VISHNU SAHASRANAAM

440. Nakshatranemih -The Nave of the stars. One who is the nave around which all the star and the planets including the sun, moon and other planets always move around. For this brilliant glowing wheel of Light, Sri Narayana is the very Axle

441. Nakshatree -One who is the Lord of the stars. Lord of the stars is the moon. Geeta says, “among the stars I am the moon.”

442. Kshamah -One who is supremely efficient in all undertakings. One who has extreme patience with all the stupidities of his devotees.

443. Kshaamah -One who ever remains without any scarcity- (kshaama). During the final deluge all things in the world dissolve and perish away but even then the Lord remains untouched by all distinction and hence He is called kshaamah.

444. Sameehanah -One whose desires are suspicious. The Lord is considered as “Well-desiring” in as much as he desires the well-being of all His creatures at all times. He knows how to control and regulate His power of desiring (Icchaa-sakti) and thus He is extremely efficient in His creative activity.

Stanza 48

yajnah ijyo mahejyashcha kratuh satram sataam gatih
sarvadarshee vimuktaatmaa sarvajno jnaanamuttamam.

445. Yajnah -One who is of the nature of yajna. All sacrifices are His own forms. He exists as sacrifice in order to satisfy men and gods. Sruti says that all yajnas are of the nature of Vishnu (Yajno Vai Vishnuh).

446. Ijyah -One who is fit to be invoked through yajnas. Lord Narayana is the only one who is being invoked in all yajnas, even when the devotee particularly invokes any other deity. He, being the Infinite, all gods are expressions of His own glory and therefore, irrespective of the deity invoked, all yajnas are worship of Vishnu. In Harivamsa we read a declaration which openly reveals this truth: “They who worship through holy sacrifices, the devas or the pitris, they worship indeed the Vishnu, the Self, through the Self.”

447. Mahejyah -One who is to be most worshipped. One who most certainly is to be invoked in every ritual because all other devataas invoked during the yajnas can each fulfil the seeker’s desires; but to invoke Sri Narayana is to invoke the only Power that can supply complete liberation for the devotee. Therefore, He is the object of great sacrifice.

448. Kratuh  -It is a kind of yaaga wherein there is a pillar to which the sacrificial animal is tied. Since all sacrifices are offered to Him-the Lord, even Kratuh, a sacrifice with violence inherent in it is also Vishnu.

449. Satram -The Lord who protects the good (Sat). In continuation with the previous Kratuh, when we read this it can also be considered as indicating a particular kind of yajna described as Satram in our Vedic literature.

450. Sataam gatih -One who is the refuge (for the good people). One who is worshipped and invoked by those who wish to liberate themselves from all limitations in life. Gatih in Sanskrit means both the path and the goal. Thus, through surrendering to the Narayana alone does one reach Sri Narayana.

451. Sarvadarshee –“As He is the pure Consciousness in all living creatures, all knowledge in all beings is illumined by Him. Just as the sun is “the eye of the universe,” so the Consciousness is the Illuminator of every- thing.

452. Vimuktaatmaa –“The ever-liberated Self.” The Supreme, though He expresses Himself through the equipments, He is never conditioned by the matter envelopments through which He apparently expresses Himself. Just as the waves rise, exist and dissolve in the ocean, the equipments of experiences rise, play and dissolve themselves in Him.

He is ever-liberated, never-shackled by gross matter. This great principle of Paraatmaa is Sri Narayana. -Sruti says (Kathopanishad 5-1).

453. Sarvajnah –“Omniscient.” He is the Principle of Consciousness and, therefore, He is the Illuminator of all thoughts, all intentions, motives, emotions and all sense perceptions in an individual. The meaning is the same as in Sarvadarsee.

454. Jnaanamuttamam –“The Supreme Knowledge of all other knowledges.” The Self is the Supreme Knowledge, for, without the Consciousness, no knowledge is possible. Taittireeyopanishad indicates the Self as. “Satyam Jnaanam, Anantam Brahma”

Stanza 49

suvratah sumukhah sookshmah sughoshah sukhadah suhrit
manoharo jita-krodho veerabaahurvidaaranah.

455. Suvratah –“The one who is ever performing the pure vow.” It is a sacred vow of the Lord that He has to give shelter and protection to all those who totally surrender themselves into him-says Sri Ramachandraji: “To give shelter to all living creatures-this is my vow.” This term can also refer to Him who had done tapas for a long number of years on the mount of Nara-Narayana in Badrinath.

456. Sumukhah -One who has an enchanting face. Truth is beauty and Beauty truth. In all conditions the Lord is ever cheerful and brings to His face the dignified beauty of calm repose. When the devotees come and surrender at His sacred feet Narayana is the one of Infinite mercy who beams with joy at the devotion of the surrender.

457. Sookshmah -One who is subtler than the subtlest. In Vedanta terminology subtlety indicates pervasiveness. Therefore, the term means All-Pervasive. The Upanishad says the Lord is All-Pervading, subtler than the subtlest (Sarvagatam susookshmam).

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