SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 105 - nAma 983. annam.
983. annam ? The object of enjoyment.
om annAya namaH.
The root from which the nAma is derived is ad ? bhakshaNe ? to eat.
atti = bhakshati iti annam ? He who consumes or enjoys is `annam'.
Alternatively, adyaH iti annam ? That which is consumed or eaten, is
annam.
SrI vAsishTha gives another alternate derivation using the root ana ?
prANane ? to breathe, to live: anIti iti annam, yadvA anyate =
prANyate yena tad annam ? He Who makes the beings live, or He because
of Whom the beings exist. This can refer to the vital air that is
necessary for the beings to survive and live.
SrI vAsishTha points out that the word `annam' is used in the Sruti
to refer to any offering in a yaj~na ? that which can be offered as
havis, including ghRtam (ghee) etc:
SrI BhaTTar explains the nAma as "bhoktR-SaktibhiH bhujyate iti
annam' ? He Who is enjoyed, or is the Object of enjoyment by those
who have been blessed by Him with the power to enjoy Him. In fact,
for the true devotee, everything except bhagavAn is not an object of
enjoyment, and He is everything for them. SrI v.v. rAmAnujan refer
us to nammAzhvAr:
uNNum SORu parugu nIr tinnum veRRilai ellAm
kaNNan * emperumAn enRenRE kaNgaL nIl malgi
maNNiNuL avan SIr vaLam mikkavan Ur vinavi
tiNNam en iLa mAn pugumUr tirukkOLUrE. (tiruvAi. 6.7.1)
"To His devotee, all is kRshNa. Food - eaten to satisfy the
appetite, water ? drunk to quench the thirst, and betel leaves ?
consumed after the food, are all kRshNa only in their case. Saying
His name, speaking of His qualities, and thinking of Him, His devotee
will feel the hunger and the thirst and all other needs satisfied.
They will not eat any other food since kRshNa-consciousness is enough
food for them. Reciting His name and enquiring everyone on the
way "Am I on the right path to tirukkOLUr? How far is it hence?",
the devotee will proceed without any other need for sustenance . The
very thought of His place serves as nourishment for the devotee".
SrI rAmAnujan also refers us the gItA in support:
bahUnAm janmanAm ante j~nAnavAn mAm prapadyate |
vAsudevas-sarvam iti sa mahAtmA sudurlabhaH || (gItA
7.19)
"At the end of many births, the man of knowledge finds refuge in Me,
realizing that "vAsudeva is all" (annam). It is very hard to find
such a great-souled person".
The well-known Sruti vAkya from taittirIya Upanishad:
aham annam aham annam aham annam | aham annAdo'ham annAdo'ham
annAdaH |
bhagavAn is annam because He allows Himself to be enjoyed by those
who are qualified and endowed with the knowledge to enjoy Him. He
in turn enjoys those who thus enjoy Him, and so He is also called
annAdaH ? Enjoyer (next nAma).
SrI vELukkuDi kRshNan refers us to the pASurams of nammAzhvAr where
AzhvAr refers to both the aspects of bhagavAn being annam and
annAdaH. In the ten pASurams of tiruvAimozhi 5-10, AzhvAr repeatedly
refers to both these aspects. We will deal with the references for
the nAma annAdaH under the next nAma.
The whole of divya prabandham is nothing but bhagavAn being enjoyed
as annam by the different AzhvArs. SrI kRshNan profusely keeps
quoting from different AzhvArs. Couple of examples are given below:
pAlAzhi nee kiDakkum paNbai yAm kETTEyum
kAl Azhum ne'nju azhiyum kaN Suzhalum * neelAzhic
cOdiyAi! AzhiyAi! tol vinai empAl kaDiyum
neediyAi! niR-cArndu ninRu. (nammAzhvAr
periya tiruvantAdi 34).
"Oh Lord! You have the brilliance of the dark Ocean, and You are the
First Cause of all the universes. It is Your nature to remove the
blemishes in the likes of me. When I think of You and the beauty of
Your reclining in the Milky Ocean, the experience is so profound that
my legs are not able to support me any more, my mind is not able to
comprehend Your beauty, and my eyes experience the same profoundness".
ERaDarttadum EnamAi nilam kINDadum mun rAmanAi
mARaDarttadum maN aLandadum Sollip pADi? (perumAL tiru. Of
kulaSekhara. 2.3)
"When I sing Your glory ? Your great feat of destroying the seven
mighty bulls, Your lifting the whole Earth in Your varAha
incarnation, Your destroying the evil rAvana in your rAma
incarnation, tears of joy well into my eyes and overflow like a
river?..".
Sri Sa'nkara explains the nAma as `adyate iti annam' = That which us
consumed by all beings is annam. Since He is the sustaining power
present in all the food consumed by all beings, He is called annam.
SrI cinmayAnanda includes all the sense-objects that satisfy the
needs of the sense-organs under scope of annam represented by Him,
and explains the nAma as "One Who has Himself become the sense-
objects which are the `food' consumed by the sense-organs".
Using the definition atti = bhakshati iti annam ? he Who eats, both
Sri Sa'nkara and SrI cinmyananda give the alternate interpretation
that He is called annam ? One Who eats - atti bhUtAni iti annam ? He
Who consumes everything at the time of pralaya.
SrI kRshNa datta bhAradvAj uses the root ana ? prANane ? to breathe,
to live, and gives the explanation ? anyante uapjIvyante bhaktAH yena
sva-darSana-dAna dvArA iti annaH ? BhagavAn sustains the bhakta-s by
giving them His darSanam, and so He is the Sustainer ? annam. The
application of the uNAdi sUtra 3.10 adds the affix na after the root
an, giving the word annam ? food.
SrI baladeva vidyA bhUshaN extends the topic of yaj~nam that has been
the subject of the previous nAma-s to the current one as well, and
explains the nAma as indicating that at the successful conclusion of
the yaj~na by the devotee, when the devotee reaches the ultimate
objectives of SrI vaikunTham, bhagavAn presents Himself to the
devotee in the forms of the most enjoyable objects in SrI vaikunTham
through His sa'nkalpa Sakti, and so He becomes the ultimate annam for
the devotee ? yaj~na labhye parama vyomni yad-divya-rasa-
gandhAdikamadanIyam bhogyam.
-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan
(To be continued)
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