Vishnu Sahasra Naamam-Vol III-RR-edit.pub - Ibiblio

SrI satyadevo vAsishTha asks the rhetorical question as to why He should be
considered the “Best among those with weapons”, and answers it by pointing
out that it is because He has expressed Himself by equipping every living
creature with the appropriate weapon for its own protection and for its
enemies’ destruction. On the one hand, He has equipped the different
creatures with different claw types for those creatures with claws, the
different types of teeth for those that protect themselves with their teeth
from their enemies, with their fangs, horns, etc. However, it is to be noted
that each creature has only one or two such weapons for its own protection. He
is the origin of all these Sastra-s, and so He is rightly known as the sarva-
Sastra-bhRtAm-varah. He also reserves for Himself the ability to strike with
all the weapons as necessary and when necessary. Thus, the enormous
earthquakes, the great epidemics that strike down masses of people, etc., are
weapons that He wields as He deems necessary on a mass scale.
The dharma cakram writer comments that it is because rAma and kRshNa used
their weapons for the destruction of evil and for the protection of the
good,that they were SreshTha-s or vara-s among wielders of weapons. Those
that used their weapons for committing atrocities only ended up being ruined.
The lesson to take from this in these modern days of invention of more and
more technologically advanced weaponry, is that they should be used for the
good of mankind, and not for their destruction.
nAma 766. à¢h> pragrahah
The Controller.
prgrahAya namah.
pra is an upasarga or prefix, and the root involved in the nAma is grah –
upAdAne – to take hold of, to seize. prakarshaNena gRhNAti iti pragraphah
(SrI satya devo vAsishTha) – He Who controls in a special, excellent, or unique
way. The different bhAshya-s differ on what is controlled by Him. SrI
Sa’nkara uses the meaning “He receives” for the term grah in his primary
interpretation.
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