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Sri VishNu sahasranAmam - nAma 75 to 85.

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Krishnamachari, N. • September 9, 1997 


		Sri VishNu SahasranAmam - nAma 75 to 85.

75.  I(s)varah - The Ruler.

	This nAma occurred earlier (nAma 36).  At that time we had indicated
that the name can be interpreted as One who has unlimited ai(s)varya, or
One who can do whatever He wills (IshTe).  Ai(s)varya means might or
power, sovereignty, affluence or wealth, etc.   Sri (S)ankara seems to
interpret the first occurrence of this nAma as One who has unlimited
might, and the next one as One who has unlimited power.  Sri Bhattar
interprets the first occurrence as One who has supreme power of
rulership over all beings, and seems to interpret the second one as One
who does whatever He wills - yatra kAma gamo va(s)I - He has
self-control and goes wherever He wants.  Sri ChinmayAnanda interprets
the first occurrence as One who has the ability to do whatever He wants
and the second occurrence as One who is Omni-potent or All-powerful,
with control over all forms of (s)akti - kriyA (s)akti, icchA (s)akti,
and jnAna (s)akti.  However, all of them seem to use the two variants we
have covered under nAma 36.

76.  vikramI - a) The most courageous, The most  powerful.
		b)  One who has the "Special" footsteps viz. Vamana

	Vikramah (s)ouryam, tadyogAt vikramI - vikrama is courage; He who is
ever a courageous One, is vikramI.  Sri Bhattar points out that the name
signifies that it is His nature that it dispels all possibility of
anything going against His will or desire.

	Sri ChinmayAnanda gives the additional interpretation which uses the
meaning of krama as steps, and interprets the nAma as One who has
"Special" footsteps, referring to the vAmana incarnation.

77.  dhanvI - The wielder of the bow.

	Dhanurasya asti iti dhanvI.

	He is the wielder of the divine bow (S)arnga.  It is well-known that in
His incarnation as Sri Rama, He had to dedicate a substantial part of
His life wielding His bow.  In the GitA, Sri KrshNa says - 

	rAmah (s)astra bhrtAmaham - I am Rama among the wielders of the bow.

78. medhAvI - One who is capable of powerful memory.

	Sri Sankara gives the following definition - 
	
	"medhA bahugrantha dhAraNa sAmarthyam, sa yasya asti sa medhAvI - medhA
is the ability to grasp several ideas on different .subjects at the same
time; One who has this ability naturally is medhAvI".

	Sri RadhAkrshNa Sastri points out that BhagavAn is Isvara, vikramI,
dhanvI, etc., because He is a medhAvI, one who can command the knowledge
of anything at any time as desired.

79. vikramah - a) One with great strides (see nAma 76), such as in the
vAmana incarnation
		b) One who rides on the king of birds,  the Garuda.

	The first meaning has been explained under the earlier nAma 76.  The
second is derived as follows: vi refers to the king of birds, Garuda;
krama refers to His sancAra playfully on the Garuda who is the
embodiment of the three vedas, around the world.

80. kramah - a) One who is the basis for the order in the Universe
	     b) One who controls and bestows the power of movement
	     c) One who is highly prosperous

	Krama can refer to systematization, sequence, ordering etc. (The word
kramam is commonly used in Tamil as a word acquired from Sanskrit with
this meaning). It can also refer to steps, as we indicated under
vikramI, virkramah, etc., and as a result, motion.

	Based on the meaning as ordering or sequence, He is the one who makes
the events of the world conform to an order, for eg., night and day
following each other.

	Based on the meaning as steps or motion, He is responsible for the
power of His creatures having the power of motion or movement.

	According to PaNini sUtra 1.3.38, which reads "vrtti-sarga-tAyaneshu
kramah", krama also can indicate continuity, energy, or good progress or
development.  Sri Bhattar uses the last of these, and gives the meaning
"One who has great prosperity".

81.  anuttamah - One for whom there is nothing superior or better.

	na vidyamAna uttamo yasmAt sah anuttamah - One for whom nothing
superior is known.  The nirukti summarization of Sri Bhattar's vyAkhyAna
is uttamo nAsti yasmAt sah anuttama udAhrtah.

82.  durAdharshah - 

daityAdhibhih dharshayitum na sakyata iti durAdharshah - One who cannot
be overcome by the demons and others.  

83.  krtajnah -  One who is grateful.

	Sri Bhattar gives the following references from the GItA in support of
this interpretation:

	"api cet sudurAcAro bhajate mAm anayabhAk          |
	   sAdhureva sa mantavyah samyag vyavasito hi sah  ||      (9.30)

	A portion of the translation of the bhAshya of Sri RAmAnuja for the
above sloka is:  "If even the most sinful man worships Me with undivided
devotion, with worship as the only purpose, such a person must be
considered highly righteous.  He is eminent among the worshippers of
VishNu - a great Sri VaishNava (vaishNava (s)reshThasara eva mantavyah
are Sri RAmAnujA's own words).  He must be esteemed as fit for honor."

	 BhagavAn is so grateful that the mere worship of Him with sincerity is
sufficient for Him to forgive all  other sins commited by the
worshipper.   

	The second support given by Sri Bhattar for the gratefulness of
BhagavAn for a devotee who cried for help with full surrender to Him is
from the MahAbhArata -

	"govindeti yadAkrandat krshNA mAm dUravAsini   |
	   rNam pravrddhamiva me hrdayAt na apasarpati ||  (MB 3-58-22)

	"That cry for help uttered aloud by Draupadi even from a distance,
calling me "GovindA" - that cry is never away from my mind like a debt
that has increased with the interest accumulated on it".

 (S)ri (S)ankara  points out that He confers emancipation (moksha) on
those that offer to Him in worship even such common objects as a leaf or
flower - patrapushpAdyalpamapi prayacchatAm moksham dadAti. 
	
	Another explanation given for this nAma is that BhagavAn is One who
knows the actions of all the other beings, good and bad - prANinAm puNya
apuNya Atmakam karma krtam jAnAti iti krtajnah.   He is the one Knower
who knows all physical activities, all emotional feelings, and all
intellectual thoughts and motives.  Sri ChinmayAnanda points out that
He knows the exact depth of sincerity, the true ardency of devotion, the
real amount of purity in the heart of His devotees, and as a result of
His gratitude, He brings joy and bliss to their hearts because He is a
krtajna.  

84.  krtih - One who is the cause of the virtuous act of His devotees.

	In the previous nAma we saw that BhagavAn has great gratitude for the
good acts of His devotees.  Through the current nAma it is pointed out
that in reality BhagavAn is really the cause behind the good deeds, and
all we can and should do is practice pure and sincere devotion.  (S)ri
Bhattar points out that BhagavAn alone  makes us do virtuous acts when
He wants to lift us up from the worlds of material existence.  The
virtuous act of the Jiva owes its origin to the Lord when He  is pleased
- tacca teshAm sukrtam asmAdeva prasannAt iti krtih.  

85.  AtmavAn - The real Owner and Controller of the souls of those who
do these virtuous acts.

	The basic elemental fact that stands out from the last three nAmas is
that it is not we who bring about our salvation through our effort or
actions;  it is He who makes it happen based on the sincerity of our
devotion, trust, and surrender to Him as the sole cause of our
salvation.  He is the krtajna who, just pleased immensely by our small
effort of sincere devotion, will cause our souls which He owns, and
divert it towards actions that He will then use as the hetu or reason or
pretext for conferring His blessings on us.

	Another explanation (S)ri RAdhAkrshNa (S)Astri gives for this nAma is
One who is not dependent on anything else for His actions - for example
when He killed PUtanA the demoness, He drank the same milk that she gave
Him  to bring about her destruction.

-dAsan krshNamAchAryan