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Sri VishNu sahasranAmam - nAma 96 to 104.

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Krishnamachari, N. • September 23, 1997 


		Sri VishNu sahasranAmam - nAma 96 to 104.

96.  ajah - a) Unborn.
	b)  The Remover of all obstacles.
	c)  One who moves in the hearts of the devotees
	d)  One who removes the ignorance from the hearts of His devotees
	e)  One who is the root of all sound (akshara "a").

This nAma occurs two more times later (nAma 206 and 524).

	a) The first meaning is derived as na jAyata iti ajah - One who is not
born in the traditional sense.
 
	Sri Sankara gives the following from the srutis to support this
explanation:

	na jAto na janishyate - He was neither born nor will be born (Rg veda
1.81.5)

	"na hi jAto na jAye'yam na janishye kadAcana          |
	  kshetraj~nah sarvabhUtAnAm tasmAt aham ajah smrtah    ||  MB SAnti
parva 330.9

	"I was not born, nor am I born, nor will I have a future birth;  I am
the soul in all beings; hence I am called the Unborn".

	Other references to the name aja are:  "ajo nityah SASvato'yam purANah"
(kaThopanishad 1.2.18), and "sa vA esha mahAn aja AtmA" (brhadAraNya
upanishad 4.4.22).

	Sri Bhattar points out that BhagavAn only emerges out of a pillar etc.,
but is not born like others (see the explanation for svayambhuh - nAma
37).

b)  There are several interpretations of the nAma aja using the meaning
"movement" for the root aj - aja gati kshepaNayoh - The root 'aj'
signifies movement or throwing away .
 
	Sri Bhattar uses this meaning and interprets the name as meaning "The
Remover of all obstacles" to ensure that His devotees accomplish in
their objective of reaching Him.   Sri Sankara uses the same meaning for
aja (movement, motion) and comes up with the explanation - ajati
gacchati kshipati iti vA ajah - He who moves into the heart of His
devotees.  Sri rAdhAkrshNa SAstri uses the meaning "movement" and
interprets the name as Remover of the ignorance in us, or One who goes
to the bhaktas  to enable them to reach Him, or One who throws away His
weapons at anyone who disturbs or causes hardship to His devotees.

	One other explanation given for aja is akAravAcyatayA jAtah - One who
is known through the letter "a". - akAra vAcyatayA jAtah ajah.  In the
gItA we have "aksharANaAm akAro'smi - (gItA 10.33) - I am 'a" among the
syllables.  Sri rAdhAkrhNa SAstri points out that at the time of pralaya
the panca bhUtas coalesce into ehter (the reverse of AkASAt vAyuh,
vAyoragnih, aganerApah, adbhyah pethivI, etc.)., and the ether coalesces
into its tanmAtra, the sound, and Sabda ultimately dissolves into the
sound "a", which is the form of BhagavAn at the conclusion of prlaya.
The sruti is 'akAro vai sarvA vAk".  In tirukkural we have "akara
mudalAya ezhutthellAm Adi bhaghavan mudatre ulagu".

97.  sarveSvarah - a) One who reaches all who seek Him
		b)  One who is the Isvara for all isvaras

a) Sri Bhattar derives the first interpretation from the root aS to
pervade.  By the uNAdi sUtra 738, aSnoterASukarmaNi varat ca - the affix
varat comes after the root aS - to pervade, when the word formed from it
refers to "having the power of granting success soon".  Thus aS + varat
= ISvarah.  The interpretation is that He is sarveSvara because He
quickly reaches all those who have taken refuge in Him in order to avoid
delay in dispelling their uneasiness whether they are qualified or not.
Or rather, the sufficient qualification is that they have taken refuge
in Him.

b)  sarveshAm ISvarANAm ISvarah sarveSvarah. The Sruti says - esha
sarveSvarah - BrhadAraNya upanishad - 4.4.22 - He is the Lord of all
lords.

98.  siddhah - One who is available at the hands of His devotees.

	niruktam summarizes Sri Bhattar's vyAkhyAna as svarUpeNaiva bhaktAnAm
siddhatvAt siddhah ucyate - He is in the hands of His devotees in His
true form.    A siddha can also mean One who has accomplished all that
has to be achieved.  Sri Sankara gives the interpretation that He is
ever perfect - nitya nishpanna rUpatvAt siddhah.  

	An interpretation for the amarakoSa gives the definition siddhyati iti
siddhah. 

99.  siddhih - The Goal.

	The word siddhi literally means accomplishment, success etc.  BhagavAn
is siddhi because He is the Goal or accomplishment by adopting the
means.  Or, in the context of success or accomplishment, He is siddhi
because He gives the ultimate fruit of action, moksha.  All other
accomplishments can only give lesser benefits such as the lesser joys of
heaven etc., but only by attaining Him  one can get moksha, the ultimate
success.

100.  sarvAdih - The Origin  or Cause of all things.

	SarveshAm purushArtAnAm Adih sarvAdih or sarva bhUtAnAm AdikAraNatvAt
sarvAdih.  One who is the very beginning of all; One who was in
exsitence earlier than anything else.  Even before the effects arise,
the Cause.  The Infinite whish was before creation, and from which the
created beings emerged out.

101.  acyutah - a) One who has never slipped from His glory.
		b)  One who never lets His devotees slip.
		c)  One who undergoes no modifications such as birth, growth, decay,
disease, etc.

	This nAma occurs two more times later (320 and 557). 
 
a)    cyti means "fall" and cyuta means "fallen".    acyuta means "One
who has never fallen from His true nature".   Several explanations are
given to further expand this guNa of the Lord.   Sri Bhattar points out
that He does not ever fall from His position of overlordship  unlike
Brahma, Indra, etc. who are subject to loss of position, and therefore
He is called acyuta.  Sri rAdhAkrshNa SAstri points out that He also
does not slip from His position by being influenced by kAma etc. unlike
Brahma, Indra etc.  

In mahAbhArata we have

 	"yasmAt na cyuta pUrvo'ham acyutastena karmaNA" - SAnti parva
12.330.16. 

Sri Sankara and Sri Bhattar have interpreted the above sruti slightly
differently.   Sri Sankara's words are - svarUpasAmarthyAt na cyuto na
cyavate na cyavishyata iti acyutah - He has not lapsed, is not lapsing,
and will not lapse from His own glory; hence the name acyuta.  Sri
Bhattar's interpretation fo the above Sruti lead to the second meaning,
which follows:

b)  Sri Bhattar's vyAkhyAna for the above is "I have never abandoned (my
bhaktas).  Because of this act of mine, I am known as acyuta".  His
words are  "tebyah prapannebhyah na apagatah acyutah - He is never away
from those who have sought refuge in Him".  Sri tirukkaLLam
nrsimharAghavAchAryar in his bhagavadgItA bhAshya has given the
explanation na cyAvayati iti acyutah - One who does not let His devotees
slip - arjuna using this name here to call Lord krshNa who has taken it
upon Himself to be his charioteer  and who will not let him slip.

c) cyutam means modification.  The upanishad says of BhagavAn -
"(s)A(s)vatam (s)ivam acyutam" - Eternal, Auspicious, and Changeless" -
taittirIya AraNyakam - 10.11).   Sri rAdhAkrshNa SAstri points out that
BhagavAn is acyuta because he does not slip from stage to stage in the
sequence of events such as birth, living, growth, change in appearance,
decay, and finally disappearance from the body. 

102.  vr*shAkapih - One who lifted the Earth from the waters of adharma
in the form of varAha.

	In the mahAbhArata we have

	"kapir varAhah SreshThaSca dharmaSca vr*sha ucyate        |
	  tasmAd vr*shAkapim prAha kASyapO mAm prajApatih  ||  (Santi parva
330.24)

	"The word vr*sha means dharma, and the word kapi refers to boar (pA
means to protect and ka means water, and so kapi refers to varAha
incarnation where He protected the Earth from the waters).  Sri
chinmayAnanda points out that the name derives from the fact that He
protected the Earth from the ocean of adharma in His varAha incarnation.
 The meaning dharma for the word vr*sha is based on the ability of
dharma to shower all that is desired.

	Sri chinmayAnanda points out that this is one of the nAmas on which
there is wide controversy between the different vyAkyAna kartAs;
however, in the few tests that I have referred to, this indication of
serious controversy is not evident.  If any of you can elaborate on
other interpretations by our AchAryas and other vyAkhyAna kartAs, I will
be extremely grateful.

103.  ameyAtmA - One whose Nature cannot be comprehended.

	Ameya means unaccountable or incomprehensible.  Sri ChinmayAnanda
indicates that the virAt purusha form of the Lord is suggested here.
His self or nature is such that it cannot be measured by any particular
standard and determined.

104.  sarva yoga vinissr*tah - a) One who is beyond any attachment
		b) One who is easily attained by all means by His devotees

	The word yoga can mean union or it can mean the means.  Depending on
which one of these is chosen, we get a different interpretation.
Vinissr*ta means gone forth or out, or escaped according to the Sanskrit
dictionary by Sir William-Monier. 

	Using the first meaning for yoga, we get the interpretation that He is
free from any and all of kind of bondage, and so He is sarva yoga
vinissr*ta.  Using the second meaning, Sri Bhattar's interpretation is
that He is attainable easily by all means.  His interpretation is -
yOgaih - upAyaih; vi - viSheshENa - vEda parama guhyairiva; nissr*tah -
prAptum yogyah, sugraha iti vA.

-dAsan krshNamAchAryan