VISHNU SAHASRANAAM

339. Soorah –“The Valiant”. All sources of strength and courage spring from the Life in us and, therefore, the Lord of the universe is called here as the Valiant-capable of crushing all unrighteous forces, however well-trenched they may be in the world.

340. Saurih –Soorasena was the father of Vasudeva, and we have already found that Vasudeva’s son is Vaasudeva. Therefore, the Lord had taken His incarnation in the family of Soora and so He is termed as ‘Saurih’.

341. Janesvarah -The Lord of the people (jana). Those who are born are called Jana. Therefore the term indicates that He is the Lord of all creatures born the universe.

342. Anukoolah –“A hearty well-wisher, or friend of everyone”. Since the Lord is the Essential Life in everyone, He is the friend and ally of every individual in as much as, nobody spends his life except in concurrence with his own subjective intentions and purposes. Thus, the Lord is a friend fulfilling the intentions of a murderer, and He is again the friend of another helping Him to serve the mankind, if that be his intention. Thus, He is a friend and a devoted ally to everyone since He is the mighty power behind all Vaasanaas expressing through all creatures.

343. Sataavarttah -Sata means “hundred”, and here it is used as “innumerable”. Thus the term’ Sataavarttah’ means “One who takes infinite varieties of forms”. All forms in the universe are but His own, inasmuch as, His manifestation is the universe. Again, He takes innumerable incarnations in order to maintain the taw of the cosmos and also the law of evolution. It can also mean “One who, as Praana, moves in the innumerable Naadees in the body”.

344. Padmee –“One who has the lotus in his hand”. The lotus is the national flower in Bharat as it symbolises in our culture, the Goal of our Spiritual life. It is to offer this “Knowledge”, that the Lord blows His conch, and if people are not listening to this silent call of the Higher from within, He uses His gadaa (mace) to give merciful knocks in life. Still, if an individual or a generation is not listening to His kindly warnings, He has the Discus (Chakra) in His hand. He annihilates totally the existing forms and re-creates.

345. Padma-nibhekshanah –“One whose eyes are as beautiful as the Lotus.” In short, ‘lotus-eyed.’

Stanza 38

padmanaabho-arvindaakshah padmagarbhah sareerabhrit
maharddhi-riddhah uriddhaatmaa mahaakshah gantdadhvajah.

346. Padmanaabhah –“One who has the lotus in his navel”. This is not to be taken literally. Navel (Naabhi) is the psychic centre where all un-manifest thoughts first spring forth into our recognition (Pasyantee). The seedless state of all thoughts is called in the Yoga Sastra, as Paraa. It therefore means “one in whose bosom lies, in potential, all the possibilities of the universe of expression.” It can also mean “One who manifests Himself in the lotus of the heart of his devotee. Some translate as “He who is seated in the pericarp of the lotus.”

347. Aravindaakshah –“One who has eyes as beautiful as the lotus”. The lotus opens at sun-rise and closes in the night. The Lord opens His beauty and grace in the  presence of the devotees and the flood of His grace, as it were, drys up in the presence of the dark sensuality of the ignorant.

348. Padmagarbhah –“One who is being meditated upon in the centre of the lotus-of-the-heart.”

349. Sareerabhrit –“One who sustains nourishes all bodies”. Or, it can mean “One who is form of food and praana, becomes the very cause for the sustenance of the body”. It is a fact very well known that even though a body can continue existing without visibly decaying for 50 years, once Life has ebbed away, the deadbody cannot maintain its form and it does not exist even for 48 hours intact. He who while presiding over the body nourishes and maintains it, and in whose absence the body decays and nourishes, He is the One who is the Sustainer of the body (Dehahhrit).

350. Maharddhih –“One who has great riddhi, meaning, prosperity and power”. These two-prosperity and power-together is called glory (Aisvarya). Thus the term means, “One who has by His very nature glory ever with Him.”

351. Riddhah  -“One who has expanded Himself to be the universe.” In short, “One who has manifested Himself as the entire world of plurality, constituted of the finite things of the Cosmos.”

352. Vriddhaatmaa –“The ancient Self.” In the Self there is no concept of Time, It being beyond the intellect. But here, by the term Vriddhaatmaa, it only means that He was the Self before all creation. It is only after the creation of Time that we are capable of saying and indicating Him as the Self of the various living creatures. He is the first Self, meaning, He is the Self whose manifestations are the world of plurality.

353. Mahaakshah –“The Great-eyed”, meaning, the eyes that can see not only the world-of-objects, but also X-ray through them and see all that are happening deep within the bosom of all creatures. He is the “Great Eye” seeing all, at all times, as He is the Consciousness that illumines everything at all times, in all bosoms.

354. Garuda-dhvajah –“One who has the (Garuda) as his insignia on his flag. The eagle is consider as the vehicle of the Lord; most probably Because this bird ever soars high and from above sees even the minutest speck of dirt in the world. The eagle after spying the carrion, swoops down and takes it away, thus purifying the atmosphere. Similarly, the Lord never allows any negative thought to come into the heart of His devotees, and hence, the eagle is considered as His vehicle.

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