SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
131) avyanga: (अव्यङ्गः)
The one who is ever abound with the six limbs of vEdhas – namely SikshA (शिक्षा), vyAkaraNa (व्याकरण), chandhas (छंदः), jyOthisha (ज्यॊतिष), niruktha (निरुक्त) and kalpa (कल्प), is called ‘avyanga:’.
Etymology: The one who has no shortcomings due to the praises by the six limbs of vEdhas such as SikshA, vyAkaraNa et al. is called ‘avyanga:’.
शिक्षाव्याकरणाद्यङ्गैः न हीनॊsव्यङ्ग उच्यतॆ |
132) vEdhAnga: (वॆदाङ्गः)
vEdhas consist of innumerable branches. They are verily the divine body/limbs of bhagavAn. Since bhagavAn’s intimate divine nature and qualities are exposed by the vEdhas, bhagavAn is called ‘vEdhAnga:’ – the one who is possesses vEdhas as his limbs.
The scriptures support thus:
- “He who doesn’t comprehend the vEdhas doesn’t know bhagavAn either”
- “…when he shook his divine body made of vEdhas…”
- “The vEdhas and smruthis are verily my commandments”
- “The godhead and ancestors must be served. This is the commandment of bhagavAn”, etc.
Since vEdhas are verily his commandments, he is called ‘vEdhAnga:’.
Etymology: He, unto whom the vEdhas – with its innumerable branches – are verily the divine body, is called ‘vEdhAnga:’.
यस्य वॆदॊsनन्तशाखोsप्यङ्गं वॆदाङ्ग ऎव सः |
133) vEdhavith (वॆदवित्)
bhagavAn is verily the subject of vEdhas. The purport of vEdhas is called ‘dharma’. Since the individual souls attain bhagavAn in the form of pradhyumna by following the dharmas laid down by the vEdhas, he is called ‘vEdhavith’. Thus, the duties of pradhyumna are highlighted as ‘the enlightener’, and ‘the preacher’ of vEdhas.
Etymology: The subject of vEdhas is called ‘vEdha:’. The purport of such vEdha is called ‘dharma’. Since he always makes the individual souls observe such ‘dharma’, pradhyumna is called ‘vEdhavith’.
वॆदैः वॆद्यतया वॆदः तदर्थॊ धर्म उच्यतॆ |
तदनुष्ठापनात् नित्यं प्रद्युम्नॊ वॆदवित् स्मृतः ||
134) kavi: (कविः)
Since bhagavAn possesses expansive foresight, he is called ‘kavi:’ – the one with an expansive vision. The root ku (कु) is used to mean ‘sight’ in this context. It is suffixed with ‘in’ (इन्), resulting in this divine name.
Etymology: bhagavAn is only called ‘kavi:’ by the knowledgeable men for his vast foresight.
स ऎव क्रान्तदर्शित्वात् कवि इत्युच्यतॆ बुधैः |
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लॊकाध्यक्षः सुराध्यक्षॊ धर्माध्यक्षः कृताकृतः ।
चतुरात्मा चतुर्व्यूहश्चतुर्दंष्ट्रश्चतुर्भुजः ॥ १५ ॥
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135, 136, 137) lOkAdhyaksha:, surAdhyaksha:, dharmAdhyaksha:
This expansive foresight of bhagavAn is further elaborated with the next three divine names namely ‘lOkAdhyaksha:’, ‘surAdhyaksha:’ and ‘dharmAdhyaksha:’.
The word ‘lOkA:’ (लॊकाः) refers to the practitioners of righteousness / dharma. ‘surA:’ (सुराः) refers to the various demigods worshipped by such virtuous men. The word ‘dharma’ (धर्मः) refers to the various means by which such demigods are worshipped by those virtuous men. The lord of all these three entities is bhagavAn. This is shown by these three divine names.
bhagavAn, in his ‘anirudhdha’ vyUha, is bound to remove the malignity of “conferring of undeserving fruits (fruits for no action)” and “lack of conferring of fruits of action”, thereby conferring the righteous fruits of action to every individual soul – according to its deeds.
Therefore, bhagavAn anirudhdha is known to be the knower of the destination, paths of attaining the destination, the lord of souls treading such paths, righteous (honest) and the grantor of knowledge.
Etymology: ‘lOkA:’ are those souls who practice certain virtues. The demigods worshipped by such souls are called ‘surA:’. The means of such attainment are collectively termed as ‘dharma:’. The lord of all these entities is that bhagavAn who is connoted by the three divine names ‘lOkAdhyaksha:’, ‘surAdhyaksha:’, and ‘dharmAdhyaksha:’ in that order. BhagavAn ‘anirudhdha’ is said to be one who manifests with all these names.
धर्माधिकारिणॊ लोकाः तदाराध्याः सुरास्तथा |
धर्मस्तत्साधनं तॆषामध्यक्षः स्यात् त्रिनामवान् ||
लॊकाध्यक्षः सुराध्यक्षः धर्माध्यक्ष इति क्रमात् |
अनिरुद्धः स विज्ञॆयॊ लॊकाध्यक्षादि नामवान् ||
138) kruthAkrutha: (कृताकृतः)
bhagavAn is said to be the embodiment of two types of ‘dharmas’ – of promoting samsAra and removing samsAra. As a promoter of samsAra, he is the one who bestows temporary and lowly fruits in this samsAra to such souls who are not interested in mOksha. Thus, he is customarily called ‘krutha:’ (कृतः) – the promoter of samsAra. Further, he is the one who also releases us from the shackles of samsAra and bestows the permanent and supreme abode of SrIvaikuNtam / mOksham. Thus he is also called ‘akrutha:’ (अकृतः) – the remover of samsAra.
Etymology: The one whose nature is to bestow the fruits of action to those who practice both kind of deeds that result in either promotion of samsAra or release from samsAra is called ‘kruthAkrutha:’.
अनित्यनित्यफलदौ प्रवर्तकनिवर्तकौ |
ददौ यस्य स्वरूपं यः कृताकृत इतीरितः ||
139) chathurAthmA (चतुरात्मा) (also repeated in 775)
Since bhagavAn manifests thus (as explained from the divine name 123 till now) as four forms namely vAsudhEva, sankarshaNa, pradhyumna and anirudhdha, he is called ‘chathurAthmA’ – the one with four forms.
Etymology: bhagavAn is called ‘chathurAthmA’ due to his manifestation in four forms namely vAsudhEva, sankarshaNa, pradhyumna and anirudhdha.
वासुदॆवादि रूपत्वात् चतुरात्मॆति कथ्यतॆ |
140) chathurvyUha: (चतुर्व्यूहः) (also repeated in 773)
How can the same entity manifest in four forms at a time? This is explained in this divine name ‘chathurvyUha:’. In order to show the entity to be contemplated upon and worshipped for attaining the fruits as detailed till now, bhagavAn assumes four different forms characterized by the four states of mind namely ‘awakened’ (jAgruth जागृत्) (as anirudhdha), ‘dreaming’ (svapna स्वप्न) (as pradhyumna), ‘deep slumber’ (sushupthi सुषुप्ति) (as sankarshaNa) and ‘completely enlightened’ (thurIya तुरीय) (as vAsudhEva). In each of these forms, he sports different forms befitting his role, with various body-hues, ornaments, weapons, vehicles, flags and other equipments. Thus, he manifests in four forms at a time.
Etymology: Since bhagavAn is verily the embodied with four forms indicative of the various states of mind such as awakened, dreaming, deep slumber and completely enlightened, he is called ‘chathurvyUha:’.
जागृत्स्वप्नसुषुप्त्यादौ व्यूहावस्था चतुष्टयॆ |
एतैर्विशिष्टमूर्तित्वात् चतुर्व्यूह इतीरितः ||
adiyen srinivasa raja ramanuja dasan
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