SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
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641) kumbha: (कुम्भः)
Even while descending as ‘archA vigraha’s, bhagavAn is liked and worshipped by his devotees in various beautiful forms known to them and resembling them (for instance, we all worship bhagavAn with a human form as rAma, krishna, et al; dhEvas worship him with a dhEva form, et al). Thus, he is called ‘kumbha:’ – the one who is very familiar to the worshipper.
Alternately, he takes the archA forms in various places, temples, houses, etc thereby facilitating his meditation and service unto his devotees as shown previously, in order to uplift them. Even if a person has a small relation with such divine places where bhagavAn resides in his archA form – such as being born or dead in such places, bhagavAn takes that itself as a cause to grace such souls and saves them from the fear of the servitors of yama. Thus, he possesses a divine charm, and hence called ‘kumbha:’ – the one who uplifts the souls.
This is supported in the scriptures thus:
- “He makes this world shine, by pervading all over (in the form of archA vigrahas)”
- “…he makes this his own place”, etc.
- The boundaries of bhagavAn’s land (temples, etc) are defined thus in the scriptures:
- “The extent up to which the sound of a conch blown in a temple resonates and can be heard is said to be a ‘kshEthra’ or the temple boundary.”
The scriptures further say thus:
- “The souls beget all their desired fruits – both in this world as well as the nether – by worshipping bhagavAn in places where he resides (temples, etc)”
- “bhagavAn shows his presence at all times in various places on this earth in order to free all the fallen souls from the clutches of this samsAra”
- “All fallen souls approach bhagavAn vishNu with all their kin, and take his refuge – pleading him to uplift them. The servitors of vishNu take notice of such devotees and rush to their help with an uproar in a grand chariot. They defeat the messengers of yama with their might, and bring the distressed soul before bhagavAn. They produce that soul with a prayer to bhagavAn to do whatever he wishes with that soul, whom they produced after freeing him of his physical body made of five elements. They say to bhagavAn, “Oh Lord, this soul gave up his mortal body in your place. So we have brought him to you. Do as you please”. Hearing this prayer of his servitors, bhagavAn – overcome with his compassion towards that fallen soul – sees him with a pacifying glance and accepts him into his fold”, etc.
With all these statements and more, the scriptures have shown how bhagavAn uses the relation of his places of residence with his devotees in order to purify them when they have given up their mortal bodies in such divine places – through his divine servitors, eventually frees them from the cycles of birth and death, and finally gives away himself to such blessed souls. All this is possible due to his descent in the form of archA vigrahas.
Etymology: With his various archA forms, bhagavAn accepts worship from devotees showing his resemblance and intimacy with them. Thus, he is called ‘kumbha:’. Alternately, since bhagavAn makes this world shine with his grace, he is called ‘kumbha:’. This six lettered manthra wards off all fears of the chanter.
काम्यतॆ यः सजातीयैर्गुणैः कुम्भः प्रकीर्तितः |
कौ स भातीति कुम्भॊ वा षडर्णॊ भयनाशकः ||
642) viSudhdhAthmA (विशुद्धात्मा)
By accepting their services thus, bhagavAn gives away himself completely unto all of his devotees equally. Thus, he is called ‘viSudhdhAthmA’ – the one with a pure heart showing impartiality.
Etymology: Since bhagavAn gives away everything including himself unto all of his dear devotees (equally – without any sort of discrimination) at all times, he is called ‘viSudhdhAthmA’.
सर्वाश्रितॆष्वशॆषॆण सर्वस्य त्यागतः सदा | विशुद्धात्मा
643) viSOdhana: (विशॊधनः)
Whenever his dear devotees give up the mortal body in his holy abodes (where he resides as archA vigrahas), bhagavAn purifies them by clearing all of their sins and makes them eligible for his attainment. Thus, he is called ‘viSOdhana:’.
Etymology: He who purifies the souls who give up their mortal bodies in his holy abodes is called ‘viSOdhana:’.
क्षॆत्रमृतशॊधकः स्यात् विशॊधनः |
644) anirudhdha: (अनिरुद्धः) (also repeated in 187)
Thence, bhattar shows the presence of bhagavAn in various holy places – with all his greatness shown in the previous divine names.
bhagavAn janArdhana – the lord of all entities – resides at a place called ‘vasubhANdam’ (वसुभाण्डक्षॆत्रम्) in the form of ‘anirudhdha’. Thus, he is called ‘anirudhdha:’.
Etymology: Starting with this divine name ‘anirudhdha:’, the forms of bhagavAn in various divyadhESas or holy places are hailed. bhagavAn eternally resides in a place called ‘vasubhANda’, where he is popularly called ‘anirudhdha:’. This eight syllable manthra is said to be one of the best manthras for chanting.
तत्तत् क्षॆत्रॆश्वरॊक्तः स्यात् अनिरुद्धादिनामभिः |
वासुभाण्डाख्य भूभागॆ नित्यसन्निहितः स्थितः |
अनिरुद्ध इति ख्यातॊ वस्वर्णॊ मनुरुत्तमः ||
645) aprathiratha: (अप्रतिरथः)
Verily that bhagavAn (anirudhdha of vasubhANda kshEthra) is only hailed with the divine name ‘janArdana’, since he slays all the oppressors. Since bhagavAn thus destroys all opponents, he is called ‘aprathiratha:’.
Etymology: Since bhagavAn janArdhana (hailed in the previous divine name) slays all oppressors and thus does not have any adversaries, he is popularly called ‘aprathiratha:’. Chanting of this nine syllable manthra destroys all enemies of the chanter.
प्रतिपक्षस्य राहित्यात् बह्वनिष्टजनार्दनः |
विख्यातॊ ह्यप्रतिरथः नवार्णः शत्रुनाशकः ||
646) pradhyumna: (प्रद्युम्नः)
He who shines with his divine effulgence is called ‘pradhyumna:’. Alternately, the mauLa samhitha exemplifies this divine name as ‘the one who makes the individual souls shine by his divine effulgence’.
This pradhyumna resides as ‘purushOththama’ in the purushOththama kshEthram (popularly called pUri jagannAth kshEthram), and shows the right path to his devotees in order to attain him.
Etymology: The one who shines with his divine effulgence is called ‘pradhyumna:’. He is verily the ‘purushOththama’ (jagannAth – worshipped in pUri), bestowing superior attainments upon his devotees.
आत्मप्रद्यॊतनत्वाच्च प्रद्युम्न इति कथ्यतॆ |
पुरुषॊत्तमस्तु सः साक्षात् भक्तानां सुगतिप्रदः ||
647) amithavikrama: (अमितविक्रमः) (also repeated in 519)
bhagavAn possesses immense valour that is unmatched in all the three worlds, due to which he is called ‘amithavikrama:’.
That lord of lords – bhagavAn – who displayed his valour as thrivikrama, stands on the banks of river yamuna, manifesting out of a lotus flower, and bestowing the highest attainment upon his devotees.
Etymology: He whose valour is unmatched in all three worlds is called ‘amithavikrama:’.
लॊकत्रयॆsप्यपर्याप्तविक्रमॊsमितविक्रमः |
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कालनॆमिनिहा शौरिः शूरः शूरजनॆश्वरः ।
त्रिलॊकात्मा त्रिलॊकॆशः कॆशवः कॆशिहा हरिः ॥ ६९ ॥
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648) kAlanEminihA (कालनॆमिनिहा)
Being manifest all over such holy places in the form of archA vigraha, bhagavAn wards off the blemishes of kali. Thus, he is called ‘kAlanEminihA’.
The scriptures hail thus: “Those who take refuge of my archA forms in these places (holy places mentioned herein, and more – in accordance with the scriptures) shall get rid of the otherwise irrepressible ignorance (called ‘avidhyA’), which is verily the spoke of the wheel of time (kAla).”
The dhyAna SlOka of kAlanEmighna says thus: “One must contemplate upon that lord of lords, who stops the spreading of ignorance”, etc.
Etymology: He who destroys the irrepressible ignorance, which is verily the spoke of the wheel of kAla (which keeps the souls running in this cycle of samsAra), is called ‘kAlanEminihA’. This nine lettered manthra destroys one’s ignorance from the root.
कालचक्रस्य या नॆमिः अविद्याख्या च दुर्धरा |
तां नाशयति यश्चासौ कालनॆमिनिहा स्मृतः ||
नवाक्षरॊ मनुरयम् अविद्यामूलमॊचकः ||
649) Sauri: (शौरिः) (also repeated in 342)
It is hailed thus in various sources: “There, in that holy place – under the divine ‘uthpalAvathaka’ vimAna (name of the vimAna gOpuram at thirukkaNNapuram), bhagavAn achyutha resides with the name ‘Sauri:’”.
Thus, bhagavAn – the lord of tirukkaNNapuram – is hailed as ‘Sauri:’.
bhagavAn gets the name Sauri: because he is the son of ‘vasudhEva’ who is alternately called ‘SUra:’ (and hence the divine name is derived as ‘son of SUra’ शूरस्य वसुदॆवस्य अपत्यम्).
Etymology: bhagavAn – who stands under the auspicious uthpalAvathaka vimAnam – as ‘SaurirAjan’ (or “SaurirAjap perumAL”) is called ‘Sauri:’.
शौरिनाम्ना स्थितः शौरिः उत्पलावतकॆ शुभॆ |
650) SUra: (शूरः) (also repeated in 341)
As hailed in various scriptures, that lotus eyed supreme lord rAma – who is the slayer of all rAkshasas – stands in a place called ‘chithrakUta’ (thillainagar thirucchithrakUdam / chidhambaram as we know it now) to bless his devotees”, rAma himself is hailed as ‘SUra:’.
The root ‘Su’ (शु) gets the meaning of moving / going, which gets a dhIrgha (becomes SU शू) by grammatical rules and is succeeded by the ‘rak’ (रक्) adjunct, resulting in this divine name.
‘SUra:’ is the one who goes to his opponents to slay them (it shows the trait of his valour, where he enters an opponent’s boundary and gives a mighty fight).
Etymology: The slayer of all rAkshasas is hailed as ‘SUra:’.
सर्वरक्षःक्षयकरः शूर इत्यभिदीयतॆ |
adiyen srinivasa raja ramanuja dasan
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