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SrI vishNu sahasera nAmam - Slokam 78 - Part 1.

From the Bhakti List Archives

Narasimhan Krishnamachari • October 30, 2002 


        SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 78 - ekah. 

        eko naikah sa vah kah kim yat tat padam-anuttamam      |
	lika-bandhur_loka-nAthah mA-dhavo bhakta-vatsalah    ||

om ekAya namah
om naikAya namah
om sAya namah
om vAya namah
om kAya namah
om kime namah
om yate namah
om tate namah
om padaya anuttamAya namah
om loka-bandhave namah
om loka-nAthAya namah
om mA-dhavAya namah
om bhakta-vatsalAya namah

730. ekah - One Who is Unique and matchless  in all respects.

Om ekAya namah.

SrI BhaTTar gives his interpretation of the nAma ekah based on the root
iN - gatau - to go, with the addition of the affix kat per uNAdi sUtra
326 - iNa bhI kA Â…kan, with the meanings "one, chief, alone" for the
word ekah.  SrI satyadevo vAsishTha explains ekah as "eti - gacchati
sarvatra iti ekah" - He Who is present everywhere.   When we have more
than one of anything with similar attributes, we refer to them as "two
brAhmaNa-s, five kshatriya-s", etc.;  however, in the case of bhagavAn,
there is no one else to compare to Him, and so He is ekah.  SrI
BhaTTar's actual words are - ukte mahimni sajAtIya samkhyeya asambhavAt
advaitam gacchati iti ekah - With reference to His Supreme greatness,
there is no one who can be compared with Him, and so He is called ekah.
 SrI BhaTTar gives the Sruti vAkhyam "eka id-rAjA jagato babhUva (tait.
yaju. 4.1.8)" - "He was the only King of the whole world" in support. 
SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj gives the following references:  

-	dyAvA bhUmI janayan deva ekah - Rg. 10.81.3 - "He, the Sole God,
producing earth and heaven ,Â…"; 
-	yadi no bhagavAn prIta ekah sarva-guNASrayah  - bhAga. 9.5.11 - "If
it is true that bhagavAn who is the antaryAmi of all the beings and the
abode of all kalyANa guNa-s is pleased with us, then let this braAhmin
be relieved of his suffering".   

nammAzhvAr refers to Him as "oruvan" (One without a second)  in many
places.  SrI v.v. rAmAnujan gives the following references:  

-	arakkarai uruk keDa vALi pozhinda oruvanE (tiruvAi. 8.6.2); 
-	kaNgaL Sivandu periyavAi, vAyum Sivandu kanindu,Â…., oN Sa'ngu gadai
vAL AzhiyAn oruvan aDiyEn uLLAnE (tiruvAi. 8.8.1);  
-	ilanadu uDaiyan idu ena ninaivu ariyavan Â…an-nalanuDaiya oruvanai Â…
(tiruvAi. 1.1.3);  Â… 
-	j~nAlam uNDu umizhnda endai eka-mUrtikkE (tiruvAi. 1.1.3)

b) SrI Samkara gives the interpretation - "paramArthatah sajAtIya
vijAtIya sva-gata bheda vinirmuktatvAt ekah - "The One, being devoid of
any distinction such as sajAtIya, vijAtIya, and svagata".   The
concepts of sajAtIya, vijAtIya, and the svagata bheda are explained
under nAma 706 in Slokam 75.  BhagavAn  is unique in not discriminating
between the different members of the same species, members of different
species, etc., and so He is ekah (Unique).    SrI Samkara gives the
support from chAndogya upanishad - ekameva a-dvitIyam (6.2) - He is One
without a second.   

c) SrI baladeva vidyAbhUshaN links this nAma to the nAma-s of the
previous Slokam, and comments that even though He has many forms, many
faces, etc., (Sata-Murtih, SatAnanah), He is still One and Only One,
and so He is referred to as ekah in this nAma.

d) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the analogy of the one father for the
many children;  BhagavAn vishNu is the One Father who creates
everything in this Universe, and so He is called ekah.

In the sahasra nAmAvaLi, the mantra is "Om ekAya namah" according to
the followers of viSishTAdvaitam and dvaitam, and "Om ekasmai namah"
according to the adviata sampradAyam.  Similar difference exists in
many nAma-s:  viSvAya namah vs. viSvasmai namah (First nAma of SrI
vishNu sahasra nAmam); naikAya namah vs. naikasmai namah for nAma 731,
etc.   The difference seems to arise as a result of the fundamental
difference in the philosophies of the vyAkhyAna kartA-s.  

When a word is a pronoun or a sarvanAma, (and the words viSvam, ekah
etc. are sarvanAma-s when they have their traditional meanings), then
it is declined similar to the word sarva, and the dative singular is
"sarvasmai, viSvasmai, ekasmai etc." (pANini sUtra 1.1.27).  However,
when this same words is not treated as a pronoun, and instead refers to
something special, like the specific name of a person (e.g., ekah as a
person's actual name), then the word is declined like an ordinary noun
such as narah, and not as a pronoun.  Then the dative singular is
declined as sarvAya, viSvAya, ekAya, etc.   The example given in
explanation of this sUtra by SrISa Candra Vasu in his "AshTAdhyAyI of
pANini" is that of  the word "sarva" meaning "everything" (a pronoun)
vs. sarva being the name of a person (an ordinary noun).  The former is
declined as a pronoun, and the latter is declined as an ordinary noun
like narah.  The followers of the advaita sampradAyam seem to consider
the different sarvanAma-s that occur in SrI vishNu sahasra nAma as
pronouns representing Brahman, whereas the followers of the
viSishTAdvaita sampradAyam seem to treat each of the nAma-s as a
distinct personification of bhagavAn in His different Forms, and thus
each sarvanAma word that occurs as a nAma in sahasra nAmam is treated
as a special nAma of bhagavAn with its own special meaning, each a
proper noun in its own right, and not treated as a pronoun standing for
Brahman.   This seems to explain the difference in the nAmAvaLi, based
on grammar as well as the difference in the different philosophies.  

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan





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