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DHARMA STHOTHRAM

Part 74.

Caturatma, Caturvyuha

Ashtaksharam is well known to us. Similar to that utterance of just fourletter nama NARAYANA also would do the best solutions to ourproblems. Tongues which do not utter these four letter nama is not at all

a tongue, but mere worthless flesh is what Silappathikaram song tells usas "Narayana ennaa navu, enna nave".It is said as "Religious sacrificessuch as yagnam , homam charities such as Annadanam, donation totemples, penance or observance of vow, silence for hours, days together,pilgrimage to 108 Tirupathis,holy bath in punya theerthams such asGanga, cauvery, fasting on Ekadasi, or some days in a week, are allonly actions.But chanting of namas is not an action, but invocation." Theholy name may be chanted with sentiment of devotion, or even withoutsentiment, with anger or with indolence, but it surely results in

auspicious and benediction all round. The holy name when recited withdevotion and reverence, it leads to a quick salvation. By chanting theholy name, the self has an inclination to Sriman Narayana , because acall is of self, rather than of mind and intellect. Holy name has so muchpower of destroying all sins even the worst sinner will avoid further moresins by chanting. Just like a child weeping for mother, is immediatelyattended by mother, when the lord's name is called from the core ofheart, Sriman narayana without delaying anymore, and allowing otherworks to stay for a while, gives solution to His devotees happily. Sri

Vishnu Sahasranamam thus have the specialty to anybody who recites

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these namas. Dharma Sthothram attempts to know its meanings for twonamas every week..The 137th nama is Caturatma. The next 138, 139, and 140 namas arecaturvyuha, caturdamstrah, and chaturbuja . The four qualities of the

four are dealt in these four namas. Caturatma is one assumes for thesake of creation, sustentation, and dissolution. He is one whos Self hasa four-fold manifestation such as Vasudeva, Samkarshana, Pradyuma,Aniruddha.

In this connection Four is,the only number which has equal number ofletters in English . Unique features in Hinduism and Vaishnavism are discussed briefly here.1. Four Vedas-Rigveda, Yajurveda,Samaveda,Atharvaveda.2 Four divisions in Vedas- Samhita, Brahmana, Aaranyaka, Upanishad3... Four Varnas- Brahmins(knowledge, Guru ) ,Kshatriyas (Ruling,Administration ) , Vaisyas(Wealth Trade ) , Sudras (Physical, labour )4..Four Ashramas- Brahmacharyam(student ) ,Grahasthasram(Householder) , Vanaprastham(Retired or hermit ) ,Sanyasam (monk,Ascetic)5. Four Yugas- Ktrayugam, Tretayugam, Dwaparayugam , Kaliyugam6.Four types of food-(As per Sri Ramanuja's Annam Chatur vidam )Biting and chewing ,sucking, licking, drinking7. Four legs of Dharmas-Satyam, Daya, Tapas, Danam8. Four legs of Adharmas- Dishonesty, violence, discontent,

strife(otherwise Untruth, treachery,illicit liasion with women, eatingforbidden food )9. Four forms- Virat purusha, Sootratma, Antaryami, Tureeya10. Four methods of treatments for correcting wrong doings - Sama,Bheda, Dhana , Dandam11.. FourVyuhas- Jagratavasta (Wakeful), Swapna (Sleep and dreams ), Sushupti (deep slumber ) , Tureeya (Deep yogam )12. Four directions,Gods and Vedas - East-Agni, (Rig),West -Soma,(Athava), South -Indra (Yajur ) , North - Mitravarna (Sama)

13. Four Moksham-Saalakyam (Same as eternal ), Sameepyam (closeto eternal ) , Saroopyam (Attaining eternal)Samyajyam (Deriving bliss )14. Four Saranagathis- Svanishta- Of their own , Ukti Nishta-Helpingthrough the Acharya ,Acharya Nishta- Acharya doing for us, BhagavathaNishta-Bhagavatha doing for us15. Four yogas - Bhakthi yoga-The path of devotion ,Jnana Yoga- Thepath of rational inquiry, Raja yogam - The path of mental concentration,Karma yoga- The path of right action,16. Four prime Namas in Vishnu Sahasranamam- Vasudeva-

Pradyumna, Anirudha, Sankarshana17. Four Sanyasa- Kuteesa, Bahoodda , Hamsa, Paramahamsa

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18. Four important masapirappu-Chitrai(Varshika ) , Audi(Dakshinayanapunya kalam ) , Aypasi(Thula ) , Thai(Utharayana Punya kalam )19. Four pramanams- (Shruti)- epics, Puranas,( Pratyaksham)- Able tosee,( Anumanam)- inference,( Itityam) - concepts

20. Four samarpanams- Patram(Thulasi ) , pushpam,(Flower)palam,(Fruit) Thoyam(Water )21. Four Moorthis - Pradhanam, Purusha, Avyaktha, KalamNalayira Divya Prbhandam, Chaturmasya vratham are other specialfeatures in SriVaishnavism in four .In 138th Nama Caturvyuha,it i means He who is with four forms asdescribed in 11 above..Nammazhwar in Peria Thiruvanthathi, says as"Ninrum, Irunthum, Kidanthum, Thirithanthum ..."as Sriman Narayana isever in Azhwar's mind. As Hirayakshan was killed by tearing his mouth,forcibly broken the chest through His precious hands Sriman Narayana'sgracious nature is seen by all His devotees. Hence, He is in four formsas standing, sitting, lieing down and walking for a while . With all that He

is ever green in the minds. In Gita, as LordKrishna has cleared thesecret underlying the incarnations to Arjuna as follows." Though natureUnborn, I take birth. Though I am ordainer exercising authority over theentire creation, I submit myself too the orders of others .I am theformless, changeless, eternal being, But I undergo transformations,consequential to birth and growth. It is my own free will and choice thatis at the root of my assuming these forms, suitable to execute thepurposes I have designed for the good of the world. But in the case ofother living beings, their taking birth or passing through the changes orworking under orders are governed by their karma, piled up over severalbirths. But I am free of Karma. My actions proceed in accordance withmy will. I determine what form I should assume, what changes I shouldundergo, from which quarters I should take orders. I design the wholeplan so that it is in tune with the purpose of my incarnation, namelyrestoration of the moral order in the world, by giving protection to thevirtuous and liquidating the forces of evil." There are four groups in such

incarnations which is called as caturvyuha. .

Caturdamstra, and chaturbuja will be continued in next week with detailsglory of Sri Rama with four arms.....

To be continued......Arumbuliyur Jagannathan Rangarajan