VISHNU SAHASRANAAM

(202) Sandhimaan - The structural engineering of individuality is the mightiest of phenomenon available in nature. The Supreme is the Law and the Law-giver; and the Light of Consciousness functioning in the mind and intellect Itself is the individuality (Jeeva), that comes to suffer the good and bad results of the actions. Thus not only that it is He, who is the Giver of the results but It is He, again, Who is the enjoyer or the sufferer of the results. Hence He is called as the One who is apparently conditioned by the actions that emanate from Him, Sandhimaan, enjoyer (conditioned). In fact, He is the One presiding over and illumining all actions; the very Law of reaction Itself; the ensuing experience in all actions of all people, at all times. From the standpoint of our existence, with reference to our individual existence, the Divinity in us, for all appearances, seems to be conditioned; this Sandhimaan, the Jeeva in His own Pristine Purity is Maha Vishnu.

(203) Sthirah  -Firm, consistent. One who is ever consistent in His nature and One who remains changeless, at all times.

(204) Ajah  -Unborn. Ajah is also a term denoting the Creator, Brahmaaji; He who, in the form of Hiranyagarbha, apparently creates the delusory world of plurality is Vishnu.

(205) Durmarshanah -One who cannot be attacked and vanquished. In the long run, everyone in his own maturity will have to come and accept and walk the path of Vishnu -He is the final Goal. In the lesser levels of evolution, the animal-man may deny himself the peace and joy of living the spiritual values, and deluded by the senses and enchanted by the flesh, he may live a life of sense-joys and temporary fulfilments. But soon enough irresistibly he will be seeking the “feet” of Vishnu for real happiness and true achievement. His also is the final victory and one can stand apart from Him in a victory over him.

(206) Saastaa  -One who rules over the universe, Not only that He is the Administrator of the laws of the Phenomenon but also He is the Saastaa. He is the One who, through Sastra, with firm hand, instructs and guides us through the righteous path, drives us along steadily to progress in cultural beauty and finally reaches us at the Great Goal of all evolutions: the Seat of Vishnu.

(207) Visrutaatmaa  -The famous term Aatmaa, famous in all the Vedas, is Vishnu. This term clearly shows that all the thousand terms, used herein, though can be considered for the Saguna worship of Vishnu, represent nothing other than the Pure Self, which is the famous theme of the Hindu Scriptures. Through hundreds of suggestive definitions, this Great Self has been successfully pointed out through declarations of Its Transcendental Nature and through statements of negation indicating what He is not.

(208) Suraarihaa -Sura=“God of the Heaven”, Ari=“enemies”, Ha=“destroyer”. The Supreme is the Destroyer of the enemies of the gods. The sensuous claims of the flesh, the mild assertions of the ego, the nocturnal devils of i desires and passions, are the common enemies of the higher mind aspiring to evolve. When invoked with true devotion, He who drives away and destroys the inimical negative tendencies, and helps the devotee to master himself, is Suraarihaa, Sri Narayana.

Stanza 23

gurur-gurutamo dhaama satyas-satya-paraakramah
nimisho-a-nimishah sragvee vaachaspatir-udaara-dheeh.

(209) Guruh -The teacher, who initiates seekers into the secrets of the sacred scriptures is called the Guru. Since the Lord, the infinite alone, is the very author and knower of the Vedas, He is the Teacher in all spiritual study. Aatman being the Light, that illumines the knowledge in the teacher, his very capacity to speak and the very ability in the student to hear, understand and apprehend this great Truth, He alone is the Teacher wherever there is any transference of knowledge.

(210) Gurutamah -The Greatest Teacher; One who had inspired with knowledge and initiated the very Creator Brahmaaji into the knowledge of the four Vedas. The creative mind of the very first Spiritual Master must have received this experience of the Transcendental, initiated by none other than the Supreme Itself. Later on, the Man of Realization might come to help other seekers, and to that extent the following generations of disciples, can, no doubt, psychologically believe that the teacher guided them to Truth. But, in fact for all times to come, the final experience of the theme of the Vedas is arrived at only through the final revelation, which has nothing to do with the teacher or the text. Svetaasvatara Upanishad (6-18) says, “He who first Created the Creator (Brahmaa) and imparted him the Vedas.”

The Guru and the scripture, devotion to God, meditation, moral conduct and the religious discipline are all necessary, in as much as, they prepare the bosom of the seeker for the dawn of realization. But the final unveiling is done by the Infinite alone, and hence, Vishnu, the Self, is the best among the Gurus. Heaviness is called by the same term (Gurutvam), and in this sense the Lord is Indicated here as “that which is heavier than the heaviest.

(211) Dhaama -The Goal; the Sacred destination of a pilgrimage. The Supreme is the Param-dhaama, the ‘Supreme Destination’, having reached which, there is nothing more to reach beyond. This Absolute State of Perfection is called the “Peak” (Dhaama). The Sanskrit term Dhaama also means “Effulgence” (Tejas); the Pure Consciousness as the illuminator of all experiences is considered and glorified as the Light of all Lights etc.

(212) Satyah -One who is Himself the Truth. The difference from the general connotation, we have for the term “That which remains without a change in the past, present and future” is called Sat yam. “Truth, Knowledge, Infinite is Brahman”, thunder the scriptures. Brihad Upanishad (4-1-20) says, “The Praanas are the truth, and He is the Truth of them.”

(213) Satyaparaakramah -Dynamic Truth. Passive truthfulness is the harbour of the fools, the dark den of the cowards; although it is any day better than suicidal un- truth and criminal dishonesty. The Lord, the Infinite is not only Himself the Truth but He is Dynamic in insisting that “Truth shall prevail, not untruth”. Not only gravity is a law of nature, itself ever truthful, but it insists that none shall escape its influence or disobey sway. So too, the Infinite Law of Harmony and Love is an Inevitable Truth persisting with insistence in life. The Lord is therefore indicated by the term “ Satyaparaakramah”.

(214) Nimishah -The condition of “the eyelids closed” is called Nimishah; the unwinking is called Animishah. When the eyes are open, the mind is extrovert; the condition of mental introvertedness is expressed in an unconscious closing of the eyes. When a man is deeply thinking, remembering, contemplating, we find him naturally closing his eyes.

In a state of intense contemplation, when the intellect is turned away from the objects-of-experiences, the bosom experiences the One Divine “Subject” both within and without. The Lord is described here as “with eyes closed”, only to indicate that He is ever rooted in Himself; from Him viewed, there exists nothing other than Himself to constitute the world- of-objects.

(215) Animishah -One who remains unwinking. Whenever we wink both the eyelids close together and what we are seeing is at least technically veiled from the seer in the eye. The Supreme is indicated here by the term “unwinking”, in the sense that, the consciousness is Ever-Knowing. In Sankara’s words, in Chandogya Bhaashya, “there is no cession of knowing in the knower”.

(216) Sragvee -A garland is called Srak and, therefore, the term means One who is constantly wearing a garland of undecaying flowers. The famous garland of Vishnu is called Vaijayantee.

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