290. Bhūta-bhavya-bhavan-nāthaḥ भूत-भव्य-भवन्-नाथः

He is the Lord of past, present and future. Brahman alone exists at all times without any modifications. During annihilation, when all the beings are absorbed into Him, He does not change. Even at the time of re-creation, He does not change. He is eternal any is beyond any time factors. This nāma reaffirms the omnipresence of the Brahman. Nātha means Lord. In all the three factors of time, past, present and future, He remains as Supreme.

Kaṭha Upaniṣad (II.i.13) says, “īśāno bhūtabhavyasya ईशानो भूतभव्यस्य” which means He is the Lord of past and future (present is implied).

Nāma 4 is Bhūta-bhavya-bhavatprabuḥ, which conveys the same meaning.

291. Pavanaḥ पवनः

Pavana means purifier. It also refers to wind. It can be said that being present in the form of air, He cleanses the physical world. If wind does not blow, purification cannot happen. Kṛṣṇa says, “Among purifiers, I am the wind” in Bhagavad Gītā (XIII.31).

292. Pāvanaḥ पावनः

Repetitive nāma 811.

Pāvana means the act of purification. This nāma can be explained in two ways. One, as Brahman, He is the cause for wind, which has purification qualities. Hence He is addressed as the purificator. Two, He uses wind only as a tool to purify. In fact, without wind, He can purify and when He directly purifies, He purifies the minds of His devotees paving for their liberation, if not in this birth, at least in future births. Without purification of mind, surrender unto to Him and consequent liberation is not possible.

293. Analaḥ अनलः

Anala means fire or the god of fire, Agni. Fire is the life sustaining element. Life sustaining force kuṇḍalinī is sustained by the inner fire. Power of digestion is caused by fire. Without fire, life cannot be sustained. Viṣṇu sustains the universe using fire as a tool or He Himself acts as fire and sustains the universe.

Brahman does not need any tools such as air, fire, etc to sustain the universe. It is only the system of hierarchy that is being set as an example for others to follow. The top most person of an organization can act independently. Still he goes through the hierarchy to implement his decisions. Though Brahman is the Supreme, He has appointed gods and goddesses to take care of different acts to sustain the universe. He can be directly approached only by His devotees.

These two nāma-s adore His act of cleansing and sustenance.

294. Kāmahā कामहा

He is in the form of desire. This nāma can be interpreted in two ways. Considering kāma to mean general desire in all the beings, then this nāma says that He is the cause for all the desires. Desire as such is not a bad quality. Bur desire beyond permissible limits as prescribed in Scriptures lead to demonic qualities. Kṛṣṇa distinguishes this in Bhagavad Gītā (VII.13) where He says, “Arjuna, of the mighty, I am the mightiest, free from passion and desire”. If a mighty king has desire to acquire kingdoms be winning over other kings which is beyond his capacities and capabilities, he ends up in losing his existing kingdom also, if he is defeated in the battle. Desire as such is not bad, but desire beyond one’s capacity is bad and leads to destruction.

Kāma also means sexual desire. Again marital relationship is not a sin as per dharma śāstra-s. If one does not enter into marital life, procreation is not possible. Procreation is considered as one of the important aspects of dharma śāstra-s, which go to the extent in saying that if one does not have a son to do last rites, the deceased goes to hell.

It should be understood that desire as such is not bad, but desire beyond a limit is bad. This nāma says that He is in the form of desire, which is not demonic in nature. He is also the cause for desires in demons, but contextually, this aspect is not discussed here. A person of Bhīṣma’s stature, in his death bed is not going to talk about desires in demons.

295. Kāmakṛt कामकृत्

This is an extension of the previous nāma. This nāma says that He fulfils the reasonable desires of His devotees. A question may arise why He fulfils the desires of His devotees alone. His devotees will not ask for material prosperities. Their desire will be only for liberation and not anything else.

Assuming that His devotees ask for material prosperities, He also considers them favourably as their prayers will be well within the frame work of dharma śāstra-s. If one does not follow dharma śāstra-s, then he is not a devotee.

296. Kāntaḥ कान्तः

Repetitive nāma 654.

He is desired by His devotees. Kānta means desired. His devotees know that He is the eternal bliss or ānanda.

297. Kāmaḥ कामः

He is the object of desire and love, as discussed in the previous nāma-s. Since He is the embodiment of love, He is desired by His devotees. Those who know His qualities know Him as an embodiment of Love. It is not the materialistic love. Materialistic love is associated with wealth and prosperity that are impermanent in nature. The divine love is different, which is full of compassion, concern and kindliness for others. There is no selfish interest involved in divine love. The closest comparison to the divine love is the love of a mother for her children.

This nāma talks about desire for entering into the state of eternal bliss and final liberation.