SVP - Chapter 1

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Srimathe Lakshmi Narasimha Parabramhane namaha:

Srimathe vedantha Desika Yathindra desikaya namaha:

Srimathe Lakshmi Narasimha divya paduka sevake

Sri Narayana Yathindra Maha Desikaya namahe:

 

Vishnu Puranam - Introduction:

 

Is there a supreme being? Who is this supreme Lord?

Who are we and what is our relation to the Lord? The

quest to answer these questions is an innate human

characteristics. The Vedas deal with these essential

questions (and many more non-essential questions)

in a comprehensive manner. However, for ordinary

people like you and me, it is an arduous task to

comprehend these rahasyas by reading the Vedas.

The recommended route for most of us is to gain this

knowledge by reading the Itihasas and puranas

instead, under the able guidance of a sadacharyan.

 

The puranas are 18 in number and are broadly classified

as satvika, rajasa and tamasa puranas. Our poorvacharyas

state that it is the satvika puranams that explicitly brings out

the paratatvam (the essentials). The Vishnu-puranam is

considered to the jewel among the satvika puranas (Sri

Alavandar call it the "purana-ratnam" in his Stotra-Ratnam).

Swami Desikan draws a number of parallels between the

"materialistic" jewel and this "puranic" jewel and concludes

saying, "just as an exquisite piece of jewelry attracts

attention to the one who posses it, similarly the vishnu-puranam

brings glory and fame to one who posses its knowledge."

 

This puranam is called Sri Vishnu Puranam since it glorifies

Sriman Narayana (Vishnu). It was composed by Parasara muni,

the grandson of sage Vashista and the father of sage Vaysa.

Yamuna Muni (Allavandar) in his stotra ratnam eulogizes

parasara muni for unambiguous expounding the tatva-traya

(namely chit, achit and Iswara) so generously expounding the

various rahasyas that jeevatmas need to know for their welfare

here and hereafter in his composition "Sri Vishnu Puranam".

Sri Vishnu Puranam is divided into six "amsas" or sections

and each amsa has numerous chapters. The first chapter in

section one talks about how this puranam was composed.

 

Section 1: Chapter 1:

 

One fine morning sage Maitreya after completing his nitya

anusthanam and making sure his acharyan also has completed

the nitya-anushtanam, approaches his acharyan, sage Parasara,

with the intent of learning the "paramartha tattuvam".

 

Maitreya: (with all humility) Gurudeva! By your divine grace

adiyEn has learnt the vedas and the shastras. Now a few questions

have risen in adiyEn's mind that devarir should kindly address.

 

What were these questions and how did sage Parasara address

them?? To learn more, stay tuned for the next few posts on

"Vishnu Puranam".

 

adiyEn rAmAnuja dAsan

Ramesh Sarangapani