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

The mysterious truth (guhyam) about the arcA form can be found in bhagavat
SAstra (the pA’ncarAtra Agama), bodhAyana smRti, vaishNava purANa, and
other scriptural texts.
SrI BhaTTar gives the following passage from vaishNava dharmam, which
describes the benefit of the worship of the arcA mUrti:
su-rUpAm pratimAm vishNoh prasanna vadanekshaNAm |
kRtvA’’tmanah prItikarIm suvarNa rajatAdibhih ||
tAm arcayet tAm praNamet tAm yajet tAm vicintayet |
viSatyapAsta-doshastu tAmeva abrahma rUpiNIm ||
“After having shaped a beautiful image of vishNu with a lovely face and lovely
eyes, out of gold, silver, and the like in a manner that would be pleasing, one
should worship it, do sacrifice to it, and meditate on it. By doing so, one would
enter into that form which is none other than Brahman itself, and will have all
the sins dispelled”.
SrI v. v. rAmAnujan gives reference to mudal tiruvantAdi 44 – “tamar
ugandadu evv-uruvam avv-uruvam tAnE, tamar ugandadu ep-pEr, ap-pEr” – He
assumes whatever shape His devotees want Him to assume, accepts whatever
name they give Him, and becomes whatever form the devotees give Him when
they meditate on Him. SrI rAmAnujan also refers us to gItA Slokam 4. 11,
which conveys the same thought.
ye yathA mAm prapadyante tAns-tathaiva bhajAmyaham |
nammAzhvAr tells us the same truth in tiruvAimozhi 3. 6. 9 – ne’njinAl
ninaippAn yavan avanAgum nIL-kaDal vaNNanE – We do not need to worry
about our inability to access Him in His para rUpam in SrI vaikunTham; He will
assume whatever form we give Him even in our thoughts.
b) SrI Samkara’s interpretation is that the Lord is arcitah because He is
worshipped and adored even by the likes of brahma.
SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri comments that the likes of sUrya, candra, brahma
etc. worship Him just so that they can have a fraction of His divya Sakti.
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