Sri Vishnu Sahasra NAmam - Part 4.

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Dear Devotees:

 

Part 4 of Sri Vishnu Sahasra NAmam Overview is included below. This is the

concluding part of this contribution.

 

-Dasan Krishnamachari

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Sri Vishnu Sahasra NAmam - Part 4.

 

The Benefits

 

As was pointed out earlier, traditionally our prayers end with a phala

sruti - a section on the benefits of reciting the prayer. The Vishnu

Sahasranama Stotram

is no exception.

 

The necessity of cleansing our body regularly

to maintain our physical hygiene and good health is recognized by every

one.

But perhaps because we do

not "see" our mind the same way

as we see our body (i.e., as an externally visible entity),

the necessity of

keeping our minds clean is not as clearly recognized.

However,

those who

do not "cleanse" their mind on a regular basis become

"mentally" sick over a period of time, just as they become

physically sick if they do not cleanse their body on a regular

basis. Prayers are a means to mental

cleansing when they are chanted with sincerity and devotion.

This aspect of the usefulness of prayers in everyone's life is

common to all prayers.

 

The importance of Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram is that the deity being

worshiped is none other than Vasudeva (sri maha vishnuh paramatma

sriman narayano devata; saktir devaki nandanah; itidam kirtaniyasya

kesavasya mahatmanah namnam sahasram divyanam aseshena prakirtitam;

sahasram vasudevasya namnam etat prakirtayet,

etc.).

Sri Vyasa points out that

it is by the power and command of Vasudeva that the sun,

the moon, the stars, the world, and the oceans are

controlled (sa chandrarka nakshatra kham diso bhur mahodadhih vasudevasya

viryena vidhrtani mahatmanah). The whole universe of the Gods, Asuras,

Gandharvas,

etc., is under the sway of Lord Krishna (sasurasura gandharvam ....).

In Bhishma's expert judgment, chanting Vasudeva's name

with devotion and sincerity

will ensure relief from sorrows and

bondage. This in a nutshell is the phala sruti or the benefit of

chanting Sri Vishnu Sahasranamam.

 

Some have held the view that the phala

sruti need not be, or even should not be chanted, because they

somehow feel that it smacks of selfish desires.

This is not consistent

with the age-old practices of our ancestors.

It is true that the phala

sruti says that anything that is desired can be obtained

if the prayer is

sincere and offered with devotion.

However, it is up to those who seek benefits through prayers

that they should seek things that

elevate them in life rather than lower them. An example of the latter

type is the case of the evil king Ravana, who had prayed and obtained enormous

powers through his prayers to Lord Siva. In the end, he lost all he had

including himself by the misuse of his powers.

 

The phala sruti in

Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram was not just an add-on by someone trying to

popularize the Stotram, but is an integral part of the Mahabharata text.

Both Sri Sankara and Sri Parasara Bhatta have written commentaries to

the phala sruti slokas.

Thus, what is stated in the phala sruti has its authority from those

who are worthy of great respect from us, and who have found it fit to comment

and elaborate on the advice and information given to us through the phala

sruti.

 

Perhaps the most important of the benefits attained by one who

chants the Stotram with devotion and sincerity is the cleansing

of one's mind from all evil thoughts, and this is a very important

and desirable benefit since this is the first step towards achieving

pure happiness and absolute bliss.

Firmness of mind, good memory, happiness of the self (inner happiness),

and freedom from anger, jealousy, and greed, are some of the

benefits that accrue to one who recites the stotram with devotion

and eagerness. The key is the sincerity of purpose and devotion.

 

The person who chants or recites is not the only one who benefits.

Those

who for

whatever reason are unable to chant, benefit by just hearing the

chanting (ya idam srunuyan nityam ....).

 

Importance of Chanting

 

Some might say that they do not understand the meaning of the Sanskrit

words in the stotram

and therefore do not feel comfortable chanting

it.

Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswathi Swami has given us his guidance

on this issue in

one of his discourses.

He

advises us that learning the chanting of prayers

even without knowing the meaning is a worthwhile act,

and can be compared to finding a box of treasure without the key.

As long as we have the box,

we can open it

whenever we get the key of knowledge later, but the treasure will

be already there.

 

Some could feel that they do not know the correct

pronunciation, and so do

not want to chant incorrectly. H. J. Achar, in his

book "Sri Vishnu Sahasranama - A Study", H.J. Achar,

Sharada Press, Mangalore, 1972,

has given the analogy

of a mother to whom a child goes and asks for an orange.

The child does not know how to pronounce the word "orange", and so

asks for "ange". The mother does not turn away the child and does

not refuse to give the child the orange just because the child does

not know how to pronounce the word. It is the spirit or bhava that

matters, and so as long as one chants the name of God with

sincerity, considerations such as not knowing the meaning, not

knowing the pronunciation, etc., do not matter, and God who is the

Mother of all of us will confer His blessings on us.

 

The Final Word

Sage Vedavyasa concludes the Stotram with the assertion - twice stated -

that

there is no way a devotee of Vishnu

can meet with any dishonor or disgrace of any kind (na te yanti

parabhavam - ne te yanti parabhavam om nama iti).

 

If this is not worth

striving for, with as little investment as the mere chanting of

the thousand names of Vishnu with

sincerity, then nothing else is worth

striving for.

 

Harih Om

 

 

 

Those interested in more information may refer to the following

works.

 

"Sri Vishnu Sahasranama with the Bhashya of Sri Parasara Bhattar, with

Translation in English", A. Srinivasa Raghavan, Sri

Visishtadvaita Pracharini

Sabha, Madras, 1983.

 

"Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram", Keelathur Srinivasachariar,

The Little Flower Co., Madras, Reprinted 1981.

 

"Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram", C. V. Radhakrishna Sastri,

C. Venkatarama Sastri Trust, 1986.