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

mahApurusha.
d) He Whose Supremacy is established by the four-fold veda-s.
e) He Who is in the form of four divisions of speech (three veda-s, and
ordinary speech)
f) He Who has four kinds of greatness (vyUha = mahimA).
catur-vyUhAya namah.
We dealt with this nAma in Slokam 15 (nAma 140). The root is Uh – vitarke– to
conjecture, to reason, to infer. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the expansion –
viSishThA UhA vyUhA – He Who forms Himself into four forms for the
purposes of creation etc.
Following is a recap with some additional information, mostly taken from Vol.4
of the Agama-koSa published by the Kalpatharu Research Academy (S.
K..Ramachandra Rao), dealing with the pA’ncarAtra Agama.
The term vyUh means to divide, to distribute, to separate, to resolve, etc. It
is used to refer to the four forms in which para vAsudeva or nArAyaNa
decided to divide Himself for His functions of creation, preservation, and
destruction. This is a fundamental and integral concept of the pA’ncarAtra
Agama. In this concept, in the para or transcendental mode, the Deity is like an
ocean of nectar altogether devoid of waves, quiet, profound, still, limitless and
unfathomable, un-fragmented by space or time. This is His form in SrI
vaikunTham. It is the plane in which knowledge and bliss abound unobstructed,
and which is populated by the nitya sUri-s (who are never involved at any time
in transmigration etc.), and by the mukta-s. The para form is full of the six
attributes – j~nAna, bala, aiSvarya,, vIrya, Sakti, tejas. The vyUha mode of
bhagavAn emphasizes the differential manifestations and functions of the six
attributes. This creative configuration of the attributes is for the sake of
creation and evolution of the world, for maintaining the world and protecting
the devotees, and for leading the devotees to salvation. The vyUha forms are
four in number: vAsudeva, samkarshaNa, pradyumna, and aniruddha. VAsudeva
has all six attributes in their fullness and equal dominance. VAsudeva appears
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