SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 72 - Part 7.

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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 72 - mahA-ya~jnah.

 

682. mahA-ya~jnah - a) He Who is the best among those to be worshiped.

b) He Who manifests Himself in the form of the best of ya~jna-s.

c) He Who is worshiped by the great j~nAni-s, or He Who is

worshiped through great sacrifices.

 

Om mahA-ya~jnAya namah.

 

As in the previous nAma, the root from which ya~jna is derived is yaj-

deva pUjA sa'ngati karaNa yajana dAneshu - to sacrifice, to make an

oblation to, to give, to associate with, etc. The act of sacrifice, or

one who is worshipped through a sacrifice, are both referred to by the

term ya~jnah - yajanam ya~jnah, ijyate iti vA ya~njah (SrI satyadevo

vAsishTha).

 

a) SrI BhaTTar's interpretation for this nAma is "He Who is the best

among those to be worshiped". SrI v.v. rAmAnujan explains this

interpretation as follows: ya~jnam is bhagavad ArAdhanam; ya~jnah

is the object of this ArAdhanam; MahA-ya~jnah is the Most Superior

Object of bhagavad-ArAdhanam, or He Who is the best among those to be

worshiped. SrI BhaTTar points out that the term ya~jna includes such

ways of worship as singing suprabhAtam to emperumAn, respectful

approach, offering sweet things such as mixture of honey etc.,

prostrating at His Feet, etc. The best of ya~jna-s is when these are

offered to Him rather than any to other devatA. SrI BhaTTar points

out that worship of Lord vishNu is the best because "He protects His

devotees as if there were His own body" - rakshate bhagavAn vishNuh

bhaktAn Atma-SarIravat, "He accepts the rites performed by His devotees

with great joy and with a bowed head" - tAh sarvAh SirasA devah

prati-gRhNAti vai svayam (mahAbhArata moksh. 17.163), vidhi prayuktAm

pUjAm ca gRhNAti SirasA svayam (SAnti. 353.64), etc.

 

b) SrI Samkara gives the interpretation for the nAma as "He who

manifests Himself in the form of the Great Sacrifice", and gives the

support from the vibhUti yoga in gItA: "ya~jAnAm japa ya~jno'smi"

(gItA 10.25)- "Of sacrifices, I am the sacrifice of japa". SrI

rAdhAkRshNa SAstri observes that unlike kratu which is a sacrifice

performed with a specific benefit in mind, ya~jna is a sacrifice that

is done as part of one's duty, and is not done with a specific benefit

in mind. Among the ya~jna-s, the japa ya~jna (silently repeating a

sacred mantra) is declared as the best by bhagavAn in the referenced

gItA Slokam. The japa ya~jna can be performed easily, without

interruption, and with no accessory needed other than the desire to

perform this ya~na.

 

c) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the meaning "He Who is worshiped by

great ya~jna-s", or "He Who is worshiped by the great j~nAni-s" -

mahat yajanam yasya, mahadbhih ijyata iti vA).

 

The dharma cakram writer explains the spirit behind offering worship to

bhagavAn who is the mahA-ya~jnah (the personification of the ya~jna-s)

through five types of ya~jna-s that are expected of each one of us:

the bhUta ya~jna, the pitR ya~jna, the nara ya~jna, the Rshi ya~jna,

and the deva ya~jna. bhUta ya~jna involves our rendering service and

assistance to the life forms that are below our level. This involves

the protection of plants, trees, the four-legged animals, etc., all of

which are rendering service to us in various ways, and making our life

possible. The pitR ya~jna involves our devotion and service to our

elders, to our parents, etc., who have devoted their lives to bring us

up, educate us, and help us live the way we live, and thus made our

lives possible. The nara ya~jna involves service to our fellow humans

in the society, including how we treat others in our thought, word, and

deed. Without the help of the others in the society, we will not be

able to lead our lives, and in return, we owe the debt to society to

make it better by spreading good thoughts, good word, and good deed.

The Rshi ya~jna involves learning, chanting, protecting, and

propagating the mantra-s, veda-s, and the knowledge that the Rshi-s

have given us. This will lead to our acquiring the kind of knowledge

that they possessed, over time. The deva ya~jna involves our

worshipping Him with constant and uninterrupted devotion, which will

result in our attaining Him. The significant point to take from this

discussion is that we should perform all the above five types of

ya~jna-s with the full realization that these are all offerings to Him,

since He is the mahA ya~jnah who is worshiped by al these offerings.

They should be performed for His pleasure and not with any benefit for

us in mind, with the clear understanding that He is the Doer who is

just using us as the means for getting these done, etc.

 

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan

 

 

 

 

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