ardhaanaariishvara

[Anand Hudli]

>R^itam, satyaM, paraM brahma, etc
> virUpAxaM vishvarUpAya vai namo namaH

 I don't have access to sAyANa's bhAshhya on the taittirIya AraNyaka.
 I looked at the dIpikA of nArayaNa which is not a commentary but a
 collection of notes on the mahAnArAyaNa upanishhad. In several cases,
 the dIpikA is shorter than the upanishhad mantras themselves.

 The only comment that nArayaNa's dIpikA makes on the above mantra
 is "virUpAxaM namAmi-iti sheshhaH|" narayaNa can then be interpreted
 as reading the above mantra with a "namAmi" inserted after
 virUpAxaM. The mantra can then be interpreted as:

 R^itaM satyaM paraM brahma purushhaM kR^ishhNa-piN^galam.h|
 UrdhvaretaM virUpAxaM (namAmi) vishvarUpAya vai namaH ||

 (Note: nArayaNa's version has only "...vai namaH", not "vai namo namaH")

 In this interpretation, it does make sense to have the neuter-gender
 as well as masculine-gender nouns in the accusative case.

 Also, if someone is looking for sAyaNa's commentary, it should be
 noted that sAyaNa's version is said to have some of the mantras missing.
 This leads to the conclusion that some mantras in the upanishhad as we
 now know it today may have been added from some other Vedic source after
 sAyaNa.

 What is significant in nArayaNa's version is that the mantra towards
 the  end of the nArayaNa sUkta, is "sa brahmaa sa shivaH sendraH so
 .axaraH paramaH svarAT.h" Compare this with what we have today:
 "sa brahmaa sa shivaH sa hariH sendraH so .axaraH paramaH svarAT.h".
 The second version has "sa hariH" but not the first! This discrepancy
 has been fully exploited by VaiShNavas who say that without the "sa
 hariH", the  sUkta conclusively identifies nArayaNa as being superior
 to BrahmA and Shiva. They say the "sa hariH" was added by shaivites or
 advaitins as an attempt to "lower the status" of nArayaNa to that of
 BrahmA and Shiva. Because, with "sa brahmA sa shivaH sa hariH...", the
 mantra will mean nArayaNa is the Supreme and that He is the trinity of
 BrahmA, Shiva and Hari. Without the "sa hariH...", it would mean that
 nArAyaNa (as Hari, ViShNu) is the Supreme and He is BrahmA and Shiva.

 Anand

--
bhava shankara deshikame sharaNam

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