VISHNU SAHASRANAMAM

(130) Vedaangah –One whose very limbs are the vedas. In Kenopanishad in the closing stanzas, the teacher insists that all knowledges are Its limbs.

(131) Vedavit –‘One who contemplates upon the Veda is Vedavit’: (Vedam Vichaarayati=Vedavit). Mere word meaning cannot give us the true concept of the subtle theme discussed in the Vedas. Continuous reflection upon their declarations alone can reach us to the peaks of their imports. In the Geeta, Bhagavan Himself declares that He is not only the very Revealer of Vedas but He is at once the Knower of the Veda -Geeta Ch. 15, St. 15.

It is absolutely necessary that the student of the Vedas should try to understand the meaning of their declaration. To repeat the mantras parrot-like is not of any consequence: ‘He who has studied the Vedas but has not understood the meaning, but carries a load, as the ‘road-rest’ on the roadside.’ Thus He who constantly reflects upon the Veda, and naturally lives up to it, is the Great Lord.

(132) Kavih -The term Kavi in the Vedas means the ‘Seer’. One who experiences something more than the ordinary is called a Kavi. In the Isavasyopanishad (8) we read: -“The Seer, the Intelligent....”  In the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (5-7-23) we read: “There is no Seer except Him.”

In the Glory of the Lord, He confesses, in the Geeta, “among the Poets, I am Usanas, Sukra-Aachaarya”.

Stanza 15

lokaadhyakshah suraadhyaksho
dharmaadhyakshah krita-akritah
chaturaatmaa chaturvyoohas-
chatur-damshtras-chatur-bhujah.

(133) Lokaadhyakshah –One who presides over all fields of experiences -all lokas. President is one who is responsible for the conduct of the assembly; he guides the discussion in a disciplined manner, and ultimately at the end of it all, he dissolves the meeting. All through the discussions he never interferes with the freedom of speech and action of the members, if they act within the agenda of the day. Similarly, the Lord presides over all the fields of activities, never interfering with the freedom of the individuals to act. “The Supreme Purusha in this body is also called the spectator, the permitter, the supporter, the enjoyer, the great Lord, and the Supreme Self.” From the Puranic standpoint the Lord in His Vaamana manifestation was installed as the king of the three worlds and, therefore, this name, say the Pauraanikas.

(134) Suraadhyakshah -The President of the Heavens to whom the Devas run for protection when they are threatened by their constant enemies -the Daityas and the Asuras. When in the Heaven of our bosom, the thought-angels are threatened by the negative tendencies and criminal purposes, He to whom the good in us surrender totally for sure protection and safety is Vishnu, the President within the bosom.

(135) Dharmaadhyakshah -Presiding over the activities of the living organisms, Consciousness revels, illumining both the good and the evil therein. The One Sacred factor that constantly thus illumines all the nature and functions (Dharma) of the body, mind and intellect is the Dharmaa- dhyakshah, Lord Vishnu.

(136) Kritaakritah -Kritam = that which is done = that which is manifested or created Akritam, therefore, is that which has not manifested or become. The former (Kritam) indicates all the “effects” manifested out of the Creator’s activities, and the latter (Akritam) is the “cause” from which no manifestation has yet emerged -it is still unmanifest. The Self, the Atman, is the ‘Post’ -in the ghost-in-the-post example -upon which the cause and the effect, the unmanifest and the manifest, like the “ghost” apparently come to play (Kritam = Vyaktam, A-Kritam = A-Vyaktam).

(137) Chaturaatmaa -The Self is described as four-fold when we consider the Atman as the Glory (Vibhooti) of the Self. Thus, the Essential factors, with which alone the endless play of creation, sustenance and destruction can continue, are the glories of the Self (Aatma-Vibhooti). In Vishnu Purana, four distinct vibhooties of the Lord -when He functions as the creator, sustainer and destroyer -are found enumerated. From the standpoint of a Vedantic student, since in the Non-dual Reality there cannot be anything other than It- self, all the plays of the gross, the subtle and causal bodies, in the microcosm and in the macrocosm, are the glories (vibhooties) of the One Self. In the Absolute, in the Eternal, all these are transcended; these- the water, dreamer, deep-sleeper, the Tureeya -are all Its Glories. The Possessor of these Glories is the One that transcends even “Tureeya”; He is called as the Tureeyaateetah.

(138) Chaturvyoohah  -One who manifests into the four mighty powers (Vyooha). The Truth, that plays thus Himself in these four levels having apparently created the world of experiences, is Vishnu, the All-Pervading. According to the Vaishnava literature, for the purpose of creation, Maha Vishnu Himself became four mighty powers (Vyooha) and they were called Vaasudeva, Samkarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. One who has Himself these four mighty powers, necessary for the conduct of plurality, is the Great Self, Maha Vishnu.

(139) Chatur-Damshtrah -The canine teeth fully developed in the upper and the lower rows, as in the case of carnivorous animals, are called in Sanskrit as Damshtraa. This is reminiscent of the Powerful Damshtraa of the Lord when He took the form of Nara-Simha to protect Prahlaada.

Also in the Puranas we find that the Great white Elephant of Indra, “ Airaavata,” has four tusks -He whose glory is the four-tusked Airaavata is Maha- Vishnu. To the student of the Upanishad, it is indeed very clear that these four ‘tusks’ or ‘teeth’ are nothing other than the four paadas which Mandukya thunders -”Chatushpaada”. The manifestation of the Might and Glory of the Supreme are the play of the waking, dream and deep-sleep conditions. With reference to these three, transcending them all, is the fourth plane-of-consciousness the Springboard for all these three. He, whose Glory are all these four grinding, crushing, fearful experiences of duality, is the One Non-dual Self, the Great Maha Vishnu.