VISHNU SAHASRANAMAM

(174) Mahaaveeryah -One who is the Supreme Essence. “Veerya” is the Essence behind all the creative urges. Since the Divine is the very source, from which alone the dynamism for creation can manifest, the Supreme Divinity is termed here as the Mahaaveerya.

(175) Mahaasaktih -All-Powerful. Power here means efficiency. He-whose manifestations are the power-of-action, the power-of-desire and the power-of-knowledge saktees-must necessarily be the most powerful, in as much as a play of these three powers is the total play of the world.

(176) Mahaadyutih -Of Splendorous Light. Dyuti means ‘Glow’, Sobhaa. The Pure Consciousness is the illuminator of all, including all other material sources of light in the world-Sun, Moon, stars, fire etc.-but this is not all; He is also the One, who is Himself Self-Effulgent. This is Mahavishnu-the Supreme Self. In the Mundakopanishad (4-9) Lord is described as the “Light of lights”. Brihadaaranya- kopanishad (6-3-9) declares: “He is Self-effulgent”.

(177) Anirdesyavapuh -One whose form is indefinable, indescribable, inexplicable (Anirdesyam). Ordinary things can be defined, described or explained because they come within our experience. Our objective experiences can be satisfactorily expressed in words. Vishnu is that Truth which is the Subjective Essence in all of us; He is that ‘Knowledge’, in the light of which, all other knowledges are rendered possible. As such no “sources of knowledge” (Pramaanas such as Direct perception, Inference etc.) can be employed successfully in exploring the realm of the Self. Subjective experiences of ‘Be’, the Maha Vishnu, is possible; but It can never become an ‘idea’ to express, nor can It become an ‘emotion’ to feel, nor can It ever become an ‘object’ to be described.

(178) Sreemaan -Sree means Glory (Aisvarya). Vishnu is permanently wedded to Mother Glory; He, who is constantly courted by all glories, is Sreemaan, Lord Vishnu.

(179) Ameyaatmaa -He whose Essence (Aatmaa) is inestimable and immeasurable (Ameya). As Aatman (Kshetrajna) He, the One, expresses Himself everywhere in every equipment (Kshetra), as the ‘knower’ in each ‘field’. Since these equipments are infinite in number, as the individuality (jeeva) in each one of the created beings, His own Glory expresses in endless manifestations.

(180) Mahaadridhrik -One who supports the great Mountain. In the Puranas, we find two instances, wherein the Lord has been described as the uplifter of or as having lifted and supported the mountains. While churning the milky ocean with the Mandara mountain we are told that the “churning-stick” sunk into the bottom and the Lord had to manifest in the form of the Great Tortoise (Koorma) and support it, while the Gods and Demons continued the churning, until they gathered the nectar (Amritam).

Again, the Supreme, as Lord Krishna, in order to protect the cows had to lift the Govardhana Mountain. Because of these two stories in the Puranas, Lord, the Protector of the mind in Saadhanaa, is called as Mahaadridhrik.

Vishnu is the Divine, that supports the mind-intellect of the Saadhaka while he is churning, through study (sravana) and reflection (manana), his own Milk-like pure heart-of devotion in order to gain the experience of Immortality (Amritam).

Stanza 20

maheshvaaso maheebhartaa sreenivaasah sataam gatih
aniruddhah suraanando govindo govindaam-patih.

(181) Maheshvaasah -One who wears or wields the Great Bow called Saarnga.

(182) Maheebhartaa -The husband of Mother Earth. The Sanskrit term for husband is Bhartaa and the term denotes ‘Supporter’. In the Puranic language we have the description of how the Lord, as the Great Boar uplifted the earth from the “waters of Deluge.” Viewed from the platform of philosophy, just as gold is the supporter of all things made of gold, the Infinite Consciousness is the Essence from which everything has risen. Hence He is the Lord, the Supporter, the Husband (Bhartaa) of Mother Earth and everything that exists in her.

(183) Sreenivaasah -The permanent abode of Sree. Mother Sree connotes “all Glory and power, faculties and strength, to be good and to perform creative acts of righteousness”. She is found to remain never permanently in any bosom. Even saints and sages, in recorded history, have come to compromise the perfections in them. The only place, where imperfections never enter to molest the serene essence, is the seat of Eternal Perfection, which is the bosom of Narayana. Hence Maha Vishnu is indicated as Sreenivaasa –“the Permanent Abode of Lakshmi”.

(184) Sataam Gatih -For the truly virtuous and for all spiritual seekers (Sat-People) He who is the final Goal. In the language of the Geeta He is the “Paraa gatih”. The term gati is used to denote not only the goal, but the very movement, as well as the direction and the way. Narayana is the very Direction, Path, Progress and the Goal for his devotees.

(185) Aniruddhah -One who cannot be obstructed or resisted by anyone. Irresistibly, the will of the Lord functions in the world of created things-and-beings. Just as in the world of matter, the laws of nature are irresistible, the Rhythm and Harmony of Truth ever march in their Eternal Logic of objectless Love and immaculate perfection. Time and tide wait for none. When the sun rises, the living creatures absorb energy and nothing can obstruct this process. In the presence of the Self, the worlds of matter must get thrilled into their own independent activities, and in all these welter of efforts and exertions, achievements and failures, joys and sorrows, the Self is not involved by the Irresistible Enchantment of His presence, the Gopis seek their own fulfilment in their own dances. In the Puranas, we find Bhagavan Vishnu taking up in His various Incarnations different manifested forms and in all of them He was victorious; ever irresistible (Aniruddhah) is His Might.

(186) Suraanandah -The One who doles out happiness (Aananda) even for the Denizens-of-the Heavens (Suras). In the Upanishad we have the declaration, that the Infinite Perfection, the Lord is of the very nature of Absolute Bliss. In the Aanandavallee of Taittireeya Upanishad we find the arithmetics of Bliss. The Rishi concludes that all joys of the world and heavens-mental and supramental-are all but flickerings of the Infinite Bliss, which is the Lord Mahavishnu.

(187) Govindah -The word Go in Sanskrit has four meanings: ‘Earth’, ‘Cows’, ‘Speech’ and ‘Vedas’. As the earth is the supporter of everything that is existing, He, who is the supporter of everything within the individual, is called Govinda; He, who is the Protector of the Cow’s and played the part of Gopaala in Gokula, is the very controller of the animal instincts and passions in the bosom of man; “One, without whom, no speech can ever emerge out of any throat-He being the very Life in all Creatures” says Kenopanishad; and the Highest Speech is the declaration of Truth in the Vedas. The Lord Himself is the very Theme and the Author of the Vedas. This great Self is Mahavishnu.

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