Slokam 26

238. su-prasAdah

The Giver of good favors.Om suprasAdAya namah. Sobhanah prasAdha dAtRtvAt suprasAdah - For those who surrenderto Him He confers all that is good. In fact He goes further and confersthe good to those who are His enemies as well, as in the cases ofrAvaNa, SiSupAla, duryodhana, etc., by conferring moksha on themultimately. In other words, whatever bhagavAn confers, it is for thegood of the recipient. This concept is repeatedly pointed by svAmideSikan in the dayA-Satakam when he describes the dayA aspects of thedifferent incarnations. Thus for instance, in the paraSu-rAmaincarnation, when He destroyed the evil kshatriya kings, He really gotrid of their sins, and sent them to moksha. In the kalki incarnation,when He will destroy those at the end of the kali-yuga who are soaked insin, it is only to wash them of their sins and re-establish adharma-oriented kRta yuga where their jIva-s can flourish again thatthis act of His is undertaken. The writer in dharma cakram points out that there are those ofus who will do good to those who are bad to us, in addition to those whofollow the rule of an eye for an eye, and worse still, there are thosewho do bad to those who are good to them. SrI mahA-vishNu is one whodoes always what is good for everyone irrespective of how they aretowards Him. Meditation on Lord vishNu with this guNa implied by thisnAma will give us the right frame of mind to follow the sAttvic path.

239. prasannAtmA

He with a clear mind; Of delightful nature.Om prasannAtmane namah. He is of delightful nature because He has no desires and nowants since He has realized all desires - avApta-sarva-kamatvAt. Orbecause He is extremely merciful by nature - karuNArdra-svabhAvAt. OrHe is prasannAtmA because His mind is not contaminated by passion(rajas) and inertia (tamas). SrI P.B. aNNangarAcArya svAmi points outthat He has a clear mind because He is unaffected by likes and dislikes.SrI cinmayAnanda gives the interpretation that He is All-Blissfulbecause He is not affected by sorrows resulting from association withmatter and its imperfections (guNa-s). He is of a clear mind, withoutbeing affected by the tamasic and rajasic guNa-s. The dharma cakram writer gives the example of the threebrothers, rAvaNa, kumbhakarNa, and vibhIshaNa, respectively dominated byrajasic, tAmasic, and sattvic guNa-s. rAvaNa was indulging innon-righteous acts under the influence of kAma, and broughtself-destruction as a result. Kumbha-karNa was inactive under theinfluence of tamas. VibhIshaNa on the other hand had the clarity ofmind aided by his sattvic guNa. He could save SrIlankA from destructionand could attain the grace of the Lord because of his clear thinking.Meditating on the nAma prasannAtmA will lead to the clarity of mind thatbhIshma could command, when he advised duryodhana prior to the start ofthe mahAbhArata war that they won't win a war fought on immoral andunethical grounds, and the support of the Lord will be on the side ofdharma. prasannatA results out of the dominance of sattva guNa.

240. viSva-sRt

The Creator of the Universe.Om viSva-sRje namah. viSvam sRjati yo sa viSva-sRt. He created this Universe outof kindness unmindful of its merits and deficiencies. In SankarapATham, this nAma is given as viSva-dhRg - The Overseer of the cosmos.Prof. SrInivAsa rAghavan points in his writings in SrI nRsimha priyAthat other pATha-s are viSva-sRshT and viSva-sRg. In the context of the interpretation based on viSva-dhRg - theoverseer or ruler of the cosmos, the dharma cakram commentatorrhetorically asks the question - Do we rule our mind, or does our mindrule us? If we learn to rule over our mind, then we can rule ourfamily, our nation, etc., and also know the Ruler of everything. And weget this conditioning of our mind through meditation on the Lord who isviSva-dhRg. SrI satyadevo vAsisshTha gives the meaning based on the rootdhRsh prAgalbhye to be bold, confident, proud, or brave. He isviSva-dRk because He has created this world with skill (cAturya),prouldy, boldly. Everything He has created, including the differentseasons, the flowers, the different forms of life, etc., are constantlydisplaying His brilliance in the different ways they reproducethemselves, the different forms in which they appear, etc.

241. viSvabhug-vibhuh

He who pervades all things and protects them.Om viSvabhug-vibhave namah. vyApya bhunakti - pAlayati iti viSvabhug-vibhuh. SrI Bhattarinterprets this phrase as one nAma, whereas SrI Sankara interprets it asconsisting of two nAma-s, viSva-bhuk and vibhuh. The interpretation for viSva-bhuk is given as viSvam bhu~nkte -The Enjoyer of the Cosmos, or ViSvam bhunakti - The Protector. Thedharma cakram writer points out that He is the Protector for theUniverse in its expressed form with all its created beings or in itsunexpressed or pralaya form as well. This compares with the situationof mortals like us who cannot do any good in protecting this worldeither in our wakeful state or in our sleep state. SrI cinmayAnandagives the interpretation that He enjoys or swallows (bhuk) allexperiences (viSva). The Supreme Consciousness, apparently conditionedby the mind and intellect, is the experiencer of joys and sorrows. Or,the term can mean "One who absorbs all names and forms unto Himself atthe time of pralaya". SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives the reference totiattirIya AraNyaka 10.91 - prabhuh prINAti viSva-bhuk. SrI satyadevovAsishTha gives an alternate interpretation based on bhuj kautilye tobend, to curve, and says that the nAma can mean that He established theworld by bending or extending it in all eight directions. Since SrI Sankara interprets vibhuh as a separate name, he givesthe meaning - One with multi-form - vividham bhavati iti vibhuh. Hebecame many from HiraNyagarbha downwards. Vividham bhAvayati is anotherinterpretation, again referring to the multi-forms. SrI rAdhAkRshNaSAstri gives the meaning that He is vibhu because He fills everythingeverywhere - mahAntam vibhum AtmAnam - kaThopanishad 2.22. The dharmacakram writer elaborates on the multi-form by giving reference to LordkRshNa's words in the gItA in Chapter 10 starting with Slokam 21 andgoing up to Slokam 38, where bhagavAn gives several examples of HisvibhUti-s, and then says in Slokam 40 that there is really no limit toHis vibhUti-s.

26.242 - satkartA

He who honors the good.Om satkartre namah. satkaroti pUjayati iti satkartA - One who adores those who aregood and wise. SatkAram is worship. SrI rAma was known as sajjanaprati pUjakah - He who worships those in return who are good to Him.SrI radAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives the reference to rAmAyaNa -bahu-SrutAnAm vRddhAnAm brAhmaNAnAm upAsitA (2-2-33) - He worshipsthose who are learned, old in age, and brAhmaNas. The writer in dharma cakram points out the example of Lord rAmapraising hanumAn as soon as He saw him. The Lord rejoices to find thosewho are in this category. The lesson we should take from this nAma isthat we should do acts that will make us fit for this kind ofrecognition. Acts that fall in this category are those that give peaceof mind and inner happiness to the doer. By corollary, we shoulddesist from acts which lead to a feeling of self-centeredaccomplishment, pride, etc. Our acts should be directed to His service,and not for the satisfaction of the human ego.

26.243 - satkRtah

He who is worshipped by the sAdhus (even by those whodeserve to be worshipped).Om satkRtAya namah. The word satkRta means pUjita - One who is worshipped. He isthe Object of worship for everyone. The nirukti summarizes SrIBhattar's vyAkhyAna for this nAma as arcAdibhih sajjanaih yah pUjitahsatkRtah smRtah. Prof. SrInivAsa rAghavAcArya svAmi in his commentaryin nRsimha priyA points out that when the ekAntins who worhsip onlymahAvishNu make their offerings to Him, no matter how small the offeringis, He considers it big by considering it as worthy of His SupremeStatus, and receives through His head what is offered at His feet, andreceives it personally and not through other intermediary gods. As ifthis is not enough, He then feels that whatever He does to His devoteesis inadequate in return (recall Lord kRshNa's feeling of being indebtedto draupati for ever when she cried out for help and He helped but notby coming in person right away). The dharma cakram writer points outthat as a means of developing this devotion to Him, our vedas ask us toworship our mother, our father, our teacher - mAtR devo bhava,pitRdevo bhava, AcArya devo bhava.

26.244 - sAdhuh

One who carries out (whatever His devotees say).Om sAdhave namah. sAdhayati iti sAdhuh - One who carries out, or sAdhnoti itisAdhuh - One who makes it possible to carry out, through various meansthat He has provided for the benefit of the beings that He has created.Going as a messenger, acting as a charioteer, etc. are examples of Hiscarrying out His undertaking. Even though Lord kRshNa was Himself a king like duryodhana, He didnot mind doing the work of a messenger, and did not mind doing the workof a charioteer which is like that of a servant to arjuna. Thus, sAdhuhere refers to His act of carrying out whatever He has to do to takecare of His devotees. He takes several incarnations in which He suffersand gets insulted by the likes of duryodhana, SiSupAla, rAvaNa etc., andappears as a fish, a boar, etc., and undergoes suffering and misery asin the case of the rAma incarnation, all because He is a sAdhu, whocarries out what He has to in order to help His devotees. The nAma sAdhu has also been interpreted as One who isrighteous, i.e., conducts Himself according to the code laid in thevedas. And because He follows the righteous path always, Heaccomplishes whatever He undertakes always. The lesson to take here is(dharma cakram) that we should always follow the righteous path ineverything we do, and this will not only endear us to Lord vishNu, butalso lead to success in our just endeavors.

26.245 - jahnuh

The Concealer (of His greatness from the non-devotees).Om jahnave namah. This nAma is derived from the root hA - tyAge to forsake.abhakteshu Atma-mAhAtmyam apahnute iti jahnuh. jahAti avidushah jahnuhis another derviation for the same meaning - He leads those devoid ofdevotion away from the Supreme. SrI Bhattar gives the following quotefrom udyoga parva: "cakram tad-vAsudevasya mAyayA vartate vibhoh | sApahnuvam pANdaveshu ceshTate rAhasattamah || (udyogaparva 6.7.2) "That discus of the Omni-present vAsudeva acts by His will forthe benefit of the pANdavas being invisible (to the eyes of others), OGreat King!". SrI Sankara gives an addtional interpretation that He is jahnubecause He is the disintegrator of the Universe at the time of pralaya -janAn samhAra-samaye apahnute apanayati iti jahnuh. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives the incidence of Sage Jahnu whohid the Ganges when bhagIrata brought Ganges(jAhanavI) to the Earth.Similarly bhagavAn hides the Universe during pralaya into Himself, andso He is jahnu. In dharma cakram, we find a description of how His act of hidingsome things from us is really devoted to helping us in our day-to-daylife until we can really realize Him. Thus it is for our benefit thatwe forget some of our bad experiences of the past, and do not know someof the future incidences in our life ahead of time. In fact, thisprocess of things being hidden intermittently is the law of life, as forinstance the child being hidden in the mother's womb before being born,the seed being hidden underground before it sprouts, the time of ourbody's demise being hidden from us till the incident happens, theoutcome of a contest between two competing teams being hidden from themtill the incident concludes, and the same way, the jiva-s being hiddenin Him before the world is re-created after pralaya. This nAma shouldhelp us forget the wrong-doings of others, and remember only the goodthings in life. This training will help us realize Him in the process,and then He does not have to use His act of hiding anything from us. SrI satyadevo vAsisshTha also starts with the root hA tyAge togive up, and interprets the nAma to mean that He is jahnu because He isdevoid of the defects such as kAma, krodha, lobha, moha, mada, andmAtsarya, and is Suddha svarUpa. Ganges is jAhnavI because Gangeswashes away the sins.

26.246 - nArAyaNah

The Supporter of the hosts of souls.Om nArAyaNAya namah. All the previous nAma-s referred to nArAyaNa through His otherincarnations or through His many guNa-s. Now SrI vyAsa gives the namethat only refers to mahA-vishNu, and that is not used to refer to anyother gods (such as the nAma-s rudra, Siva etc., which also occur in thevishNu sshasranAma to refer to mahAvishNu). SrI Bhattar points outthat this nAma is spoken of in every upanishad, and the veda itselfgives the derviation of the name nArAyaNa thus - yacca ki~ncit jagat sarvam dRsyate SrUyatepi vA | antar-bahiSca tat-sarvam vyApya nArAyaNah sthitah || "Whatever object there is in the Universe that is seen or heard,nArAyaNa remains pervading all that, both inside and outside". SrI Bhattar gives several references to bring out the greatnessof this nAma. "nArAyaNAya vidmahe vAsudevAya dhImahi | tanno vishNuh pracodayAt || (taitti. nArAya. 6.1.28) "nArAyaNa param brhma tattvam nArAyaNah parah | nArAyaNa paro jyotir-AtmA nArAyaNah parah ||(taitt. NArAya. 6.11) "eko ha vai nArAyaNa AsIt| na brhamA na ISAnah na Apah naagnishomi yau na eme dyAvA pRthvI na nakshatrANina sUryah na candramAh| (mahopanishad) etc. SrI Sankara gives the following interpretation: nara refers toAtman; nAra refers to ether and the other effects produced from it; He,as their cause, pervades them and they are thus His abode (ayana).Hence He is named nArAyaNa. He gives the following quote frommahAbhArata supporting this interpretation: "narAjjAtAni tattvAni nArANIti tato vidhuh | tAnyeva cAyanam tasya tena nArAyaNah smRtah || (anu.Parva. 13.1.2) "The tattva-s are called nAra since they are sprung from nara(Atman); He is called nArAyaNa as they are His abode". Anotherinterpretation he gives is "narANAm jIvAnAm ayanatvAt pralaya iti vA -Whom the jIva-s appraoch and enter (He is the abode of the beings duringpralaya). This is supported by 'yatpryantyabhisamviSanti' - Whom theyapproach and enter - taittirIya upanishad 3.1. Or He is nArAyaNa sinceHe is the seat of the nAra-s or the tattva-s - nArANAm ayanam yasmAttasmAn-nArAyaNah smRtah - brahmavaivartapurANa. (Note that this thirdinterpretation is that He is their seat, whereas the firstinterpretation was that they are His seat). Manu-smRti gives thefollowing definition - "Apo nArAh iti proktAh Apo vai narasUnavah | tA yadasyAyanam pUrvam tasmAn-nArAyaNah smRtah ||(manu-smRti 1.10) "nAra refers to waters (the panca-bhUta-s before theyinter-mixed and became visible through forms etc.) which He created. Asthey are His original abode (i.e., during prlaya), He is callednArAyaNa". SrI satyadevo vAsishTha draws the parallel between theworld being born out of the waters in which nArAyaNa is floating, andthe child that is born out of the mother's womb after being supported bythe waters in the mother's body. In narasimha purANa, we have the following - "nArAyaNAya nama ityayameva satyah samsAra ghora visha samharaNAya mantrah | SRNvantu bhavyamatayo yatayo'starAgA uccaistarAmupadiSAmyaham Urdhva-bAhuh || (narasimha purANa18.31) "This is the real mantra that destroys the deadly poison ofsmasAra - nArAyaNAya namah. This I proclaim loudly with uplifted hands;let the ascetics, with passions curbed and inteleects clear, listen tome". SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri reminds us that the mantra-devatA thatwe worship through the gAyatri mantra is SrIman nArAyaNa - dhyeyah sadAsavitRmandala madhyavartI nArAyaNah. The dharma cakram writer refersus to divya-prabandham - "nalam tarum Sollai nAn kaNdu koNdEn nArAyaNAennum nAmam" to remind us of the greatness of this nAma japam. It is very important to note SrI Bhattar's concluding statementof his vyAkhyAnam on this nAma. He points out that the secret of thissacred mantra should only be properly learned by approaching an AcArya,and not by reading the explanations like the one presented. His wordsare that he does not want to say anything more on this nAma because itsgreatness can only be learned from an AcArya, and is thus a matter thatshould be seen by four eyes (the two eyes of the disciple and the twoeyes of the AcArya) and not by six eyes viz. he does not want to addhis two eyes further. So no amount of explanation on paper can bringout the greatness of this nAma.

26.247 - narah

a) He who is imperishable.b) The Leader.Om narAya namah. SrI Bhattar gives the meaning that nara refers to one withimperishable possessions, both sentient and non-sentient (both of whichare eternal by nature). SrI Sankara gives the meaning "Leader" to nara, and gives thequote from vyAsa (the source is not identified in my book) - nayati itinarah proktah paramAtmA sanAtanah - Because He directs everything, theeternal paramAtman is called nara. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha also starts with the root as nR nayeto lead, and gives the meaning as nayati - One who leads, or nRNati -One who takes things away. He is nara since He takes this Universe fromkalpa to kalpa through many kalpa-s. nara also refers to water orfluid, since this takes things from one place to another as it flows.That there was only water everywhere before sRshTi took place issupported by the following vedic quote - tama AsIt tamasAgUDhamagre'prakRtam salilam sarvamA idam (Rg 10.129.3). The dharma cakram writer points out that just as a mother leadsa child with the child's welfare in mind, and does not mind discipliningthe child for its own good when the child goes and eats dirt, or theteacher tries to discipline a student who is not learning the knowledgefrom the teacher, so also nara, viz. mahAvisNu, leads us all for ourgood even if He has to mete out some punishment occasionally to get ourways straightened out.