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SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - sloka 17.

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Krishnamachari, N. • November 10, 1997 


			SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - sloka 17.

17.  upendro vAmanah praAmsuh amoghah SucirUrjitah    |
	        atIndrah samgrahah sargo dhr*tAtmA niyamo yamah  ||

Om upendrAya namah
Om vAmanAya namah
Om prAmSave namah
Om amoghAya namah
Om Sucaye namah
Om UrjotAya namah
Om atIndrAya namah
Om sa~ngrahAya namah
Om sargAya namah
Om dhr*tAtmane namah
Om niyamAya namah
Om yamAya namah

153.  upendrah - a) One who appeared as the younger brother of indra to
help him.
	             b) One who is superiror to indra.

Om upendrAya namah.

a) upagatah indram - One who assisted indra.   SrI rAdhAkr*shNa Sastri
gives the following instance in this context.  PrahlAda's grandson Bali
defeated Indra by doing penances according to SukrAcArya's advice.
Indra's mother aditi prayed to God to get Indra's position back.  Since
Bali had attained Indra's position through penance etc., there was no
way of getting back the position easily.  So bhagavAn appeared as the
younger brother of indra by being born as the son of aditi, and
restoring the position of indra by asking for three feet of land from
Bali in his yAga Sala.

b) indrasya upari indrah - One who is superior to indra.  upa also means
above or superior. Sri rAdhAkr*shNa Sastri gives the example of Lord
Kr*shNa subduing indra's self-assumed superiority complex in gokulam
when indra tried to flood and destroy the place for not offering prayers
to him.

154.  vAmanah - One with the Dwarf form.

Om vAmanAya namah.

	vAmayati tyAjayati madam balim - One who expelled the pride out
of Bali.  Vam literally means to vomit out, and vAm could mean one who
made Bali literally vomit out his pride.  LingAyatasurin gives the
interpretation vAmo valgutvam asya asti iti vAmanah - One who has a very
charming short form.  Or it can be also be interpreted as vAmo vatutvam
asya asti iti vAmanah - One who has a short form of a gurukula student,
which is how mahAvishNu appeared in front of Bali to ask for the three
feet of earth from him.  The rupa soundaryam (valgutvam) of the vAmana
incarnation is beautifully described in Srimad bhAgavatam - e.g.,
yajamAnah pramudito darSanIyam manoramam|  rUpAnurUpAvayavam tasmA
Asanam Aharat||  - Bali, the yajamAna of the yAgaSala, saw the beautiful
appearance of the brahmachAri in the dwarf form and offered the seat to
him with a completely captivated heart (BhAgavatam 8-18-26).

	Another interpretation - sarvANi vAmAni  nayati iti vAmanah -
One who bestows all the desires of the devotees, or He produces joy in
those who see Him, by His effulgence.  In chAndogyopanishad we have
"esha u eva vAmanIh esha hi sarvANi vAmAni nayati (chAndogyopanishad
4.25). 

155.  prAmSuh - The Tall.

Om prAmSave namah.

	prASnute prakarsheNa Urdhvam iti prAmSuh - 

	In the vAmana incarnation, bhagavAn very quickly grew from His
dwarf form into a form which covered the three worlds under His two
feet.  As soon as Bali poured the water to accompany his gift of three
feet of land into the dwarf hands, the dwarf was no longer a dwarf.  The
Lord manifested His universal form;  the earth was His feet, the sky His
head, and the sun and the moon His eyes.   The vyAkhyAna kartA-s give
the reference, from HarivamSa, to the beauty of His growth from the
dwarf form, in relation to fixed objects, the Sun and the Moon.  First,
He assumed the tall form where the Sun and the Moon were His two eyes.
Then as He measured the earth, they were at the level of His bosom.  As
He measured the space, the Sun was at the level of His navel, and as He
lifted His feet to measure the Heaven, the Sun and Moon were just below
His knees. 

	"tasya vikramato bhUmim candrAdityau stanAntare         |
	   nabhah prakramANasya nAbhideSe vyavasthithau        ||
(HarivamSa 31.89)

156.  amoghah -   One whose acts are never purposeless.

Om amoghAya namah.

	na mogham ceshTitam yasya sah amoghah.  When bhagavAn asked for
three feet of earth from bali, it helped indra;  when Bali could not
give the third foot of earth, it helped subdue Bali and make him a great
devotee on the spot;  subduing Bali led to Bali getting the status equal
to indra in a trice, and led to all the gods partaking in the offerings
made in the sacrifice.  Thus every act of His has a purpose.

157.  Sucih - Pure.

Om Sucaye namah.

	Sucyata iti Sucih - One who purifies is Sucih.  BhagavAn is Pure
because He is the ParamAtmA who is uncontaminated by actions and their
effects.  He is Sucih because One who contemplates on Him becomes pure,
and thus association with Him makes one pure.  Whatever He does is
uncontaminated by anything other than dharma, and so His purity never
diminishes.  When He helped indra by subduing Bali, one could say He was
biased towards the deva-s; not so, since He made Himself the door-keeper
of Bali and thus Bali benefited several-fold more than indra did in the
process.  He is pavitrANAm pavitram, or purer than the purest.  The
several references from sruti attest to His purity - Suddham apApa
viddham - ISAvasya - 8); asparSaSca mahAn Sucih etc.

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha takes this interpretation one step further by
pointing out that everything bhagavAn does is resplendent with the
beauty that speaks of His purity.  All one has to do to realize this is
to look at the beauty of His creations such as the flowers, the leaves,
the waters of the rivers, etc.  So He is all around us displaying His
innate quality of purity constantly.   He points out that thus guNa of
bhagavAn should constantly remind His devotees to be always pure in
their actions, words, and deeds as a means to attain Him.

158.  Urjitah - One who is endowed with immense strength.

Om UrjitAya namah.

	UrjA means balam or strength.  This is one of the shadguNa-s of
bhagavAn (~jnAna, bala, etc.).  This strength is displayed whenever He
has had to take care of the evil demons.  SrI satyadevo vAsishTha points
out that He is Urjita not only because of His immense strength, but also
because whatever strength each being in His creation has, is because He
is the source.   He gives the following vedic quotes to substantiate
this interpretation - 

	UrjA detAm avasyojasA tvAm pibA somamadAya kam Satakrato (r*g
8.36.3)
	UrjA pinvasva samishodidehi na  (r*g 3.3.7)
	UrgasyAngirasyUrNamradA Urjam mayi dehi (yajur 4.15)
	balamasi balam mayi dehi (yajur 19.9)
	Urjo balam sa ojo ma Agan (atharva 18.4.53)
	Ojo'si saho'si balamasi bhrAjo'si 

As is evident, through many of mantra-s, the devotee is asking for balam
from bhagavAn i.e, He is the source of balam or strength in all His
creations.

159.  atIndrah - One who is superior to indra.

Om atIndrAya namah.

	We saw how He surpasses indra by His lordship and glorious acts.
Indra is the king of gods, and bhagavAn exceeds him in wisdom,
greatness, etc.  SrI chinmayAnanda points out that in vedAnta indra
stands for mind-intellect, and the paramAtmA or the Pure Self is
superior to mind since it transcends the mind. 

160.  samgrahah - a) He who is easily reached.
		b)  He who has everyone under His control.

Om samgrahAya namah.

	The meaning given in the dictionary by Sir William-Monier is
"holding together", "drawing togther", etc.

a) SrI Bhattar gives the interpretation "atha bhaktaih ayatnena
samgr*hayata iti samgrahah" - One who is reached by His devotees without
any effort (other than pure devotion).                     

b) SrI Sankara gives the interpretation "sarveshAm samhr*tau
pratisamhArAt samgrahah" - One who withdraws everything into Him during
pralaya.

c)  SrI chinmayAnanda gives the interpretation that bhagavAn is samgraha
because he holds the entire world of beings and things together.  SrI
satya vAsishTha looks at the nAma as sama + graha, or holding everything
together in one form, viz. by being the Atma in everything.  

161.  sargah - The creator of Himself.

Om sargAya namah.

	sr*jati iti sargah - One who creates.  The word sarga is derived
from the root sr*j - to create.  He is sarga since He created the whole
world out of Himself.  Sarga refers to primary creation as opposed to
pralaya or dissolution, and sthiti or maintenance.  

162.  dhr*tAtmA -  The supporter of all the jivAtmA-s.

Om dhr*tAtmane namah.

	dhr*tah AtmA yena sah dhr*tAtmA - One who supports all the
jIvAtmA-s, or  One who supports (conducts) Himself uninfluenced by any
change (birth, death, likes, dislikes, etc.). 

163.  niyamah - The Controller.

Om niyamAya namah.

	niyamayati iti niyamah - One who assigns and directs the
different functions to the different beings.  The root yam has two
meanings:  yam uparame - to check, and yam pariveshaNe - to surround.
One who is the Creator of all beings is also naturally the Controller of
all those beings.  It is He who orders all the mighty forces of nature
and prescribes for each the laws of their conduct, the ways of their
behavior and the methods of their functions.  The Sun, Moon, Air,
Waters, Death, etc., are all appointed and controlled by the Lord.

164.  yamah - The Ruler.

Om yamAya namah.

	yacchati iti yamah  or yamayati iti yamah - One who rules.  He
rules all our selves from within.  He also rules all the beings of the
earth from within the sphere of the Sun.  We have the passage from
br*hadAraNya upanishad - yah sarvANi bhUtAni antaro yamayati (3.7.15).
Other passages from the sruti-s are "yah pr*thivIm antaro yamayati - He
who rules the earth from within" - Br*hadAraNya 3.7.3, yah AtmAnam
antaro yamayati - He who rules the self from within", etc.  

-dAsan kr*shNamAchAryan