The Vaishnava Mantra of the week is Mantra NO. 12 from "108 Names of Bhagavan Shree VenkatEshwara" ("Shree Brahmanda-Purana").
Please don't miss the following more than brilliant Tika about Bhagavan Shree Vishnu being "The Hunter" from SADAGOPAN.ORG edition. This Tika is based on Shree PanchaRatra Vaishnava Agamas of course:
१२. ॐ देवाय नमः
12. OM devAya namaH
This is the 377th naamam in Sri Vishnu Sahasra nAmam (VSN). There are two other VSNs which are close to the 377th nAmam of DevAya Nama: Those are: DevabruthayaE nama: (494th name) and DevEsAya nama: (493rd name).
The meanings are however quite different from the 377th nAmam.
"DevAya nama:" salutes the Devan, the MaayAvi, who amuses Himself by binding the jeevans with the strings of His own MaayA (Moola prakruthi) and plays with them just like the
hunters do in the forest with the wild animals that they have subdued.
Nirukthi, the elaborations of an unknown author on SrI VishNu Sahasra Naama commentary of Swamy ParAsara Bhattar explains this 377th nAmam along these lines:
VyAgrAdhvath jeevavatatE: mAyA-pAsEna Bhandhanam
kruthvA nithyam kirIDathi ya: Sa: Deva: parikeerthitha:
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Here the focus is on the jeevans that are Bhaddha Jeevans who have not yet been blessed with kaimkaryam for the Lord and are stuck in the samsAric life due to Karma Bhandhams (kinkarathva adhirAjyam avindhan, kalusha mathi saktha Jeevans).
These are the children of the Devan, the Lord and due to their aj~nAnam are involved in the enjoyment of Moola prakruthi.
VishNu PurANa slOkam explains the status of the jeevans bound by the Lord due to karma vaasanA:
anEka janma saahasrIm samsAra padhavIm vrajan
mOha-srama-prayAthOsou vAsanA rENu kuNDitha:
--SrI VishNu PurANam: 6.7.19
Meaning:
The Jeevan having traveled in the dusty roads of SamsAram through many births is deluded and exhausted and remains without Jn~Anam about tatthva Thrayam and is without any energy to uplift himself.
He is coated with the dirt of Karma vaasanAs. He enjoys the karmas accumulated from previous births and is hopelessly entangled in the net of Prakruthi. The endless flow of KarmAs (anAdhi karma pravAham) makes them anuvruttha samsAris (bound to samsAric afflictions).
Swamy NammazhwAr complains in one of his ThiruvAimozhi Paasurams (5.1.5) about the Lord binding him up with strong ropes of previous karmAs and covering the disgusting wound like body with the skin to hide the dhOshams and to keep him away from the place, where the Lord is:
KaNNapirAnai ViNNOr karumANikkatthi amudhai
naNNiyum naNNahillEn naduvEyOrudampilittu
tiNNam-azhunthak-kattip-pala seyvinai vankayiRRAl
puNNai maRaya varinthu yennaip-pOra vaitthAi puRamE
AchArya RaamAnujA explains in his SaraNAgathi gadhyam as to how the Moola prakruthi hides the svaroopam of PerumAL from the jeevan and deludes the jeevan to mistake one object for the other and make the jeevan believe that prakruthi itself is the most enjoyable one :
"madIya anAdhi karma pravAha pravrutthA Bhagavath svaroopa thirOdhAnakarIm, viparItha Jn~Ana JananIm, sva-vishayAsccha bhOgya buddher-jananIm dEhEndhriyathvEna bhOgyathvEna sookshma roopENa chaavasTithAm Dhaiveem GuNamayeem MAAYAAM daasabhUtha: saraNAgathOsmi TavAsmi Daasa: ithi vakthAram mAmm thAraya".
Our Lord vouches for his disposition to make a chEthanam, which accumulated papams take birth again and again in the yOnis of other chEthanams having asura svAbhAvam in Bhagavath Geetha (16.19):
thAnaham dhvishata: krUrAn samsAreshu narAdhamAn
kshipAmyajasram asubhAn aasureeshvEva yOnishu
The other meaning for Devan is to interpret it as the abbreviation for "DevaNaaTan" the Lord of DevAs.
Swamy NammAzhwAr addresses this Devan as "ImayOr Talaiva" or the Lord of the DevAs.
He is the One, who goes ahead of 33 crores of dEvAs (Muppatthu mukkOdi amararkku munn senRu kappam tavikkukum Kali as Andal saluted in ThiruppAvai).
The 35th Sri VenkatEsa AshtOttara nAmam "SurapthayE Nama:" elaborates further on this line of interpretation.
Cited from
SADAGOPAN.ORG edition
