SubhA’ngo loka-sAra’ngah su-tantuh tantu-vardanah |
Indra-karmA mahA-karmA kRta-karmA kRtAgamah ||
Om SubhA’ngAya namah
Omloka-sAra’ngAya namah
Omsu-tantave namah
Omtantu-vardhanAya namah
Omindra-karmaNe namah
OmmahAkarmaNe namah
OmkRta-karmaNe namah
OmkRtAgamAya namah 788.SubhA’ngah a) He with a bewitching form thatmesmerizes the asura-s and misleads them.
b)He with an auspicious form that is meditated upon by His true devotees.
c)He Who makes the ashTA’nga yoga successful for those who follow this path withdevotion
d)He Who has beautiful gaits
e)He Who pervades everywhere at all times with His auspicious form
f)He Who makes things functional in this Universal in a beautiful way.
g)He Who brings the auspicious aspects such as trust in SAstra-s, guru’s words,etc., to His devotees. om SubhA’ngAya namh. We studied this nAma earlier in Slokam63 (nAma 593). The details covered here are supplemental to the informationpresented for nAma 593. The word a’nga refers to a limb orpart of the body, a constituent part or an essential component, a part of adivision or part of anything, etc. a) SrI BhaTTar has interpreted nAma593 as part of the description of the auspicious qualities of bhagavAnin bestowing benefits to His devotees according to their efforts.In that context, he uses the meaning “a constituent part or anessential component” as the meaning for the word a’nga. His anubhavamthere was that bhagaVan is called SubhA’ngah because He makes Hisdevotees succeed in the eight a’nga-s of bhakti yoga, for those whoundertake this path with faith in Him (For details, please see under Slokam63). b) For the current instance of thenAma SubhA’ngah, SrI BhaTTar continues his interpretation in termsof bhagavAn’s Buddha incarnation. He gives the meaning “He Who hadlimbs that were bewitching”, or “He Who had a bewitching form”, inreference to the Buddha incarnation – a form that could easily convince theasura-s that His words of deceit were trustworthy, even though He tookthis form only to succeed in misleading them by diverting them fromthe vedic observances. SrI BhaTTar’s words are: “katham tAnanupravishTah? SubhA’ngah” – How did He enter in their fold? By taking abewitching form that made them feel comfortable with Him and believethat He is trustworthy. This deceitful form that He took was alsoone of perfection – in deceit (vastreNa, vapushA, vAcA – by Hisdress, His appearance, His words, etc., to use v.v. rAmAnujan’squote). Thus, for the two instances of thenAma SubhA’ngah, SrI BhaTTar differentiates the interpretations by using twodifferent meanings for the word a’nga. c) SrI Sa’nkara’s interpretationsare:
-sundarIm tanum dhArayan SubhA’ngah (Slokam 63) – One Who has a handsomeform -Sobhanaih a’ngaih dhyeyatvAt SubhA’ngah (current instance) – One Who isto be meditated upon with a form of auspicious limbs. Thus, while SrI BhaTTar interprets thenAma SubhA’ngah in its current instance as His kapaTa vesham ordeceitful form to fool the ausra-s, SrI Sa’nkara interprets theauspicious form that is worshipped by His true devotees. Note that both areforms taken for the benefit of His devotees - for the destruction of Hisdevotees’ enemies in the former case, and for the benefit ofmeditation of His true devotees in the later case. SrI cinmayAnanda translates the nAmaSubhA’ngah as “One with enchanting limbs of perfect beauty”. SrIrAdhAkRshNa SAstri refers us to the anubhavam of His bewitching form bysage nArada and by hanuman, as revealed to us by vAlmIki in rAmAyaNa.SrImad rAmAyaNam begins with vAlmIki’s question to nArada: “Whois the best guNavAn, vIryavAn, dharmaj~nah, kRtaj~nah, satya-vAkyah,and dRDha-vratah in ths world?”. nArada responds to vAlmIki and tellshim that there is no one other than rAma, born to daSaratha, whoqualifies for all these in one Person. In three Sloka-s (bAlakANDam1.9-11), nArada describes the beauty of rAma’s form: vipulAmso mahA-bAhuh kambugrIvomahA-hanuh |
mahorasko maheshvAso gUDha-Satruh arindamah |
AjAnubAhuhsu-SirAh su-lalATah su-vikramah ||
samah sama-vibhaktA’ngah snigdha-varNah pratApavAn |
pIna-vakshAviSAlAksho lakshmIvAn Subha-lakshaNah || “rAma is One with broad shoulders,long arms, beautiful neck, great facial features, broad chest, great atwielding weapons, a muscular body, one who subdues His enemieseasily, long hands that reach up to His knees, beautiful head andforehead, beautiful gait, …”. In sundara kANDam, sitA pirATTi askshanuman to describe rAma and lakshmaNa to her, partly because shewants to make sure that hanuman has been genuinely sent by rAma, andpartly because she wants to enjoy the anubhavam of His beauty beingdescribes to her. In Sloka-s 9-22 of the 35th sargam in sundara kANDam,hanuman describes the beautiful appearance of Lord rAma.to sItA –Lord rAma Who is SubhA’ngah. A similar anubhavam of His beautifulform is by SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN, who gives the interpretation:SubhAni darSakAnAm ma’ngalotpAdakAnia’ngAni caraNa-vadana nayanAdIni yasya iti SubhA’ngah –He Who has a form that bestows auspiciousness to those who meditate onHim - His Lotus Feet, His lotus eyes, His beautiful form etc. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha takes adifferent root to the interpretation. He interprets the part a’nga basedon the root agi –gatau - to go, and gives several alternateinterpretations (d, e, f). d) SobhamAno a’ngati – gacchatiyah sa SubhA’ngah – He Who has abeautiful gait. (Recall the simha gati, gajagati, etc. that peruMALhas in SrI ra’ngam during utsava-s). e) a’nganam – sArva-kAlikamsArva-deSikam ca vyApanam; Subham a’nganam yasya sa SubhA’ngah –
He Who pervades everywhere at all times with His auspicious form f) SobhAya’njagat gamayati itSubhA’ngah – He Who makes things functional in this Universal in a beautifulway. g) Using the same approach for theword a’nga, SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN interprets the nAma assignifying that bhagavAn makes accessible to the devotees theauspicious things such as the trust in Sastra-s, the trust in the words ofthe AcArya-s, etc. – SubhAni guru Sastrokti viSvAsa svapna AsvAsanalakshaNAni a’ngyati utpalambhayati iti SubhA’ngah. 789.loka-sAra'ngah a) He Who preached the superficiallyacceptable goals in the world.
b)He Who grasps the essence of the world like a sAra'nga or honeyubee.
c)He Who is reachable through the essence (sAra) of the veda-s, namely praNava.
d)He Who is the object of devotion (loka-sAra)
e)He Who is attracted by bhakti
f)He Who bestows moksham, and He to whom the j~nAni-s are attracted.
g)He Who has devotees singing His auspicious qualities.
Omloka-sAra'ngAya namah.
a)SrI BhaTTar gives the vyAkhyAnam - "loke yat sAram tat gacchati itiloka-Sara'ngah" – He Who preached what was more immediately appealingoutwardly from the veda-s. SrI BhaTTar continues that in His deceitful role, Hetaught them that there are only two things to worry about: 1. How to enjoy while welive, and 2. How to get moksham at the end.
He told them "kurushvam mama vAkyAni yadi muktimabhItshTatha" (VP 3.18.5) – "If you want salvation, follow my words".One should go through the entire chapter of SrI vishNu purANam3.17 and 3.18 to have a full understanding of the Buddha incarnation. SrIv.v. rAmAnujan gives support from nammAzhvAr's tiruviruttam 96:
vaNa'ngumtuRaigaL pala pala Akki madi vikaRpAl
piNa'ngumSamaya'ngaL pala pala Akki, avai avai tORu
aNan'ngumpala pala Akki nin mUrti parappi vaittAi
iNa'nguninnOrai illAi….
"Youcreated several ways to worship You, including those that conflict with, andcontradict each other; You created several gods, but there is nothing that canequal You".
SrIK. Ve'nkaTasAmi reDDiyAr has written a uRai for this pASuram, in whichhe explains that the reference here is to the different paths thatHe has created for worship for the rAjasic and tAmasic people, includingthe gods and processes of worship associated with them.
SrISa'nkara uses the same meanings as above for the three parts of the nAma –loka, sAra, and a'nga, and gives two interpretations:
b)lokAnAm sAram sAra'ngavat bhR'ngavat gRhNAti iti loka-sAra'ngah –
He Who grasps the essence of the world like a sAra'nga or honey-bee.
c)He Who is reachable through the sAra or essence of the veda-s, namely thepraNava.
loka-sArah – praNavah, tena pratipattavya iti loka-sAra'ngah.
d)e) SrI satya devo vAsishTha derives the nAma starting from the rootslok – darSane – to see, to perceive; sR – gatau – to go; and a'ng– to go. His approach is: loka – He who is in the purview of visionis lokah, or He who shines with different aspects; sR – gatau– to go. By use of pANini sutra 3.3.17, (sR sthire) the word sArahrefers to something that moves while remaining fixed; for instance,candana sArah – the essence of sandal. sthiro bhavati iti sArah– One who moves while remaining fixed throughout time is sArah.Choosing the second of the two meanings given for loka, loka- sArais interpreted by SrI vAsishTha as referring to bhakti towards bhagavAn(loke sAro bhagavti prema). He Who is the recipient or objectof this bhakti, or He Who is attracted by bhakti, is loka- sAra'ngah– loka sArah tad gacchati = prApnoti, tat prati AkRshTo bhavatiiti loka-sAra'ngo vishNuh.
Sothe two interpretations that SrI vAsishTha gives for the nAma are:
HeWho is the object of devotion (loka-sAra), or
HeWho is attracted by bhakti
f)SrI satya sandha yatirAja gives the interpretation by viewing the nAmaas loka-sAh + ra'ngah. He uses the roots san – dAne – to give, andra'nj – rAge – to be devoted to, in his interpretation. His vyAkhyAnamis: lokam vaikunThAdi lokam sanoti dadAti iti loka-sAh; rajyantej~nAninah atra iti ra'ngah; loka-sAh asau ra'ngaSca iti lokasA-ra'ngah– He Who bestows SrI vaikunTham, and He to Whom the j~nAni-sare devoted, is lokasA-ra'ngah.
g)The word sAra'nga also refers to a conch shell or a kind of musicalinstrument. SrI baladeva vidyAbhUshaN takes the word lokA to referto bhakta janAh – the devotees, and sAra'nga as a reference to aconch shell or a kind of musical instrument, and gives the interpretation for the nAma as
"He Who has devotees singing His auspicious qualities" –
lokA hari-bhakta-janAh Sara'ngA monodvatad guNagAyakA yasya sa loka-sAra'ngah. 790.su-tantuh a) He who has a powerful net ofthreads to capture the asura-s and retain them from escaping.
b)He Who has expanded this Universe starting from Himself.
c)He Who has progeny such as brahmA.
d)He Who expanded the yAdava race in auspicious way by being born as the son ofvasudeva.
Omsu-tantave namah.
su is an upasarga. tantu is derived from the root tanu – vistAre– to spread, to go.
Among the meanings for the term tantu are thread, cord, wire, string,etc.
a)SrI BhaTTar uses the meaning "a net of threads" for the term"tantu", and gives the meaning "One Who has such a net to capturethe evil-minded folks", for the term tantuh. BhagavAn puts inan appearance of tranquility and meditation in this deceitful role,and the asura-s are caught up in this net, and could never get outof it. This interpretation is a continuation of SrI BhaTTar's elucidationof the nAma-s 787 – 810 in terms of the Buddha incarnation.SrI SAstri explains that the net is beautiful and attracts the asura-s, and at the sametime is very strong, and so
theycan't out once get caught in this net.
b)SrI Sa'nkara gives the interpretation – Sobhanah tantuh vistIrNah prapa'nco'syaiti su-tantuh.
One translator gives the meaning as "He Whois beautifully expanded, like the universe",
and another gives the meaning "He, through whomthis universe is beautifully and auspiciously expanded as athread".
SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri explains that since bhagavAn created everythingstarted from Him, like a long piece of thread from a small ball ofcotton, He is called su- tantuh.
SrIsatyadevo vAsishTha develops his interpretation based on the meaning"to expand" for the root tanu – vistAre, consistent with the secondtranslation above –
tanyata iti tantuh Sobhanah tantuh yasya sasu-tantuth vishNuh;
Sobhanam tanyate viSvam yena sa su-tantuh iti arthah.
Consistent with this act of the beautiful expansion that He does, we see thatright from the start of creation, and up to the timeof pralaya, the different species remain the same and keep expanding at the sametime. They have expanded before, they are expanding now, and they will continueto expand in the future (expansion here is to be understood interms of new members of each species being created, while old members die).
c)SrI satya sandha yatirAja uses the sense of visTara or expansion forthe term tantu, and interprets the nAma as signifying that bhagavAn has the nAma su-tantuhbecause He has the likes of brahma as His son – Sobhanas-tantuhcatur-mukhAdi santAno yasya sa sau-tantuh.
d)SrI ananta kRshNa SAstry uses a similar approach, but gives the interpretationthat because bhagavAn expanded the race of yAdava-s in anauspicious way being the progeny of vasudeva, He is called su- tantuh. 791.tantu-vardhanah –
a) He Who increases the meshes.
b)He Who augments the expansion of Himself into this world, by protecting it.
c)He Who withdraws this world into Himself after creating it.
d)He Who expanded the vasudva family through pradyumna and others.
Theword vardhanah is derived from the root vRdh – vRddhau – to grow.So this nAma can be viewed as an extension of the previous nAma– One who increases the meshes in the net, or One Who continues tomaintain or sustain the growth or vistAra of this universe.
a)SrI BhaTTar gives the vyAkhyAnam –
evam papa rUcibhih amsubhiriva samsAra-tantum santanoti ititantu-vardhanah –
"Thus, by aggravating the taste for sin in these people (whodeserve to be punished), He strengthens the snare of samsAra as ifby strong fibers." SrI BhaTTar quotes from the followingsources in support:
tAnaham dvishatah krUrAn samsAreshu narAdhamAn |
kshipAmyajastramaSubhAn AsurIshveva yonishu || (gItA 16.19)
"Thosehaters, cruel, the vilest and the most inauspicious of mankind,I hurl forever into the cycles of births and deaths, into thewombs of demons".
trayI-mArgasamutsargam mAyAmohena te'surAh |
kAritAs-tanmayAhyAsan tathA'nye tat-pracoditAh ||
tairapyanye'paretaiSca tairapyanye pare ca te | (VP 3.18.32)
"Thefoes of God being thus induced to apostatize from the religion ofthe veda-s by the enchanting power of vishNu, became in their turn teachersof the same heresies, and perverted others; and these, again,communicating their principles to others, by whom they were stillfurther disseminated, the veda-s were in a short time deserted bythe daitya race".
Thisis how bhagavAn "increased the meshes" – tantu-vardhanah.
b)SrI Sa'nkara's interpretation is that the nAma signifies that He augmentsthe web of this world, by protecting the world that He expandedfrom Himself - tameva tantum vardhayati iti.
c)Alternatively, SrI Sa'nkara gives another interpretation – He Who withdrawsthe world (at the time of pralaya) – vardhayati – chedayati – cuts down. SrI Sa'nkaravyAkhyAnam is chedayati iti vA tantu-vardhanah.
d)SrI ananta kRshNa SAstry continues on his idea d) in the previousnAma, and interprets the nAma tantu-vardhanah as referring toHis extending the progeny of the vasudeva family through pradyumna andothers. 792.indra-karmA a) He Who did all this for the sake ofindra.
b)He Who is responsible for the powers of indra.
c)He Who performs acts that reflect His Supreme Lordship.
Omindra-karmaNe namah.
Theroot from which the word indra is covered is ind – paramaiSvarye– tohave great power, and the addition of the affix ran per uNAdi sutra2.28; the resulting word indra means "foremost". The word alsorefers to the god indra. SrI BhaTTar gives the interpretation usingthe reference to the god indra, and others use the generic meaningof the word indra – foremost.
a)SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is that bhagavAn took this Buddha incarnation in order to assist indra and other gods in response to their request for help. He gives support from SrI vishNu purANam:
tamUcuh sakalA devAh praNipAta purassaram |
prasIdanAtha! daityebhayah trAhi iti SaraNArthinah || (VP 3.17.36)
"Allthe gods prostrated before Him and said: O Lord! Be merciful towardsus. Please save us from the asura-s. We seek refuge in Thee". This is part of thedescription in SrI vishNu purANam, leading to the Buddha incarnation.
b)SrI Sa'nkara gives the interpretation that He has this nAma becauseHis actions are great and glorious, like those of indra – indrasyakarmeva karmA asya iti indra-karmA – aiSvarya karmetyarthah. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstrigives the interpretation that He has the nAma because He has theactions of indra as His own; in other words, He is the antaryAmi ofindra, and is thus the cause behind indra's power.
c)SrI satyadevo vAsishTha uses the generic meaning ind – paramaiSvarye,and gives the interpretation – indrANi karmANi yasya – pramaiSvryaSalIni karmANi yasya sa indra-karmA – He Whose actions reflectHis Supreme Lordship, is indra-karmA. SrI vAsishTha gives examplesof His indra-karmA-s – the support of the all the worlds, ensuringthat the planets function in their correct paths with their correctperiods, bestowing the sun with its power, etc. SrI cinmayAnandagives a similar interpretation - "One Who always performsgloriously auspicious actions". 793.mahA-karmA He of magnanimous actions.
OmmahA-karmaNe namah.
mahAntikarmANi yasya sa mahA-karmA – He Whose actions are great and magnanimous.The difference in the different interpretations relatesthe specific anubhavam of the vyAkhyAna-kartA-s on His mahA karma-s.
a)SrI BhaTTar continues the thread from the earlier nAma-s. "Even thoughbhagavAn is of a merciful nature, deceitful acts were perpetrated by Him for the sake of theprotection of the prapanna-s - those who had taken refuge in Him, andfor the destruction of those who were wedded to unholy practices.Since all His acts were thus justifiable, He is mahA-karmA"– evam prapanna paripAlanArthatvAt durAcAra-daNDanArthatvAccaparama-kAruNikasyaiva vipralambha sambhavah | evam nyAya vRttatvAtmahA-karmA. One is reminded of the well-known Slokam
"paritrANAya sAdhUnAm, vinASAya ca dush-kRtAm,
dharmasamsthApanArthAya sambhavAmi yuge yuge" (gItA 4.8).
SrISa'nkara gives examples of a different kind for the great deeds referredto in this nAma – such as the creation of ether, earth, water,air, and fire – mahAnti viyatAdIni bhUtAni karmANi kAryANi asyaiti mahA-karmA. SrI cinamyAnanda elaborates on this – "To createa cosmos so scientifically precise and perfect out of the five greatelements, and to sustain them all with an iron hand of efficiency, all the time constantlypresiding over the acts of destruction without which the world ofchange cannot be maintained, is in itself, a colossal achievementof Absolute Intelligence".
SrIkRshNa datta bhAradvaj gives the interpretation that He has this nAmabecause He performs divine actions – mahat mahanIyam divyam karmayasya iti mahA-karmA. He gives the support from gItA 4.9 – janmakarma ca me divyam – "My birth and My actions are of a divine nature".
SrIbaladeva vidyA bhUshaN's anubhavam of the mahA karmA's is the incidentinvolving Lord kRshNa restoring indra's royal umbrella and adiTi'searrings and giving them back to their owners – mahAnti bhaumavadha maNi parva chatra aditi kuNDala AnayanAni karmANi yasya samahA karmA. The reference to these incidents is found in SrImad bhAgavatamin skanda 10, adhyAya 59, Sloka 2:
indreNahRtac-chatreNa hRta-kuNDala-bandhunA |
hRtaamara adri sthAnena indreNa j~nApito bhauma ceshTitam |
sa-bhAryogaruDArUDhah prAg-jyotisha puram yayau || (bhAga. 10.59.2)
"Havingbeen requested by indra for His help in recovering his royal umbrella,his mother's ear-rings, and his seat called maNi parvatam insumeru hill, that has been forcibly taken away by narakAsura, Lord kRshNawent to the city of narakAsura with satyabhAmA, riding on His garuDavAhanam". The chapter in SrImad bhAgavatam then extensively describeskRshNa-s fight with narakAsuran, and the slaying of narakAsurain the end. Then in Slokam 43, Lord kRshNa is referred to asa-tarkya-kRt – He Who performs acts that are unarguably great. Theuse of the word atarkya-kRtah here is the same as the sense conveyedby the current nAma – mahA-karmA. 794.kRta-karmA a) He Who practiced the acts Hepreached to the asura-s, in order to convince them.
b)One Who has achieved all there is to achieve.
c)One Who keeps repeating the processes of creation etc., with perfection
d)One Who has performed acts that no one else can ever perform.
omkRta-karmaNe namah.
a)SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is that bhagavAn played His role of deceptionby following the practices that He preached to the asura-s, toensure that they believed in Him completely – svayam anushThita tad-AcArah.SrI v.v. rAmAnujan comments that bhagavAn stressed the motto"ahimsA paramo dharmah" to the exclusion of every other code, andmade sure that the asura-s rejected vedic sacrifices and such otheracts.
b)SrI Sa'nkara gives the interpretation that He has the nAma because"He is One of fulfilled activities", that is, He has nothing moreto achieve – na kartavyam ki'ncidapi karma asya vidyata iti kRta- karmA.
SrIkRshNa datta bhAradvAj refers us to gItA 3.22:
name pArtha asti kartavyam trishu lokeshu ki'ncana |
naanavAptam avAptavyam varta eva ca karmaNi || (gItA 3.22)
"ForMe, arjuna, there is nothing in all the three worlds that is leftyet to be done, nor is there anything unacquired that ought to be still acquired. Yet I go onworking."
c)SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the interpretation that the nAma signifiesthat bhagavAn is "One Who keeps repeating the process of creation,protection, and destruction in cycles – One Who keeps doing theseactions again and again" – kRtameva jal-lakshaNam karma punah punahkaroti. He gives the Rg vedic mantra "yathA pUrvam akalpayat" (Rg.10.190.3) – "He created everything as before", in support.
d)SrI vAsishTha gives an alternate interpretation as well – He Who performsthe work that no one else can do" – anyaih kartum anarham bahubhirapiyat karma, tat karoti iti kRta-karmA. He gives the exampleof the function of the sun appearing and setting unendingly everyday from the beginning of the world, and continuing till the endof the world. This process of creation is something that no one elsedo, with perfection, over and over again.
SrIbaladeva vidyAbhUshaN, a follower of the caitanya tradition, has theanubhavam of the nAma in terms of the many acts of kRshNa that arein the category of "No one else can do" – the slaying of narakAsura,the liberation of the 16000 rAja kumAri-s who had been imprisonedby him, the fetching of pArijAta tree for satyabhAmA, the victoryover rudra in the battle with bANAsura, the freeing of aniruddhaand usha, etc. 795.kRtAgamah – a) The Propounder of Agama-s(Spiritual texts) including those dealing with Buddhism, Jainism, etc..
b)He Who propounded the Vedas – Rg, sAma, etc.
c)He Who is the Originator of the pA'ncarAtra Agama.
d)He Who made His appearance at dvArakA after performing His several leelA-s.
e)he Who makes His appearance repeatedly through different incarnations.
omkRtAgamAya namah.
Theterm Agama is derived from the root gam – gatau – to go. SrI vAsishThagives the derivation –
Agamyate anena iti Agamo vedah – That through which knowledge isobtained is Agama, namely, the veda- s. He Who created the veda-s is kRta-Agamah– kRta Agamo yena sa kRtAgamah
a)SrI BhaTTar explains the nAma as a continuation of His acts of deceivingthe evil people. To make them believe Him in these acts, Hefurther propounded spiritual texts propounding the faiths of Buddhism,Jainism, etc. – Buddha arhata sAmayika Agamah kRtAgamah. SrIv.v. rAmAnujan describes these Agama-s as attractive to the outwardmind, very appealing, and something that can easily distract anddeceive one intellectually.
b)SrI Sa'nkara interprets the nAma as referring to bhagavAn being theOrigin of the veda-s – kRto vedAtmaka Agamo yena iti kRtAgamah. Hequotes the bRhadAraNya upanishad:
"asya mahato bhUtasya niSvasitam etat Rg vedo yajur-vedah sAma vedoatharvA'ngirasa
itihAsahpurANam vidyA vidyA upanishadah SlokAh sUtrANyanuvyAkhyAnAni vyAkhyAnAni…."
– "The Rg veda, yajur veda,sAma veda, atharva veda, are the breath of this Supreme Being". The termAgama refers to scriptures.
c)SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj explains the nAma as referring to His beingthe Originator of the pA'ncarAtra Agama – "pA'ncarAtrasya kRtsnasyakartA nArAyaNah svayam" – The whole of pA'ncarAtra was originatedby nArAyaNa Himself.
d)SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN interprets the word Agama as "arrival", andgives the meaning for the nAma as referring to the arrival of LordkRshNa in dvArakA after performing several of His leelA-s - kRtas-tat-tatcaritAni prakASya dvArakAyAm Agamo yena sa kRtAgamah.
e)The term Agama also means "appearance". SrI vAsishTha gives an interpretationusing the meaning "Avarta" – revolution or repeated appearance.He gives the example of the sun appearing repeatedly, as avibhUti of bhagavAn. BhagavAn Himself appears in His incarnations repeatedly,and in this sense also He is "Agamah" – He Who appears repeatedly.
-dAsankRshNamAcAryan
