrah can also refer to His varAha incarnation.  The term
kapih was interpreted earlier in nAma 102 - vr*shAkapih -  in this
sense. 

498. bhUri-dakshiNah - a) The giver of liberal gifts.
b) He who makes things grow fast and move fast.
c) He who is extremely dextrous.

om bhUri-dakshiNAya namah.

bhUri means "much, abundant, numerous, copius".   dakshiNah has been
interpreted as one who gives dakshiNA.  vyAkhyAna kartA-s have
interpreted the nAma as a reference to the incarnations in which
bhagavAn has performed numerous sacrifices to uphold dharma and to set
an example to the rest of the world, and in these He has made large
gifts to the participants to set an example to others.  SrI v.v.
rAmAnujan points out that this example should extend to the vaidika
karmA-s such as SrAddha, in which the dakshiNA should be liberal to the
participants.  He gives the example of Lord kr*shNa's guru dakshiNA -
that of bringing back sAndIpani's dead son to life again - maRi kaDal
vAi mANDAnai Oduvitta takkaNaiyA uruvuruvE koDuttAn (periAzhvAr
tirumozhi 4.8.1).

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha derives his interpretation based on daksh
vr*ddhau SighrArthe - to grow, to go in speed, and gives the meaning
that bhagavAn makes things that He creates grow very fast, as also move
about with speed as soon as they are born.  A bird starts eating things
as soon as it is born without worrying about whether something is raw
or ripe, and starts growing.  A human child starts drinking milk the
moment it is born, and a young animal starts walking as soon as it is
born as well.  This aspect of bhagavAn where He makes everything grow
fast and move around fast is suggested by the nAma bhUri-dakshiNah
according to this interpretation.

The word dakshiNa is also given the meaning dextrous, able, clever
(pANini 1.1.34).  Thus the nAma could mean that bhagavAn is extremely
dextrous.  This interpretation is mentioned in passing by SrI
rAdhAkr*shNa Sastri. 

-dAsan kr*shNamAcAryan  

 



       


 



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