46.
aprameyah
One who cannot be defined, explained, measured, etc. through logical means,
(but who can only be experienced)
pramAtum na yogya: aprameyah -
He is beyond reach through normal means because
- He is beyond sense organs (pratyaksha) such as our mortal eyes, ears,
etc.;
- nor through inference (anumAna) because he is devoid of the marks
leading to inference
(e.g., the presence of fire can be inferred through
smoke but, for this inference, one should have witnessed fire and smoke
together at least once.
No one has seen the Lord with or without anything
associated);
- nor through analogy or comparison (upamA), because He is without parts
and everything else is only parts, and hence no comparison can be made;
- nor through Apta vAkya or shabda pramANa (someone else who has seen Him
telling us, or through sacred texts) because no one can see Him,
since
even the muktAs only experience Him.
Sri Bhattar goes on to point out that BhagavAn is aprameya because He is
beyond the sense organs of even Brahma and other gods.
(Sri RAdhAKrshNa Sastri
points out that the means of sensing is the same for Brahma and other gods as
it is for people).
He is not describable as This or That, like this or like
that, or inferred because of this or because of that, etc., and so He is aprameya.
47.
hrshIkesah
a) The controller of the sense-organs of all including Brahma, Rudra etc.
b) One who, in the form of the Sun and the Moon, makes this world happy
through His rays
The two interpretations are derived by looking at this word as hrshIkA +
Isa or hrishI + kesa.
The first explanation is derived from "HrshIkANAm
Isah hrshIkesah - the Lord of the sense-organs.
The second interpretation is
given based on kesa - rays, hrshI - that give happiness.
Sri Sankara gives the following support from MahAbhArata, Moksha dharma,
SAnti parva for the second interpretation:
"sUrya candramasoh SaSa vadamSubhi: keSa samjnitaih |
bodhayan svApayanScaiva jagadutthisThAte prthak ||
bodhanAt svApanAccaiva jagato harshaNam bhavet ||
agnIsoma krtairebhih karmabhih pANdunandana |
hrIkeSo'hamIsAno varado lokabhAvana: ||
"The sun and the moon through their kesa or rays always uphold the
world by awakening it and causing it to sleep. By such awakening and sleeping,
the world is delighted.
It is in consequence of this act of fire (Sun) and
Soma (Moon) who uphold the universe that I have come to be known as
HrshIkeSa...".
Sri T.S. Krishnamurthy, who has written an English translation to Sri
Sankara bhAshya, has taken this guNAnubhava one more step by saying that the
keSa - hair of the Lord
in the form of the rays of the sun and the moon give
delight (harsha), and thus He is HrshIkeSa.
48.
padma-nAbhah
One from whose navel the lotus (the cause of the Universe) emanates.
Sarva jagat kAraNam padmam nAbhau yasya sa padmanAbhah -
Sri Bhattar points out that this name substantiates or summaries all that
has been said through the previous nAmas about BhagavAn being the creator or
cause of Brahma (e.g., dhAtA, vidhAtA, dhaturuttamah).
Sri RadhAkrshNa Sastri gives a beautiful and simple explanation to enable
the appreciation of this nAma. In our normal life, the child before and at
birth is connected to the mother through the navel chord, and gets its
nourishment from the mother through this chord. Similar is the chord from the
Lord's navel, which is nothing but the Universe in its prakrti form, and which
looks like a lotus which has not expanded. This is prior to its expansion
through Time, and He is the nourisher of this creation of His (which is none
other than Brahma).
48.
amara-prabhuh
The Lord of the immortal gods.
AmarANAm prabhuh amaraprabhuh.
The Lord is amaraprabhu because He created the different devatAs and
entrusted them with acts such as creation, destruction, etc., made them
immortal because of their functions, and directs them in their functions.
Sri Bhattar quotes the following words ascribed to Brahma in Uttara kANda
in RAmAyaNa -
"mahArNave SayAnau'psu mAm tvam pUrvam ajIjana: |
prAhApatyam tvayA karma sarvam mayi niveSitam || (104-4)
"You were lying on the waters of the great ocean and you first of all
created me. The entire duty of the PrajApati (the rulership of the beings) was
entrusted to me by you".
Also, the following from MahAbhArata is given -
"etau dvau vibudha SreshThau prasAda-krodhajau smrtau |
tadAdarSita panthAnau srshTi samhAra kArakau ||(169-19)
"These two great gods (Brahma and Rudra) are said to have emerged from
the sweet temper and wrath of BhagavAn respectively. They carry out the duty
of creation and destruction in the way shown by Him".
50.
viSva karmA
a) One who is the agent of all actions with regard to the Universe.
b) The Creator of the Universe
viSvam karma jagad-vyApArah yasya sa viSva karmA.
Sri Bhattar points out
that this name signifies that all the entire work with regard to the affairs
of the Universe are His alone either before or after the creation of Brahma.
In other words, He is the director and controller.
Among the many passages in the sruti that support the interpretation are:
"so'kAmayatabahu syAm prajAyeya iti -
He willed: "I shall become many, I shall take birth" - taittirIya AraNyaka
- 6.
"so'bidhyAya SarIrAt svAt sisrkshu: vividhAh prajA: -
Brahman willed to create different kinds of beings out of Its body and so It
did" -
51.
manuh
The Great Thinker: MananAt manuh -
In the BrhadAraNya upanishad, we have
"nAnyo'to'sto mantA -
There is no thinker but Him" - (B.U. 3.7.23)
To mentally conceive an act prior to the act itself is mananam. BhagavAn
has to but think and not do anything else in order to achieve what He wills.
The creation of the cosmos was only a minute part of His will. Sri Bhattar
uses the word sankalpa lava mAtrAt - by the mere fraction (lava mAtrAt)
of His will, to explain this.
52.
tvashTA
One
who created all the different forms and names in this Universe.
This
name is dervied from the root tvaksh - to pare, to reduce, to chisel. Sri
Bhattar uses this meaning to interpret this nAma to mean that BhagavAn has
"chiseled"
so many diverse forms and names of gods, man, birds,
plants, insects, etc., and thus He is tvashTA. He gives the taittirIya
araNyaka (3-11) in support -
tvashTAram
rUpANi vikurvantam vipascitam.
Sri
Sankara uses the same meaning to interpret this name as indicating that
BhagavAn pares down all the beings or makes them shrink at the time of
cosmic dissolution or pralaya. It is interesting to note that the first
interpretation refers to the creation of forms and shapes from the
primordial matter, and the second interpretation refers to the dissolution
of forms and shapes back into primordial matter.
53.
sthavishThah
One who is exceedingly huge in size.
The name is derived from the two words sthUla and ishTha - One who willed
to be huge.
Sri Bhattar points out that this huge size is the manifestation of BhagavAn
as the brahmANda (the egg-shaped
universe) with the fourteen worlds, which are the places of residences for all
the beings that He has created, as
well as its sheath, and the sense-organs of all the beings, as well as the
sound, touch, and other qualities that
are the objects of these sense-organs, as well as their effects. The fourteen
worlds are referred to by Sri Ramanuja
in his Sri VaikuNTha-gadyam (caturdaSa bhuvanAntaram aNdam daSa guNitottaram
....) in his reference
to Sri VaikunTham's location far, far beyond the limits of these fourteen
worlds.
54.
sthavirah
One who has always existed, older than the oldest.
The name is derived from the root stha - tishThati - to stand. This nAma
signfies that BhagavAn is not constrained by Time. All His creation goes
through the cycle of creation and pralaya, and He uses Time for His creation
and dissolution, but He is not constrained by it. Thus He is older than the
oldest.
55.
dhruvah
One who is unaffected by Time, Unchanging, Permanent.
The word is derived from the root dhr - to carry, maintain, preserve, to be
eternal, immovable - (sthiratvAt dhruvah). The previous nAma indicated that
BhagavAn is the oldest of the oldest. This nAma signifies that He is
unchanging while Time keeps moving.
Perhaps because both the nAmas sthavira and dhruva refer to the quality of
BhagavAn being beyond the influence, effect, or control of Time, Sri Sankara
has chosen to interpret the two words as one nAma - sthaviro dhruvah - One who
is unchanging and older than the oldest. Thus the sequence number for the
nAmas that follow start differing from this nAma between Sri Sankara bhAshya
and Sri Bhattar's vyAkhyAna.
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