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   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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