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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 78 - Part 7.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Narasimhan Krishnamachari • November 19, 2002 


    SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 78 - loka-nAthah.  

740. loka-nAthah – a) The Protector of the world.
	b) He Who bestows aiSvaryam on all as a result of His unlimited
aiSvaryam
	c) He Who is sought after or prayed by all
	d) He Who shines in the world, or He Who regulates the world by
energizing
	e) He Who comforts or blesses the world
	f) He Who rules over the world
	g) He Who gives troubles as needed to those who need to be
disciplined.

Om loka-nAthAya namah.

The roots involved in the nAma are: lok – darSane – to see, to
perceive, or lok – bhAshAyAm dIptau ca – to behold, to shine, to know,
to seek; and nAth – yAc, upatApaih, aiSvaryASIhshu – to ask, to be
master, to harass.  Bases on these, the word lokam signifies the world,
and the word nAtha is interpreted in the sense of nAthyate – One Who is
sought, or nAthate – One Who seeks.  In the former sense, He is One Who
is sought by the people of the world, and the latter sense, He seeks
His devotees and blesses them.  The different interpretations below are
combinations of the above meanings.

a) SrI BhaTTarÂ’s vyAkhyAnam is that He is addressed as loka nAthah
because of His unique relationship to all the creatures, which is the
cause of His attachment which is natural to Him, as their Master –
tan-mUlam asAdhAraNam svAbhAvikam ca sambandham Aha – loka nAthah.  His
interpretation is  that through this nAma, the specific relationship
between bhagavAn and us, that is the cause of His natural attachment to
us, is delineated – He is our svAmI or Master, and we are His
belongings, and so He is naturally attached to us.  SrI v.v. rAmAnujan
gives references from prabandham, that reflect this concept:

-	iv Ezh ulagai inbam payakka iniduDan vIRRirundu AlginRa eÂ’ngaL pirAn
(tiruvAi. 7.10.1) – BhagavAn is seated together with pirATTi in all the
divya deSam-s only to ensure that His creations in all the seven worlds
are happy.
-	j~nAlattUDE naDandum ninRum kiDandu irundum SAlap pala nAL ugandu Or
uyirgaL kAppAnE – (tiruvAi. 6.9.3) – “You have appeared in various
Forms in this world at various times only for the protection of the all
the creatures in Your creation”.
-	“ulagam mUnRu uDaiyAi! ennai AlvAnE” (tiruvAi. 6.10.10) – You Who is
My Lord, and Who owns the three worlds (the three types of cetanas
–baddha, nity, mukta, and the three types of acetana-s – time, prakRti,
Suddha sattva).
 
b)  SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the following interpretation: lokam
nAthati – sva aiSvarya yogena aiSvaryavantam karoti iti loka nAthah –
He Who bestows aiSvaryam on all as a result of His unlimited aiSvaryam,
is loka nAthah.

SrI Samkara gives four explanations for the nAma (b, c, d, e): 

c) lokaih nAthyate yAcyate – He Who is sought after or prayed by all;
(SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives a similar explanation – that they
pray to Him for dharma, artha, kAma, and moksha – lokhaih nAthyate
yAcyate dharma artha kAma mokshAn iti loka nAthah);   SrI satyadevo
vAsishTha gives the explanation – lokaih prANibhih svartha-siddhaye
nAthyate prArthyata iti loka nAthah – He Whose favor is sought by the
beings of the world for the fulfillment of their desires is loka
nAthah.  

d) lokAn upatapati – One Who shines in the world, or Who regulates the
world by energizing; 

e) ASAste – One Who comforts or blesses the world; or 

f) lokAnAm IshTa – One Who rules over the whole world.   

g) SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri interprets upatapati (see c above for SrI
Samkara) as “One Who gives punishments as needed”, and gives the
meaning that this nAma can be interpreted as “One Who gives punishments
as needed and disciplines the world (ulagai vATTi nal vazhi
paDuttubavar).

The dharma cakram writer weaves all the above explanations under the
general concept that bhagavAn is the Lord of the world.  In this role,
He ensures that the evil is destroyed and good is established.  He
ensures that all the creatures, who are His belongings, attain Him
ultimately.  If anyone transgresses dharma, He ensures that they are
adequately disciplined and brought back to the proper way of life. 
Those who follow dharma always live in peace, and those follow a-dharma
live a life of unrest.  This is the constant rule in His role as
loka-nAthah. 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

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