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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 77 - Part 5.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • October 26, 2002 


      SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 77 - SatAnanah.

729. SatAnanah - a) He Who is many-faced. 
b) He Who has provided many different means (such as nose, mouth, etc.)
for life to be sustained.
c) He Who has created various life-forms and provided easy means for
their survival.
d) He Who is viewed in different "faces" (in different ways) by
different faiths.

Om SatAnanAya namah.

SrI satyadevo VasishTha gives the derivation of Ananam from the root
ana - prANane - to breathe.  According to pANini sUtra 3.3.117 - karaNa
adhikaraNayoSca - the affix lyuT (ana) comes after a root, when the
relation of the word to be formed to the verb is that of an instrument
or location.  The definition that SrI vAsishTha gives is A = samantAt
anyate = prANyate anena iti Anananm = mukham - The part of the body
which contains the means for breathing, namely the face.  The word Sata
has the same meaning as in the previous nAma, namely, many,
uncountable, etc.  Thus the explanation for the nAma is: Satam AnanAni
yasya sa SatAnanah = anantAnanah - He Who has innumerable faces.  

SrI BhaTTar gives the support from gItA 11.10: 

	aneka vaktra nayanam anekAbhuta darSanam    |
	aneka divyAbharaNam divyAnekodyatAyudham     ||  (gItA 11.10)

"With innumerable mouths and eyes, many marvelous aspects, many divine
ornaments, and many divine weapons" - This is how sa'njaya starts the
description of the viSva rUpam that bhagavAn shows to arjuna.  SrI
cinmayAnanda refers us to Lord kRshNa's words in gItA Slokam 13.13,
which conveys the same concept when He describes Brahman:

	sarvatah pANi-pAdam tat sarvo'kshi-Siro-mukham   |
	sarvath Srutiman-loke sarvam-AvRtya tishThati    ||      (gItA 13.13)

"Everywhere are Its hands and feet; Its eyes, heads, and mouths are
everywhere;  Its ears are on all sides; and It exists encompassing all
things."
 
SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives support from tiruvAimozhi:
Â…Â…Â…Â…Â…Â…Â…Â…Â…Â…Â….
	tOLgaL AyirattAi! muDigaL AyirattAi!  tuNai malark kaNgaL AyirattAi! 
	tALgaL AyirattAi! pErgaL AyirattAi! tamiayanEn peria appanE!   
(tiruvAi. 8.1.10)

where nammAzhvAr refers to Him as "Â… Oh Lord with a thousand shoulders,
faces, eyes, feet, names", etc.  

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives reference to the SvetASvtara Upanishad
wherein Brahman is described as "sarvAnana SirogrIvah sarva bhUta
guhASayah" - (3.11) - "He Who has many faces, heads and necks, and
resides in the hearts of all the beings".     

b) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives a second interpretation, in which he
takes Ananam to mean "the means for sustaining life", and gives the
meaning to the nAma as "He Who has provided innumerable ways (such as
nose, mouth, face, etc.), through which life is sustained for the
different creatures" - jIvana upAyAnAm ca bAhuvidyam, tathA ca yadyad
jIvane Silpa vaiSishTyam tat tat tasyaiva bhagavata ityAkhyAtum
SatAnana nAmnA bhagavAn vishNuh stUyate.  

c) Yet another interpretation provided by SrI vAsishTha is based on the
pANini sUtra 3.1.26 - hetumati ca - which states that the affix Nic is
employed after a root when the operation of a causer is to be
expressed.  Thus, he interprets the term "Ananah" as "Anayati iti
Ananah" -  "One Who causes, or makes it possible to live".  Ananam is
here interpreted as referring to bhagavAn's action in creating the
different life-forms which have different ways of sustaining life.  
Ananah is thus given the meaning "jIvan dAtA - the life-giver".   The
meaning given here is thus "He Who has created various life-forms" -
catur-vidha SrshTi udvhAvinah anantAn jIvAn tat-tat jIvanaih
upakaraNaih Anayati = jIvayatiiti SatAnanah.  

d) SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri explains the nAma in terms of bhagavAn being
seen in different "faces" by the different faiths such as the jaina
matam, the bauddha matam, etc., and also viewed differently by nyAya,
mImAmsA, etc., the dvaiti-s, adviati-s, etc.

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan


 
	

	 




































 















  



	

	


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