Glory of ' SUDHARSANA '

August 19, 2005

Hare Krishna,

Glory of ‘ Sudharsana’

Lord Vishnu (Krishna) as the Supreme God and protector of the universe has been saving both Devas and human beings, by destroying innumerable Demons. We all know that , the merciful Lord has taken several incarnations, to establish Dharma (righteousness) in this world. But, we know only the famous Dasavatars . Vishnu performed all His pastimes while lying in

yogic-sleep on the serpent bed ( ‘Adisesha’ ), in the milky ocean.

Vishnu is the Lord of Maya Shakthy . He has many divine weapons, but only five have become famous . His Conch is called ‘Panchajanya’ , Sharangam is the bow, Koumodhaki is the mace, Nandhakam is the sword and the great ‘ Sudharsana’ is the disc. These are the five weapons which became famous and they are adored in the Vishnu temples . Out of all these weapons , the Sudharsana disc has a special importance. The reason is that, Lord Vishnu has combined His own power with the terrible fire power of His manifestation Lord Siva, to develop the Sudarsana .

The divine ‘Sudharsana’ is always with Lord Vishnu to help Him eradicate evil forces and to protect the Lord’s devotees. It has the potentialities of both Vishnu and Siva .

‘Sudharsana’ has great compassion and love towards Vaishnavas and blesses them with Gyana, Wealth and Power. His crucial contributions in the incarnations of Lord Vishnu is indescribable. When Lord Vishnu took the avatara of Varaha, Sudharsana became Vishnu’s great uncouth teeth to destroy the Asuras and using that teeth, Vishnu lifted the world from the bottom of sea. During the avatara of Narasimha, Sudharsana became the sharp nails of Vishnu to help to kill Hiranyakasipu . During Krishna avatara, the Lord used Sudharsana to kill Sisupala . In the Parasurama avatara, Sudharsana acted in the main weapon (Parasu) of the Lord. During Vamana avatara, Sudharsana stayed on the edge of ‘dharbha grass’ to defeat the efforts of Sukracharya who took the form of a bee to block the kamandala hole to prevent King Mahabali from giving the promised three feet land to Vishnu. By embedding himself on the edge of the dharbha grass, Sudharsana not only enabled the flow of water from the kamandala but also in the process pierced the eyes of Sukracharya. Crowning all these, during the Rama avatar of Vishnu, Sudharsana became Sri Rama’s younger brother Bharata .

It will be interesting to note that, in Mahabharatha war, when Arjuna was injured by the valiant Bhishma, an enraged Krishna jumped from the chariot and pulled out it’s wheel . Immediately, Sudharsana entered that Chariot-wheel in Krishna’s hand and moved towards Bhishma to kill him. Then Bhishma humbly reminded

Krishna “Hey Bhagavan, Hey Madhava, just to protect Your devotees Pandavas, you have forgotten even Your vow of not taking any weapon in this war. I must be grateful to you, if I lose my life from your hands'. Then hearing to the desperate pleadings from Arjuna (assuring that he will fight and Krishna should not violate His vow to harm Bhishma ) , Krishna cooled down.

In this way, Sudharsana has a vital role in all the incarnations of, Lord Vishnu. Naturally the Vaishnavas. who are the devotees of Lord Vishnu, worship the Lord’s beloved weapon ‘ Sudhasana’ with great reverence. One can see a separate shrine for Sudharsana in many Vaishnava temples. In praise of ‘Sudharsana’, there is a hymn 'Sudharsana Ashtakam' which when recited with devotion will bestow all prosperity and remove evil-effects. ( Please see the attachment) . By reciting this mantra one will get rid of problems from enemies, penury, diseases etc.

Sudharsana Homa is considered to be the most effective ritual to achieve prosperity and to remove all types of evil effects. One can also see the plates containing Sudharsana mantra adoring many shops and other places to ward off all ill effects.

Om Namo Narayanaya !!!

Your servant.

Note – The above is excerpt of an article written by Shri. Ganapathy Raman.

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