Hariḥ Om
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Swāmini Brahmaprajñānanda ji writes:
The Viṣṇusahasranāma is a compilation of 1000 different names of the Lord. It is 1000 ways of looking at the Lord. It is the 149th adhyaaya of the Anushasana-parva of the Māhabhārata. As per tradition, it was composed by Sanaka and was given to Bhishma. Bhishma, in turn recited it to the Pāndavas in the presence of Bhagavān Sri Krishna. At the end of the war, Yuddhisthira, the eldest of the Pandavas,
What is the meaning of Viṣṇu?
The word Viṣṇu is derived from the root viṣlṛ vyāptau, meaning to pervade. Viṣṇu means one who is all pervasive. The all pervasive is only one, not more than one. Being all pervasive, Viṣṇu cannot be away from me; We need to understand this Lord or Īśvara.
The Lord is called Īśvara. Īśvara is the one who protects, sustains and the one who is a source of blessing. This Īśvara, who we say is the cause of this scheme of things called jagat, is to be discovered not believed. The world, jagat is not only put together, but it is intelligently put together. Anything put together intelligently to serve a purpose, is preceded by knowledge. Whatever is intelligently put together is called creation and intelligence can only rest in a conscious being.
This intelligent conscious being, to account for the creation of this world, should have the knowledge of creation and that knowledge should be total knowledge, because we are talking of the total world. The one who has samagram jnanam, total knowledge and samagram viryam, the total skill to create is called Bhagavan, Īśvara. Īśvara is both the maker and the material and hence the jagat is a manifestation of Īśvara. Manifestation means it is not separate from the material. It is an intelligent manifestation.
Why should anyone repeat the names of the Lord?
Repeating the names is a karma – an action and every action has a result . Every karma produces both seen results as well as unseen results (adr̥ śṭa phalam). To be at the right place at the right time, throughout the course of my life requires grace or luck. Grace is not something that the Lord distributes to a chosen few. It is something that we earn as a result of our actions (karma-phala). The Lord, of course, is very much present in it as the one who gives the results of actions (karma-phala- data). The laws produce the result of action, and those laws are not separate from Īśvara.
If Viṣṇusahasranama is chanted mentally, it is mānasam karma, if chanted orally, it is vāchikam karma and if it is chanted while offering flowers to the Lord through a puja, then it is kāyikam karma.
In understanding the meaning of the names, there is understanding of Īśvara. The more I understand Ishvara, the more I understand and accept myself. The more I accept myself, I experience less alienation and am in harmony with what is.
Why 1000 names?
Īśvara is everything and everything constitutes the various forms of Īśvara. As the forms are countless, the names of Īśvara are also countless. Thus, Īśvara has infinite names. Names are but words and certain words, when understood, reveal Īśvara. But none of the known words can really reveal Īśvara. Therefore, we have some special words which reveal the nature of Īśvara and these words are 3-fold:
1. Words which reveal the svarupa, essential nature of Īśvara like satyam, meaning that which exists in all the 3 periods of time.
2. Words which reveal Īśvara as the cause of the jagat. All that is here is Īśvara, and who is both the father and the mother. Īśvara is ‗He‘ from the stand-point of the maker, the efficient cause and ‗She‘ from the stand-point of the material cause, as the one who is manifest in the form of the jagat.
3. Words which indicate the manifest form, as even the form of an avatāra. Keeping Maya under His control, Īśvara is manifest in special forms like Shri Rama, Sri Krishna and so on.
So all these 3 sets of names given above constitute the sahasranāma, the 1000 names of Lord Viṣṇu.
We may have 4-5 names including our nick names. Thousand names of Īśvara mean thousand ways of looking at Īśvara and trying to understand him. If we think that these are just names to call Īśvara then it becomes his responsibility to respond. He certainly responds. But when we see them as words – a means to understand, then the responsibility lies with us to understand Īśvara.
The reason there are so many names is that if you do not understand one word, you can go onto the next. The more you understand the words, the less alienated you are from Īśvara. Once this is understood, the repetition of these words becomes a means of contemplation. This is called nididhyasana, contemplation necessary for abiding nishtha in theknowledge.
It is a set of words coming from somebody who understands his own limitations, and at the same time understands the Lord because of the śāstra. Words can be
meaningful only when they come from somebody who knows the śāstra, a śastrajña. Only a śastrajña can write. It is not enough if a devotee, a bhakta writes. It may be adequate from the bhakta‘s perspective and the Lord will accommodate those words. However, the words should be from a heart that really understands Īśvara, an expression of bhakti.
Bhagavan Ved Vyasa wrote the Mahabharata and we offer our namaskars to him.
vyāsāya viṣṇurūpāya vyāsarūpāya viṣṇave |
namo vai brahmanidhaye vāsiṣṭhāya namo namaḥ ||
Salutations to Vyāsa, who is in the form of Viṣṇu and to Viṣṇu who is in the form of Vyāsa.salutations again and again to him who is the abode of the Vedas and who is of the lineage of Vasiṣṭha.
Harih om, excerpted from Pujya Swamiji's commentary on the Vishnu Sahasranama, by Swamini Brahmaprajnananda ji. This is the last explanation of the introductory verses, next post onwards we'll be looking at the 1000 names of Vishnu Bhagavan. Om.
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यस्यस्मरणमात्रण
जन्मसंसारबन्धनात I
Namaskaar to Lord Viṣṇu who is almighty and remembering whom, one is liberated from the bondage of samsaara.
The recitation of Viṣṇusahasranama produces punya and according to one‘s sankalpa, bhuti, prosperity is gained. The one who seeks moksa should also recite these 1000 names. The one who gave out these mantras at the beginning is Rsi Veda-vyasa. Anustup is the metre, which consists of 32 letters. Before the Viṣṇusahasranama, there is a pu rvabha ga, a small section of verses offering prayers to Lord Ganapati, Vyasa and Visnu and then a few verses in the form of a dialogue giving the background of Viṣṇu Sahsaranama as described in the first post.
The Viṣṇu-sahasranāma begins with Ōm. It is an integral part of the sahasranāma. Ōm is a word, which is mangala-sūchaka, indicative of an auspicious beginning. It is also the name of Brahman, for both the saguṇa and nirguṇa aspect, for both the vastu and parameśvara. The Lord is one and Ōm is also a single syllable word.
The word Ōm is derived from the verbal root 'ava rakṣaṇe' with the meaning of protecting. Avati rakṣati iti Ōm. Therefore, Ōm means that which protects. As Parameśvara, as Brahman along with māyā-śakti, He sustains the world. Therefore, He is the source of protection and also the source of blessing. As paramātmā, Brahman blesses by satta-sphūrti-pradāna, by lending existece and consciousness to everything.
As Ōm is the name of Brahman, everything comes from Ōm, is sustained by Ōm and goes back to Ōm. Therefore, it is Ōm that sustains and protects everything. Again, Ōm is a word, and therefore, it is a pratīka or a sound symbol for Īśvara. Though it can be written, it is not a pratimā, a form symbol, popularly written as ॐ. Unfortunately these days when Om is stated, we only remember the symbol not what Om stands for.
How is Om a symbol for the Lord?
A flag is just a piece of cloth. Yet, we see that on the flag of a country, the constitution of the country, what the country stands for, is deliberately superimposed, loaded. Deliberate superimposition on something else makes it a symbol for what is superimposed. Therefore, the flag symbolizes the country and respect shown to the flag is the respect shown to that country. Defence force personnel follow a strict protocol in the flag hoisting ceremony.
Similarly, on the word Om, there is a deliberate superimposition of Īśvara and therefore it becomes a word symbol. The names that we give to people are also sound symbols, standing for the person. So,Ōm is a sound symbol, which is loaded with meaning.
Phonetically, 'A' is the basic sound that is produced by human being anywhere in the world, when he tries to make a sound by opening the mouth. In most languages 'A' is also the first letter of the alphabet. When a sound is produced by closing the mouth, what comes out is the sound 'M'. In between, when there is a rounding off of the mouth, the sound 'U' is produced. Since everything is the Lord, all names in all languages and in all dialects are the names of the Lord, and the names are nothing but the Lord.
Now, what can be the best name for the Lord, a name that would include everything? All objects are but names and all names are words. Words, being made of letters, are nothing but letters, and letters are sounds. Since sounds are produced by opening and closing the mouth, all sounds are phonetically between A' and 'M'. The Lord being everything, his name should include every name. The letter 'U' is inserted in between to indicate all sounds in between. Thus, Ōm that is made of the letters 'A', 'U', and 'M' includes, phonetically all sounds and therefore, all letters and all words of all languages and dialects. Therefore, it becomes a word which indicates all objects. In this way, Ōm becomes the name of Īśvara, the Lord.
It has been said that Ōm is everything. What is everything? That is indicated by the word 'Viśvam' which it is followed by in the sahasranāma.
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