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

that is uttered several times daily by vaishNava-s.
Starting from this nAma, and up to nAma 683 (mahA havih), SrI BhaTTar
interprets the nAma-s as describing His limitless vibhUti-s.
a) SrI BhaTTar gives the interpretation - na asya deSa kAla vastutah
avadhayah santi iti anantah - He for whom there is no limitation of space, time
or object. He is ananta-mUrti - One of unbounded form. In the gItA,
bhagavAn declares: nAstyanto vistarasya me (10. 19) - There is no limit to My
auspicious manifestations (vibhUti-s). SrI BhaTTar also gives reference to
the Sruti-s: "satyam, j~nAnam anantam brahma" (tait. Ananda. 1) - Brahman is
Existence, Knowledge, and Infinite; "athaitasyaiva anto nAsti tad
brahma" (tait. yajur. 7. 3. 4) - There is no limit or end to this object known as
Brahman.
SrI Samkara gives additional reasons for His being called ananta - vyApitvAt,
nityatvAt, sarvAtmatvAt, deSatah, kAlatah, vastutaSca aparichinnah anantah -
Because He is all-pervading, eternal, and the Self of all, and because He is
unlimited by space, time, or substance, He is known as anatah. In addition to
the upanishadic support, he also gives additional support from SrI vishNu
purANa -
gandharvApsarasah siddhAh kinnaroraga cAraNAh |
nAntam guNAnAm gacchanti tena anantah ayam avyayah ||
87
(VP. 2. 5. 24)
"The gandharva-s, apsara-s, siddha-s, kinnara-s, uraga-s, and the cAraNa-s are
unable to find the end of His attributes; hence, the imperishable Lord is called
ananta".
nammAzhvAr refers to bhagavAn as "kaNakku aRu nalattanan, antam il Adi am
bhagavan" (tiruvAi. 1. 3. 5) - "bhagavAn possesses limitless kalyANa guNa-s,
He is the beginning of everything, and He has no end". He captures the ananta
nature of bhagavAn nicely in the pASuram
nAm avan ivan uvan avaL ivaL uvaL evaL
tAm avar ivar uvar adu idu udu edu
sadagopan.org