SrIvishNu sahasranAmam – 15 (Names 141 to 150)

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141) chathurdhamshtra: (चतुर्दंष्ट्रः)

Since bhagavAn shows his supremacy even in his vyUha forms, he is called ‘chathurdhamshtra:’ – the four teethed one. The possession of four fangs is said to be the characteristic of great men, as shown in this statement of SrI rAmAyaNam “rAma is a great man possessing fourteen equally proportioned organs, four fangs and four kinds of walking styles”.

Etymology: Since bhagavAn possesses four fangs, he is called ‘chathurdhamshtra:’.

दंष्ट्राचतुष्कयुक्तत्वात् चतुर्दंष्ट्र इति स्मृतः |

142) chathurbhuja: (चतुर्भुजः)

Similarly, he is also ‘chathurbhuja:’ – the one with four shoulders. Even this characteristic of possessing four shoulders is said to be of great men, as shown in the scriptures thus:

  • “…him, who possesses four divine and mighty shoulders sporting various weapons such as the conch, discus, etc”
  • “He transcends thamas – the darkness; and he is the wielder of the divine conch, discus, and the mace”
  • “…with all four shoulders…” etc

Etymology: As a characteristic connoting of his greatness, he possesses four shoulders, and hence called ‘chathurbhuja:’.

महापुरुषरूपत्वात् उच्यतॆ हि चतुर्भुजः |

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भ्राजिष्णुर्भॊजनं भॊक्ता सहिष्णुर्जगदादिजः ।
अनघॊ विजयॊ जॆता विश्वयॊनिः पुनर्वसुः ॥ १६ ॥
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143) bhrAjishNu: (भ्राजिष्णुः)

bhagavAn is called ‘bhrAjishNu:’ since he is effulgent to his devotees who worship him with all the aforesaid qualities. The root ‘bhrAj’ (भ्राज्) is suffixed with ‘ishNu:’ (इष्णुः) as per the grammatical rules, resulting in this divine name. This name indicates that bhagavAn is the one who shows himself through his effulgence among his worshippers.

Etymology: BhagavAn is called ‘bhrAjishNu:’ due to his nature of showing himself through his effulgence to his worshippers.

उपासितृभ्यॊ भ्राजिष्णुः स्वप्रकाशनशीलतः |

144) bhOjanam (भॊजनम्)

He is enjoyed by his devotees who see him with all his effulgence. He is called ‘bhOjanam’ since he is enjoyed as verily the food with all happiness by his devotees.

Etymology: He who is enjoyed by his devotees with all happiness is called ‘bhOjanam’.

सुखॆन भॊजनं प्राहुः यॊ भुक्तैरनुभूयतॆ |

145) bhOkthA (भॊक्ता) (also repeated in 502)

The one who himself enjoys the various offerings of his devotees that are offered with love, as much as nectar itself, is called ‘bhOkthA’ – the enjoyer. This is as per bhagavAn’s words in the bhagavath gIthA:

  • “I wholeheartedly consume such offerings of my devotees given with pure love…”
  • “My devotee attains utmost peace by knowing me to be the enjoyer of all his offerings in yajnas and thapas…”

Etymology: bhagavAn is called ‘bhOkthA’ since he is the consumer of all offerings of his devotees offered with pure love. He is called so, since he is the consumer of nectar (food offered by his devotees with pure love).

भॊक्तार्पितस्य भॊक्तृत्वात् भॊक्ता स्यादमृतस्य वा |

146) sahishNu: (सहिष्णुः) (also repeated in 570)

In order to attract his devotees closer to him, bhagavAn endures the various misdeeds of his devotees that they may have committed in the past or that they may commit in future – whether knowingly or unknowingly – with all their faculties (organs, mind et al), such as: disrespecting scriptural injunctions as in ‘refraining from scriptural prescriptions’, ‘doing something that the scriptures have avoided’, etc, which may be categorized either as ordinary faults or extraordinary faults such as criticizing bhagavAn himself, and also the endless list of faults that the devotees themselves cannot bear. Due to this infinite endurance, he is called ‘sahishNu:’ – the patient one.

Again, as seen previously, the root ‘sah’ (सह्) (to endure) is suffixed with ‘ishNu:’ (इष्णुः) due to such patience being the inherent nature of bhagavAn.

How does bhagavAn possess such extreme endurance towards his devotees’ misdeeds? It is purely due to his inherent patience. Just as the nature of moon, water, et al is to be cool always, so also such supreme endurance of bhagavAn is purely out of his own nature and not assumed anytime.

Thus ends the elaboration of names connoting the ‘vyUha’ forms of bhagavAn.

Etymology: bhagavAn endures all kinds of misdeeds of his devotees done in the past or future with their minds and other faculties, such as violations of scriptural injunctions, and some other types of misdeeds which are even unbearable to the devotees themselves! Since he shows such supreme endurance towards the misdeeds of all his devotees, as a natural trait, he is called ‘sahishNu:’.

Till now, the vyUha form of bhagavAn was elucidated. Henceforth, the ‘vibhava’ form (incarnations) is being said.

प्रागूर्ध्वं सञ्चितानां च बुद्ध्या च करणैः सदा |
कृतानां सर्वथा तॆषां निषॆधविधिसाधनम् ||

अतीत्य क्रियमाणानामसत्सॆवानुबन्धिनाम् |
सर्वं सहॆन स्वॆनापि दुस्सहानां विशॆषतः ||

स्वभक्तविषयाणां च निर्मर्यादकृतैनसाम् |
सहनैकस्वशीलत्वात् सहिष्णुरिति विश्रुतः ||

वर्णितॊsभूत् व्यूहभॆदॊ विभवस्तु प्रतन्यतॆ ||

147) jagadhAdhija: (जगदादिजः)

Henceforth, the glories of bhagavAn’s incarnations in his ‘vibhava’ forms are elucidated. This divine name ‘jagadhAdhija:’ – the primordial creator – refers to bhagavAn’s incarnation as ‘vishNu’, the second of the trinity (brahma, vishNu and Siva).

This divine name indicates that bhagavAn manifested amongst the very first entities in this creation – the trinity namely brahmA, vishNu and Siva. The root ‘jan’ (जन्) (to be born) is suffixed with ‘da:’ (डः) as per the grammatical aphorism ‘सप्तम्यां जनॆर्डः’. The same rule is applied in other divine names as well, such as ‘mEdhaja:’ (मॆधजः) (759), ‘gadhAgraja:’ (गदाग्रजः) (770), et al.

This can be seen in the prayers of brahmA and other dhEvas as well, as shown below:

  • “That bhagavAn achyutha, by whose divine grace I am the creator of entities and by whose anger rudhra is the destroyer, is born between us as vishNu – in order to protect and sustain the entire creation.”
  • “You are the sole refuge to all of us – the dhEvas. You are the primordial entity (entity present even before anything else was created), and you are the lord of all worlds. You have taken the form of ‘vishNu’ (among the trinity) in order to protect all the creatures in this creation.”, etc.

Etymology: Since bhagavAn is born among the primordial entities of creation – the trinity namely brahma, vishNu and Siva – in the form of ‘vishNu’, he is called ‘jagadhAdhija:’.

जगतामादिभूतासु मूर्तिष्वन्यतमत्वतः |
जातत्वात् विष्णुरूपॆण प्रॊच्यतॆ जगदादिजः ||

148) anagha: (अनघः) (also repeated in 835)

Although born in this samsAra as one among the individual souls, since he is untouched by the effects of karma, he is called ‘anagha:’ – the one who is untouched by sins.

Etymology: The one who rivals sins is called ‘anagha:’.

पापप्रतिस्पर्धी अनघः |

149) vijaya: (विजयः)

Even for the other two entities in the trinity – brahmA and Siva, since bhagavAn is the one who assigns the tasks of creation and destruction and also makes them successful in their respective tasks, he is called ‘vijaya:’ – the victorious one. This is as said in the scriptures: “The creator and destroyer (four faced brahmA and rudhra) walk in the path laid down by bhagavAn”.

Etymology: ‘vijaya:’ (bhagavAn) is the victor of all worlds.

विजयॊ जगतां जयी |

150) jEthA (जॆता)

Also, bhagavAn ordains the other two entities (brahmA and rudhra) to act as per his wishes. Hence he is called ‘jEthA’ – the ordainer.

Etymology: The one who ordains brahma and Sankara to act as per his wishes is called ‘jEthA’.

स्वाभिप्रायॆ स्थापयिता जॆता स्यात् विधिशङ्करौ |

adiyen srinivasa raja ramanuja dasan

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