SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 78 - Part 5.
From the Bhakti List Archives
• November 9, 2002
SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 78 - tat, padam anuttamam. 737. tat – a) He Who increases (the j~nAnam and bhakti about Him in the devotees). b) He Who increases the kIrti (fame) of His devotees c) He Who expands the Universe from its subtle form to its visible form d) He Who is not seen by senses etc. om tate namah (om tasmai namah in Samkara pATham). The root from which the nAma is derived is tanu – vistAre – to spread, to go (tanoti – vistRNAti – expands). SrI BhaTTar’s bhAshyam is “sva j~nAna bahktim tanoti iti tat” – He Who increases the j~nAnam and bhakti in His devotees. He gives the support from taittirIya nArAyaNIyam (27) – tat savitur vareNIyam – That superior luster of the Lord, the cause of the Universe. The term tat is given another meaning in the gItA. The term refers to the veda-s. and to the acts of sacrifice that are undertaken without any expectation of a benefit, as prescribed in the veda-s. om-tat-sat iti nirdeSo brahmaNah tri-vidhah smRtah | brAhamaNAs-tena vedASca ya~jnASca vihitAh purA || (gItA 17.23) “Brahman (the veda) is denoted by the three-fold expression: Om, tat, sat. Associated with these, the BrAhamaNas, the Vedas, and sacrifices were ordained in the past”. In Slokam 7.25, the term tat is explained further: tad-iti anabhisandhAya phalam ya~jna tapah kriyAh | dAna-kriyASca vividhAh kriyante moksha kA’nkshibhih || “Acts of sacrifice, austerity and various gifts are performed without aiming at reward by those who seek release (moksha), after pronouncing tat”. In our samkaplam for many religious rites, we start with “Harir-om tat”. Bhagavad rAmAnuja explains in his vyAkhyAnam for gItA Slokam 7.25, that whatever acts such as the study of the Vedas, sacrifices, austerities and gifts are done without aiming at results by those of the first three stations, seeking only final release – these are designated by the term tat, referring to Brahman, since they constitute the means for attainment of Brahman. He also refers in this context to the current Slokam (78) of SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam, and observes that it is thus well-known that the term tat refers to Brahman - “sa vah kah kim yat tat padam anuttamam iti tat-Sabdo hi brahma vAcI prasiddhah. In the context of the above gItA Slokam, SrI rAmAnuja interprets the term tat as referring to Brahman, or to the means of attaining Brahman such as the study of the Vedas etc. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan links the previous nAma (yatate – takes special efforts to protect us), with the current nAma (tanoti – increases the bhakti in us towards Him as part of that effort. While SrI Samkara’s vyAkhyAnam is also “tanoti iti tat”, in the nAmAvalI, the mantra is “om tasmai namah”, signifying that the nAma is treated again as a sarva nAma or pronoun, meaning “That”, the term standing for Brahman. b) The beauty of the diverse anubhavam-s of the great vyAkhyAna kartA-s is seen in the diverse ways in which they interpret the same explanation “tanoti – vistRNAti – expands”. We already saw SrI BhaTTar’s interpretation, that He expands the j~nAnam and bhakti in His devotees. SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the interpretation “tanoti vistArayati sva-janAnAm kIrtim iti tat” – “He is called tat because He spread the kIrti or fame of His devotees”. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri explains the action of bhagavAn in His guNa of tat as “spreading and pervading into everything”, which is yet another way that He enables the jIva to function in this world to attain Him. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the interpretation that this nAma signifies that He expands the sUkshma jIva-s into the visible world forms and shapes (see d below) Whether it is in the form of increasing our j~nAnam and bhakti about Him so that we can reach Him, or it is in the form of His spreading the fame and kIrti of His devotees so that others learn from this and follow the correct path for their attainment of Him, or it is in the form of His spreading into everyone as their antaryAmi and supporting and guiding them, in the end everything that He does is for the sake of His devotees c) SrI vAsishTha gives the interpretation – tanoti viSvam iti tat – He Who expands the Universe. His explanation is that bhagavAn is called tat because He expands the Universe that is inside Him in the sUkshsma state, into a Universe that is in the sthUla and visible state, just as the mother gives expression to a child which is contained in her in an unseen state. d) satya sandha yatirAja, an AcArya from the madhva sampradAyam, explains the nAma tat as referring to “that which is not seen” – paroksham vastu tat Sabda vAcyam, haristu pratyakshAt avedyatvena mukhyto vedaika gamyatvAt vA guNaih tatatvAd-vA tat iti ucyate. 738. padam anuttamam – a) The Supreme Goal. b) The Unexcelled Protector of His devotees. Om padAya anuttamAya namah. The root from which the word padam is derived is pad – gatau – to go, to attain. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the meanings – padyate = gamyate, j~nAyate, prApyate, yatyate vA tat padam ,and summarizes the meaning of the word padam to mean “that for the attainment of which, or the knowledge of which, effort is to be undertaken”. na uttamam yasmAt iti anuttamam – That which is not surpassed by anything else is anuttamam. Padam anuttamam thus refers to “That which is unsurpassed by anything else, and for whose attainment knowledge and effort deserve to be undertaken”. SrI BhaTTar’s bhAshyam is “teshAm parama prApyatvAt – padam anuttamam” - He is the Supreme Goal for His devotees. SrI aNNa’ngarAcArya summarizes this in tamizh as “tamakku mEl prApaymAnadu onRillAda paDi parama prApayamAnavar”. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives support from nammAzhvAr’s tiruvAimozhi, where AzhvAr declares that he does not want even SrI vaikunTham, but he only wants to have the Lotus Feet of bhagavAn on his head. In other words, His Lotus Feet are the Supreme Goal: nin SemmA pAda paRput talai Serttu ollai … ammA aDiyEn vENDuvadu ihdE” (5.9.1). In tiruvAimozhi 3.7.6, nammAzhvar declares that bhagavAn is the Supreme, unexcelled rakshakan (padam anuttamam): ……… oLi koNDa Sodiyai uLLattuk koLLum avar kaNDIr b) SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj uses the meaning “trANam – rakshaNam – protection” to the word padam, based on amara koSam: padam vyavasiti trANa sthAna lakshmA’nghri vastushu (3.3.93), and gives the interpretation to this nAma as “padam trANam | anuttamam sarvottamam iti padam anuttamam | arthAt sarvottamo rakshakah SrI bahagavAneva sarvottmas-trAtA sva-janAnAm|” - The Unexcelled Protector of His devotees. c) SrI cinmayAnanda’s interpretation is: “Lord VishNu has this nAma because He is the way (pada), the goal (pada), and the pilgrimage (pada)”. He gives support from the gItA Slokam 7.18, where bhagavAn declares that He is anuttama gati (Supreme path, Supreme Goal): udArAh sarva evaite j~nAnI tvAtmaiva me matam | Asthitah sa hi yuktAtmA mAmeva anuttamAm gatim || “All these are indeed generous, but I deem the man of knowledge to be My very self; for he, integrated, is devoted to Me alone as the Supreme end”. -dAsan kRshNamAcAryan __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive greatest hits videos http://launch.yahoo.com/u2 -------------------------------------------------------------- - 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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