SrI: SrImathE SatakOpAya nama: SrImathE rAmAnujAya nama: SrImath varavaramunayE nama:
161) sarga: (सर्गः)
The one who voluntarily extended his divine lotus feet to all his devotees – for them to bear on their heads – when he grew as thrivikrama is called ‘sarga: – the one who creates for his devotees.
SrImath rAmAyana says thus about bhagavAn: “rAma is one who offers himself to his dear ones”.
Etymology: The one who creates (extends his divine lotus feet) for the sake of lower mortals like brahmA et al is known to be ‘sarga:’.
ब्रह्मादिभ्यः सृज्यतॆ यः सर्गं तं परिचक्षतॆ |
162) dhruthAthmA (धृतात्मा)
The one who bears all souls by giving away himself unto them is called ‘dhruthAthmA’ – the bearer of all souls.
Etymology: He, by whom all individual souls are always borne, is called ‘dhruthAthmA’.
यॆनात्मानॊ धृता नित्यं स धृतात्मॆति कीर्त्यतॆ |
163) niyama: (नियमः) (also repeated in 869)
The one who is capable of controlling the opponents of his devotees – such as mahAbali and others – is called ‘niyama:’ – the controller.
The word ‘yam’ (यम्) (to control) is prefixed with ‘ni’ (नि) and suffixed with ‘ap’ (अप्) adjuncts, resulting in this divine name.
Etymology: The one by whom this world is controlled is called ‘niyama:’.
नियम्यतॆ जगद्यॆन नियमः स उदीरितः |
164) yama: (यमः) (also repeated in 870)
The one who thus converts all situations into harmless and rather conducive situations for his devotees is called ‘yama:’.
This is as per the scriptures. Especially, the ‘antharyAmi brAhmaNa’ part extols bhagavAn’s presence within each and every entity thus:
- “The one who indwells in this earth and protects it”
- “The one who indwells in the individual souls and protects them”, etc
- The manu smrithi says thus: “That controller of all entities – bhagavAn – resides in the hearts of all creatures. He controls them in the form of ‘yama’ – the son of vivasvAn. All such creatures who have no contention with that bhagavAn do not need to go to ganga for a holy dip or on pilgrimage to holy places like the kurukshEthra (rather, they shall be graced by bhagavAn himself unfathomably)”.
Etymology: The one who renders all situations totally harmless and conducive to his devotees (by being their indweller) is called ‘yama:’.
अकण्टकं चानुकूलं च यच्छतीत्यखिलं यमः |
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वॆद्यॊ वैद्यः सदायॊगी वीरहा माधवॊ मधुः ।
अतीन्द्रियॊ महामायॊ महॊत्साहॊ महाबलः ॥ १८ ॥
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165) vEdhya: (वॆद्यः)
Having incarnated thus, the one who manifests his extraordinary greatness and thus comprehended by one and all – is called ‘vEdyha:’ – the known one.
Etymology: The one who is easily comprehended by one and all due to his easy accessibility is called ‘vEdhya:’.
सर्वैश्च वॆदितुं शक्यः सौलभ्यात् वॆद्य ईरितः |
166) vaidhya: (वैद्यः)
bhagavAn is called ‘vaidhya:’ – the learned, since he is learned in the science of destroying the cycles of birth and death among his devotees. The root ‘vEdha’ (to know) gets the ‘yaN’ (यण्) suffix, resulting in this divine name.
The vishNu dharma says: “Just as the greatest of diseases are cured by medication under a trained physician, so also our sins – accumulated like the mEru and mandhara mountains – are easily washed away by surrendering unto kESava”.
Etymology: He who knows and has completely mastered the skill of removing the disease of ‘samsAra’ among his devotees is called ‘vaidhya:’.
वॆदितॄणां भवाख्यस्य गदस्य विनिवर्तिनीम् |
वियामधीतॆ वॆदॆति यॊ वैद्यः समुदाहृतः ||
167) sadhAyOgI (सदायॊगी)
The one who is thus ever wakeful in protecting his devotees is called ‘sadhAyOgI’. The scriptures say: “He who is awake even while everyone is fast asleep…”
Etymology: The one who is ever awake and watchful in treating his devotees is called ‘sadhAyOgI’.
चिकित्सायां जागरूकः सदायॊगीति कथ्यतॆ |
168) vIrahA (वीरहा) (also repeated in 747, 927)
bhagavAn is called ‘vIrahA’ – the destroyer of ‘heroes’, since he destroys such ‘heroes’ who obstruct the efforts of pious men in attaining bhagavAn (called ‘haithuka vIra’s).
The root ‘han’ हन् (to slay) gets the ‘kvip’ (क्विप्) adjunct, resulting in this divine name.
The same rule of grammar is also applicable in many other divine names such as ‘kAmahA’ कामहा (295), krOdhahA क्रॊधहा (315), bhagahA भगहा (564), et al.
bhagavAn himself declares thus in the bhagavath gIthA: “Oh arjuna, many atheists try to establish that all of this creation is illusionary, and that no godhead is ruling over us…. I push such lowly cruel men – filled with hatred – in this samsAra over and over again, to be born in the ‘Asuri’ yoni (lower births with cruel minds).”
Etymology: He is called ‘vIrahA’, who destroys those who obstruct his devotees from meditating upon him.
स्वध्यानभञ्जकान् वीरान् हन्ति यः स तु वीरहा |
169) mAdhava: (माधवः) (also repeated in 73, 741)
Further, since he is the propagator of the supreme knowledge that talks about him, he is called ‘mAdhava:’ – the lord of supreme knowledge.
The scriptures say thus:
- “The source of supreme knowledge about bhagavAn is called ‘mA’. The lord (svAmi) of such supreme knowledge is called ‘mAdhava:’”.
- “Oh scion of bharatha clan, know that bhagavAn mAdhava by silence, meditation and yOga (union)”, etc.
Etymology: The source of supreme knowledge about bhagavAn is called ‘mA’. The lord of such supreme knowledge is called ‘dhava:’. Thus, bhagavAn is called ‘mAdhava:’ – the grantor of brahmA vidhyA (knowledge about the supreme brahman).
मा विद्या तु हरॆः प्रॊक्ता तस्य स्वामी धवः स्मृतः |
तस्मान्माधवनामासौ ब्रह्मविद्याप्रदॊ मनुः ||
170) madhu: (मधुः)
He is also called ‘madhu:’ – the nectarine, since he is as sweet as the nectar to such devotees who have gained the supreme knowledge from him. Per grammar rules, the root ‘man’ (मन्) – meaning, knowledge – is suffixed with the ‘u’ (उ) adjunct, and the letter ‘dha’ (ध) is substituted in place of ‘na’, resulting in this divine name.
The scriptures say thus:
- “In those divine feet of bhagavAn, the divine nectar flows”
- “Oh arjuna, I am extremely dear to my devotees…”, etc.
Etymology: bhagavAn is called ‘madhu:’ since he is very sweet to such devotees who have attained the supreme knowledge about him.
भक्तॆभ्यॊ लब्धविद्यॆभ्यॊ स्वदमानतया मधुः |
adiyen srinivasa raja ramanuja dasan
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