NAME 108
108. Sammitaḥ सम्मितः
Sammita means measured. He is measurable by His devotees alone. This nāma is often used as asammitaḥ, which means immeasurable, the quality of the Brahman.
According to Sri Adi Sankara this Nama can be explained as Sammita or Asammita. The former is interpreted as ‘Sarvairapi Arthajaataih Paricchinnah Sammitah– He has been (inadequately) measured in various different ways’. The latter is ‘Sarvaih aparicchinnah amitah Asammitah – He is unlimited or immeasurable’.
Sammitah has the following meanings as well:
a) One who has let Himself to be understood and controlled by His devotees.
b) He is the ultimate Truth that is accepted by the Rishis and revealed in the Upanishads.
Both the meanings are based on the word ‘Sammata’ which means ‘accepted’. The first interpretation is by Sri Parasara Bhattar, who points out that this Nama signifies that He willingly accepted the role of being ‘controlled’ by Kausalya, Yasoda, Dasaratha etc. He chose the parents to whom He was going to be born, and then ‘played’ the role of a child willingly.
Swami ChinmayAnanda points out that ‘Sammitah’ can mean that He is the only one who is the accepted Truth or Sammata by the Rishis and the Upanishads.
Bhagavad Gītā – Chapter 9
Mayā tatamidaṃ sarvaṃ jagadavyaktamūrtinā,
Matsthāni sarvabhūtāni na cāhaṃ teṣvavasthitaḥ. (4)
श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता – राजविद्या राजगुह्य योग
मया ततमिदं सर्वं जगदव्यक्तमूर्तिना ।
मत्स्थानि सर्वभूतानि न चाहं तेष्ववस्थितः ॥ ४ ॥
This whole world is pervaded by Me in My unmanifest form. All beings exist in Me, but I am not contained in them!
१०८. ॐ संमिताय नमः |
108. OM Saṃmitāya namaḥ
Sammitah -The term Sammatam means ‘acceptable’.
This name and the previous (samatma) occurring together, can be split in two ways – as samatma + sammitah and as samatma + asammitah. The term Sammatam means ‘acceptable’. The One. Truth, which has been proved and accepted by the Rishis. In the Upanishads through subtle logic and philosophical reasoning, is called Sammatah. But there are some who would interpret this portion of the Thousand Names of Lord Vishnu by combining Samaatmaa (107) and Sammitah (108) to form together a single ‘Name’, wherein the compound word would read Samaatma-asammitah. Here the term Asammitah then would come to mean “One who is incomparable, Inimitable (Atulya) who has none to equal Him”.
This name and the previous one i.e., Samātmā Sammitaḥ can be split into two divine names; either as Samātmā Sammitaḥ or as Samātmā Asammitaḥ.
Sammitaḥ – Samyak Mitaḥ He who is determined by all existing entities.
Asammitaḥ – Na bhavati iti Asammitaḥ He who is measured, determined by things is mitaḥ or limited. He who is unlimited or immeasurable is Asammitaḥ.
Since Lord Viṣṇu is all pervading, the divine name Sammitaḥ and since He is beyond everything the divine name Asammitaḥ – both aptly glorify Him.
१०८. ॐ संमिताय नमः |
108. OM Saṃmitāya namaḥ
INTERPRETATION GUIDED BY SANT VANI (WORDS OF SAINTS)
108. Asammitaḥ or Sammitaḥ
The immeasurable or the indeterminable or the determined.
After the previous name samātmā, the word compound, sandhi lends itself to split as samātmā and asammita or samātmā and sammita. The former reading is more popular.
He who is that one “truth” accepted by all the Ṛṣis and as the one supreme ultimate truth(Satyah) in the Upaniṣads. He who is immeasurable and can never be measured (when read as ASAMMITAḤ).(Śaṅkara) He, who has allowed himself to be ‘understood’ by and controlled by the love, bhakti, shraddha and samarpan his devotees.(Parāsara Battar).
Mita means that which is measured, limited. Those that have a form can be measured in terms of
shape, length, height, weight and so on. What is measured is limited. Again things can be measured with reference to time and place. The Lord, being all pervasive with no form, cannot be measured in any way. He is Asammita, one who cannot be measured, whose limit cannot be shown in terms of time and space, or in any other way. Our minds are accustomed to think in terms of images and this is how most learning takes place including relating to the images shared here for each name, which is wonderful. And hence when we say there is no location for Lord, we feel a bit lost.
Because the mind cannot visualize, we tend to just drop further contemplating on the matter. Let‘s take joy as an emotion. It cannot really be seen. Its effects on people’s faces, smiles and laughter, the way they approach their tasks can be seen. Just because it cannot be visualized, it certainly does not mean that joy does not exist. The ways of the mind are important to recognise so that we know we are not conditioned by it but it is always an object of my awareness.
The Lord is time and space. Where is the Lord? Which is His house? As the Lord is not in a particular time and place, there is no location for Him. If the Lord is in svarga only, then we limit the Lord by our understanding. Nothing else. While time, place and object, all of them are Parameśvara, He is Asammita, not being any one of them. Further, He cannot even be compared to anything, measured against anything. The various means of knowledge can objectify only what is limited. But the Lord being all pervasive and limitless, cannot be objectified by any of the known means of knowledge. And so all attempts by Science to the find the God particle can never be conclusive as Science is based on perception and inference. Hence He is Asammita, immeasurable, indeterminable.
The other reading is sammita. The entire world of objects which has been created by Īśvara,
reveals the existence of Īśvara all the time. As one whose presence is well revealed, well determined, through all things in the entire creation, He is Sammita.
The previous names in this string talked about how the one universal truth Satyaḥ, is also Samātma – that which sees everything and everyone as ‘alike’, now we see that the one truth accepted by the Upaniṣads and the Ṛṣis may be immeasurable but the very same ‘truth’ also allows itself to be ‘understood’ and sometimes even “controlled” by the devotees who approach him with simple-minded Śrāddha and Bhakti.
In the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, Adi Śaṅkara, talks about how that ultimate truth cannot be located in books, understood through philosophy, reading, and all such effort, but rather requires a deep realization of our true identity with the Brahman – that this is an experiential science and not experimental or learned:
न योगेन न सांख्येन कर्मणा नो न विद्यया ।
ब्रह्मात्मैकत्वबोधेन मोक्षः सिध्यति नान्यथा ॥ ५६ ॥
na yogena na sāṃkhyena karmaṇā no na vidyayā |
brahmātmaikatvabodhena mokṣaḥ sidhyati nānyathā || 56 ||
“Neither by Yoga, nor by Sānkhya, nor by work, nor by learning, but by the realization of one’s identity with Brahman is Liberation possible, and by no other means.“
And in Verses-59 and 60 he goes further:
अविज्ञाते परे तत्त्वे शास्त्राधीतिस्तु निष्फला ।
विज्ञातेऽपि परे तत्त्वे शास्त्राधीतिस्तु निष्फला ॥ ५९ ॥
avijñāte pare tattve śāstrādhītistu niṣphalā |
vijñāte’pi pare tattve śāstrādhītistu niṣphalā || 59 ||
“The study of the Scriptures is useless so long as the highest Truth is unknown, and it is equally useless when the highest Truth has already been known.“
शब्दजालं महारण्यं चित्तभ्रमणकारणम् ।
अतः प्रयत्नाज्ज्ञातव्यं तत्त्वज्ञैस्तत्त्वमात्मनः ॥ ६0 ॥
śabdajālaṃ mahāraṇyaṃ cittabhramaṇakāraṇam |
ataḥ prayatnājjñātavyaṃ tattvajñaistattvamātmanaḥ || 60 ||
“The Scriptures consisting of many words are a dense forest which merely causes the mind to ramble. Hence men of wisdom should earnestly set about knowing the true nature of the Self.“
So, what really is the solution if self realisation cannot be achieved by mere borrowed knowledge nor can any amount of doing get you to Being? That too, Śaṅkara provides when he says that for most people, the supreme realization is possible through the simple means of chanting the Viṣhṇu Sahasranāma while truly imbibing the wisdom and esoteric knowledge of Brahm Vidya embedded in each name of the Lord daily and contemplating on it at all times because as he says in his commentary, chanting the Viṣhṇu Sahasranāma is ideal for the following reasons:
Ease with which the Viṣhṇu Sahasranāma stotra can be memorized, chanted or sung, its preference to other modes of worship rests on the following:
1. Causes no harm to others or the worshiper
2. Does not need the service/help of another
3. Requires no special objects of worship
4. Independent of time, place, gender, caste, scholarship or any other restrictions
5. Requires no special items, paraphernalia and costs almost nothing.
6. It’s replete with ways and means for Self Realisation.
Two conditions that need to be fulfilled:
1. Installation of Vāsudeva in the cave of the heart-space
2. Śhraddhā, Bhakti (Rati – like that of the Gopis) and complete Śaraṇāgati
Mindful Chanting (not parroting) the names of Viṣhṇu Sahasranāma or at least mindful listening to it daily, is a practice that everyone can cultivate. The essence of it needs to be imbibed through tatvik and marmik chintan, lived and practiced to truly install Bhagwan on the altar of your heart where there remains no duality between you and Bhagwan.
Please Watch:
क्लेशोऽधिकतरस्तेषामव्यक्तासक्तचेतसाम् ||
अव्यक्ता हि गतिर्दु:खं देहवद्भिरवाप्यते ||
kleśho ’dhikataras teṣhām avyaktāsakta-chetasām
avyaktā hi gatir duḥkhaṁ dehavadbhir avāpyate
Why is the worship of the formless Brahman so difficult? The first and foremost reason for this is that we humans possess a form ourselves and we have been habituated to interacting with forms in endless lifetimes. Thus, while striving to love God as well, if our mind has a wonderful enchanting form to meditate upon, it can easily focus upon it and increase its attachment to the Lord. However, in the case of the formless, the intellect cannot conceive of it, and the mind and senses have no tangible object to relate to. So both the endeavors of meditating on God and increasing the mind’s attachment to Him become difficult.
Worship of Brahman is also difficult in comparison to that of Bhagavān for another reason. The difference in paths can be understood through the markaṭ-kiśhore nyāya (the logic of the baby) monkey, and mārjār-kiśhore nyāya (the logic of the baby kitten). The baby monkey is responsible for holding onto her mother’s stomach; it is not helped by its mother. When the mother monkey jumps from one branch to another, the onus of clinging tightly onto the mother is upon the baby, and if it is unable to do so, it falls. In contrast, a kitten is very small and delicate, but the mother takes the responsibility of transporting it from one place to another, by holding the kitten from behind the neck and lifting it up.
“Surrender does not require that you close your eyes, that you turn a deaf ear or that you do not question, instead, it means looking at the world through His eyes, that you pay attention to your inner voice and that you exercise patience in understanding His answer. In fact, true surrender withstands any test, any examination.” – Om Swami
Please Read:
https://os.me/faith-meaning-surrender-to-divine-will
In the analogy, the devotees of the formless can be compared to the baby monkey and the devotees of the personal form can be compared to the baby kitten. Those who worship the formless Brahman have the onus of progressing on the path by themselves, because the Brahman does not bestow grace upon them. Brahman is not only formless, It is also without attributes. It has been described as nirguṇa (without qualities), nirviśheṣh (without attributes), and nirākār (without form). From this, it follows that Brahman does not manifest the quality or attribute of grace. It just is. The jñānīs who worship God as nirguṇa, nirviśheṣh, and nirākār, have to rely entirely upon self-effort for progress without seeking refuge in a tangible form that they can relate to. On the other hand, the personal form of God is an ocean of compassion and mercy. Hence, devotees of the personal form receive the help of divine support in their sādhanā and immense Grace in life of a Bhakta who has surrendered to the Lord. On the basis of the protection that God bestows upon His devotees, Shree Krishna stated in verse 9.31: “O son of Kunti, declare it boldly that My devotee never perishes.” ONLY to offer this Kripa out of love for His devotees the supreme Brahman manifests as a God with innumerable forms. Someone once asked a Master how many forms does God take. The Master replied: “As many devotees are there in the world that many forms God takes”. Bhagwan Bhakt ke aadhin hote hain. The God is controlled by the love of those who surrender to him. Hence He is Sammita.