श्री राम राम रामेति रमे रामे मनोरमे |
सहस्र नाम तत्तुल्यं राम नाम वरानने ||
shrI rAma rAma rAmEti ramE rAmE manOramE |
sahasranAma tattulyam rAma nAma varAnanE ||
(हे) वरानने | श्री राम राम राम इति मनोरमे रामे (अहं) रमे'
(यतः) राम नाम सहस्र नाम तत् तुल्यं (अस्ति)
वरानने (varAnanE) - one with a beautiful face (refers to pArvatI here); श्री (shrI) - Lakshmi (wife of Vishnu); राम (rAma) - one who is pleasing / most pleasant; इति (iti) - thus; मनोरमे (manOramE) - in one that is pleasing to the heart; रामे (rAmE) - in rAma; रमे' (ramE) - (I) feel pleased; यतः (yataH) - because / the reason being; राम नाम (rAma nAma) - the name rAma; तत् (tat) - that; तुल्यं (tulyam) - is equal to; अस्ति (asti) - it is
O, the one with a beautiful face (vara ananA - pArvatI)! I feel pleased if I say “Sri Rama Rama Rama” - the name rAma that is pleasing to my heart because, the (one) name rAma is equal to a thousand names of Vishnu!
What action is being asked in this shlOka?
ramE: I am pleased
I am pleased with what?
shrI rAma rAma rAma iti: I am pleased if I say shrI rAma rAma rAma
What kind of name is shrI rAma that makes you pleased?
maOramE rAmE: I am pleased with the name rAma because the name is pleasing to my heart
Why is it pleasing to the heart?
rAma nAma sahasra nAma tat tulyam: The one name rAma itself is equal to a thousand names of vishNu
To better understand this shlOka we need to do a bit of an investigation.
Who makes this statement? What is the context behind this statement? Where is this shlOka present?
This shlOka is from phala-stuti of vishnu sahasranAma - the thousand names of vishnu - and comes after all the thousand names are mentioned. It is mentioned in padma-purANa.
This statement (or shlOka) is said by Ishvara or shiva to pArvatI to a question she asks. What is the question?
पार्वत्युवाच: (पार्वती उवाच)
केनोपायेन लघुना विष्णोर्नामसहस्रकम् ।
पठ्यते पंण्डितैर नित्यं श्रोतुमिच्छाम्यहं प्रभो ।।
kenOpAyena laghunA vishNor nAma sahasrakam |
paTyatE paNditair nityam shrotumicchAmyaham prabhO ||
(हे) प्रभो | विष्णोः नाम सहस्रकम् केन लघुना उपायेन पण्डितैः नित्यं पट्यते (तद्) अहं श्रोतुम् इच्छामि ||
पार्वती (pArvatI) - pArvatI - wife of Ishvara; उवाच (uvAca) - says; प्रभो (prabhO) - Lord; विष्णोः (vishnOH) - of vishnu; नाम (nAma) - name; सहस्रकम् (sahasrakam) - that amounts to a thousand; केन (kEna) - by what; लघुना (laghunA) - easy; उपायेन (upAyEna) - means; पण्डितैः (paNditaiH) - learned people; नित्यं (nityam) - daily; पट्यते (paTyate) - recite; तद् (tad) - that; अहं (aham) - I; श्रोतुम् (shrOtum) - to listen; इच्छामि (icchAmi) - like to;
pArvatI asks Ishvara: O Lord! I would like to know by what means can learned people recite a thousand names of vishnu daily easily?
In response, Ishvara tells pArvatI that saying the name of rAma thrice is equal to saying the thousand names of vishnu - essentially a shortcut to vishnu sahasranAma!
But now we may have another question - why even try saying a thousand names of Vishnu? Why not just a single name? If God is great by all names, then what is the point of saying all these names since it refers to the same person?
At home, kids are normally called different names - a pet name, a shortened name, a formal name, a name when mom is angry at the kids, etc. Even though the names all refer to the same person, the name and the way it is used and the context of the name represents an emotion that is tied to the name - affectionate, friendly, angry, etc.
Similarly, different names of Vishnu represent the different qualities (guNas) that we see in God that are suited for our moods.
There is an interesting story.
Once madhvAcArya was giving a talk about Vishnu sahasranama to many learned people. He said that every shlOka in Mahabharata has three different meanings, every shlOka in Bhagavad Gita (which is in Mahabharata) has ten different meanings, and every name of Vishnu in Vishnu sahasranama (which is in Bhagavad Gita) has a hundred different meanings. The people there had their doubts and asked him to provide the meanings. MadhvAcArya, who is said to have learned the meaning of the vEdAs from vedavyAsa himself in the Himalayas, then started expanding each name to its hundred meanings. After a few explanations , the learned people could not understand the meanings further and requested him to stop and accepted his word.
If you may be wondering how a word can have so many meanings, it is not uncommon - the word “set” for example in English has around 125 meanings in the dictionary!
The intent for madhvAcArya was to show that the meanings go deeper and deeper in each name as we get a better understanding of the shlOkas and try to understand them with an open mind and a heart filled with devotion to God.
रामाय रामभद्राय रामचन्द्राय वेधसे |
रघुनाथाय नाथाय सीताय पतये नमः ||
rAmAya rAmabhadrAya rAmachandrAya vEdhasE |
raghunAthAya nAthAya sItAya patayE namaH ||
रामाय रामभद्राय रामचन्द्राय वेधसे रघुनाताय नाताय सीताय पतये नमः
मम (mama) - my; नमः (namaH) - salutations; रामाय (rAmAya) - to rAma; रामभद्राय (rAmabhadrAya) - to rAma the most excellent; रामचन्द्राय (rAmachandrAya) - to rAma who is pleasant as the moon; वेधसे (vedhasE) - to the creator of this universe; रघुनाथाय नाथाय (raghunAthAya nAthAya) - to the king of all kings in the raghu dynasty (kula); सीताय पतये (sItAya patayE) - to the husband of sIta;
(My) salutations to rAma the great, the pleasant, the king of all kings in the raghu dynasty (kula), and the husband of sIta.
What action is being asked in this shlOka?
namaH: Salutations (namaskArams)
Salutations to who?
rAmaya: Salutations to rAma
rAmabhadrAya: Salutations to rAma the great
rAmachandrAya: Salutations to rAma who is pleasant as the moon
vedhasE: Salutations to the one who is the creator of this universe
raghunAthAya nAthAya: To the king of all the kings in the raghu dynasty (kula)
sItAya patayE: Salutations to the husband of sIta
Salutations to rAma from who?
(mama): My (or from me)