Vishnu Sahasranama Sloka 3

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Om Namo Narayanaya!

yogo yoga-vidaam netaa pradhaana-purushesvarah

naarasimha- vapuh sreemaan kesavah purushottamah

 

Nama 18:

Yogah -The one who is to be known or realized through yoga. By

withdrawing the sense organs from their objects of preoccupation,

when the mind of the seeker becomes quietened, he is lifted to a

higher plane-of-consciousness, wherein he attains " yoga " ,

meaning

wherein he realizes the Reality. At such moments of equanimity and

mental quiet " yoga " is gained: Samatvam yoga uchyate- (Geeta

Ch. 2,

St. 48). Since He is experienced through Yoga He is known as Yogah.

Sri Sankara uses the meaning `union' or `oneness' for

the

term `yoga', and gives an interpretation that supports the

Advaita

concept that the individual soul and the Supreme Soul are not

different from each other. He notes that yoga is the process of

controlling the senses and the mind, and realizing this

" oneness " ,

and He is called yogah because He is to be reached by means of yoga

as described here (in other words, by attaining this knowledge of

oneness).

SrI BhaTTar uses the meaning `upAya' or `means' for

the

term `yoga'. His interpretation for the nAma is that

bhagavAn is

the sole means or upAya for mukti (salvation) – asyaiva

nirupAdhika

mukti upAyatvamapi vakti – yogah – He alone is the natural

and

independent means for salvation. He further comments – sa

sAyujyasya ananyApekshah sAkshAt hetuh ityarthah – The meaning is

that He is the immediate cause of salvation, and does not stand in

need of the help of anything else.

He gives support the brahma sUtra and from the gItA:

t ad-hetu-vyapadeSAc-ca (brahma sUtra 1.1.15) – He is the cause

of

the Bliss that all souls enjoy. – esha hveya AnandayAti (

(taitt.

Ananda. 2.7.1)

aham tvA sarva pApebhyo mokshayishyAmi (gItA 18.66) – " I will

release you from all sins " .

 

Nama 19:

Yoga-vidaam netaa –One who guides all the activities of all men

`who

knows yoga' (Yogaviti) .To all men of realization, He who is the

Ideal, is the Supreme Lord. Just as our activities are today ordered

by our selfishness and individuality, the Ideal that commands and

orders all activities in the bosom of a Man of Realization is his

God-Consciousness. This realm of experience is Mahaa Vishnu. In the

Geeta also we find the same idea expressed, in the language of

emotion, when the Lord says: " Those who contemplate upon Me with

total dedication, their daily welfare and spiritual progress I shall

bear " .

From Sankara BhAshya, a yoga-vit is one who inquires into, realizes,

or acquires yoga - yogam vidanti, vicArayanti, jAnanti, labhanta iti

vA yoga vidah.

Nayati iti netA - one who leads .

In Gita, Sri Krishna says:

" ananyAs-cintayanto mAm ye janAh paryupAsate|

teshAm nityAbhiyuktAnAm yoga-keshemam vahAmyaham|| (Gita - 9-22)

" On those who meditate on me with single-minded devotion, those

that want to be with Me unceasingly, I confer on them the Bliss of

union (yoga) with Me constantly and never returning back to samsAra

again (the safety or kshema) "

 

Nama 20:

Pradhaana-purusha-eesvarah -Lord of both Pradhaana and Purusha. The

term Pradhaana means `maayaa'-the total cause for the entire

universe of forms. Purusha indicates the individuality in each one

of us-the Jeeva. Lord Eesvara means the Master (Eeshte iti

Eesvarah). The Lord of Maayaa and Jeeva means the one who makes both

these possible to exist and function. The One Infinite Reality which

Itself manifests as Maayaa, Jeeva and Eesvara is the Essence in

Vishnu.

Chapter 13 in the Bhagavad Gita deals elaborately with the concepts

of prakrti and jIvAtmA and their interrelationship to each other. In

sloka 19 of chapter 13, BhagavAn points out that both prakrti and

purusha have always existed, and this nAma indicates that He is the

Lord and Master of both. " prakrtim purusham caiva vidyanAdau

ubhAvapi " .

 

Nama 21:

Naarasimha-vapuh -One whose form is half human and half lion. This

is the famous fourth incarnation of Lord Vishnu which He took in

order to destroy the atheistic tyrant Hiranyakasipu and bless his

devotee, Prahlaada.

SrI BhaTTar captures several thoughts about this incarnation of

bhagavAn in one sentence in his commentary: sva-bhaktyantarAya

nivAraNam bhkata-bhayApaha tadapekshA samakshaNa pratipannayathA

kAma divya mahA-nRsimha samhananh.

 

1. This incarnation shows a removal of impediments to devotion to

Him.

2. He takes incarnations at will.

3. His incarnations are divine.

4. They remove the fear of His devotees.

5. The incarnations are assumed the moment the request is made.

 

SrI rAdhA kRshNa SAstri elaborates on these, and add his own

anubhava-s. Among his additional thoughts are:

 

6. This incarnation shows that when it comes to bhagavAn,

our " normal " rationalization should not be applied to anything

associated with Him. For instance, we know that man is the best

evolved species in the thinking capability (brain power). Similarly,

lion is the most evolved in physical strength. Its strength is

located in its body and its powerful nails. So, in order to destroy

a powerful asura such as hiraNya kaSipu, it would have made a lot

more sense if bhagavAn had taken a form with the head of a human

being (with the associated highly evolved brain), and the body of a

lion (the most evolved with respect to physical strength). BhagavAn

does exactly the opposite - the head of a lion, and the body of a

human being. This is a simple illustration of the point that He is

beyond our capabilities of analysis.

 

BhagavAn does whatever it takes to fulfill the request of His

devotee, irrespective of whether it shows Him in the best light or

not. ANDAL refers to His varAha incarnation as " mAnam ilAp panRi " -

the shameless boar with dirt dripping from all over its body, to go

after another rAkshasa, hiraNyAksha, the brother of hiraNyakaSipu.

 

7. Anyone who observes a scene of an asura being torn to pieces with

its nails by a lion-faced form with a human body will be terror-

stricken. And yet, we see prahlAda standing in great reverence,

unperturbed, and pleased at having the divya darSanam of the Lord.

But seeing the same form, hiraNya kaSipu was terror-stricken as the

half-man-half-lion form emerged from the pillar. Thus, at the same

time, with the same form, bhagavAn was pleasing to the eye of the

devotee, and causing terror to the devotee's enemy. This is another

revelation of the greatness of bhagavAn – that simultaneously He

is

endowed with all opposites at the same time.

 

8. In addition to the aspect of His being able to induce fear or

love at the same time, there is the beauty aspect to His form of

half-man half-lion. Just for a moment, think of some human form with

the head of a lion appearing in front of us, and imagine the

aversion that this sight will induce in us. Not so with Lord

nRsimha. He was absolutely beautiful in this form, as SrI BhaTTar

elaborates in the next nAma – SrImAn – because He is always

associated with SrI or Lakshmi. tirumazhiSai AzhvAr describes His

beauty as " ari po'ngik kATTum azhagu (nAnmugan tiru. 21)

– The

beauty of nRsimha form looked like beauty bubbling and spilling over

because it can't be contained anywhere.

9. In normal course of life, something that came from breaking a

jaDa form such as the pillar should be expected to be another piece

of the same jaDa form. One should expect a live form to be

originating only from another life form. Here relating to Him, we

should not be applying normal logic as we are used to do.

 

10. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha does not support the interpretation that

bhagavAn had an actual mixed body consisting of some aspects of man

and some aspects of lion. Instead, he suggests that the nAma means

that He took a normal form that possessed the best aspects such as

the strength of a lion, and the best aspects of man such as the

ability to think. He sees in this nAma the illustration that neither

karma alone, nor j~nAna alone, are sufficient in the fulfillment of

any undertaking, and that both are needed. He quotes from the Srtuti-

s in support:

idam me brahma ca kshatram ca ubhe Sriyam aSnutAm (yajur. 32.16)

 

yatra brahma ca kshatram ca samya'ncou caratah saha |

tam lokam puNyam pra~jnesham yatra devAh sahagninA || (yajur. 20.25)

 

As a lesson to take from this nAma, SrI vAsishTha makes the point

that whatever action one undertakes, this should be done after fully

analyzing and understanding the consequences associated with this

action. One can also extrapolate from this the thought that it is

not enough to have the ability to use force, but also along with

that, one should know how to use this force, when to use this force,

etc., in order for the force to have beneficial effects.

 

Nama 22:

Sreemaan -One who is always with Sree. Mother Sree is Mother

Lakshmi. In the Puranic terminology Lakshmi stands for all powers,

all faculties. The total manifested power potential in the

Omnipotent is Lakshmi. These powers are ever in Him and therefore,

He is the Sreemaan.

Sri Sankara interprets this name as One who has Lakshmi always with

Him in His vaksha-sthala - yasya vakshasi nityam vasati srI: sa

srImAn. And for this reason, even though He has the form of a man-

lion, there is no diminution in His beauty.

 

Nama 23:

Keshavah -He who has beautiful and graceful (Va) locks of hair

(Kesa) is familiar as in Lord Krishna's form. Or, it can also

mean,

one who destroyed the demon Kesin who was sent to destroy the child-

Krishna by his uncle Kamsa. This interpretation is endorsed by the

Vishnu Purana, 5.16.23.

One with lovely locks of hair. The name can be derived from the word

kesa - hair. He is beautiful not only because he has Lakshmi with

Him, but because He is naturally beautiful. " prasastah kesAh santu

asya iti kesavah.

" yasmAt tvayaiva drshTAtmA hatah kesI janArdana: |

tasmAt kesava nAmnA tvam loke jneyo bhavishyati || "

 

Nama 24:

Purushottamah -The constitution of the individuality, Jeeva, when

analysed, we find that it is made up of both the perishable-matter

and the Imperishable-Spirit. The Spirit expressing through matter is

the individuality, Jeeva. Reflected moon is the moon of the heavens

dancing on the surface of water. Just as the moon is something

different from its reflections and the water surfaces, so too the

Self is, in its transcendental nature, something different from

matter, the perishable, and Spirit, the Imperishable, ever playing

in matter. This Transcendental Truth is indicated by the term the

Supreme Purusha (Purushottama).

The Supreme amongst the purushas (i.e., individual souls).

Purushebhya: uttama:, purushANAm uttama:, purusheshu uttama: are all

possible derivations for this nAma.

We find the uttama purusha (purushottama) described in more detail

in the Gita in sloka 15.16 and 15.17. Here the purushas are

described as of two kinds - the kshara or those who have the

association with prakrti and are under the bondage of samasara, and

the akshara or the muktas who are released from bondage. The uttama

purusha is different from either of these kinds of purushas, and is

the paramAtmA who supports the acetana and the chetans who are

either the baddhas (purushas under bondage) or muktas (purushas

released from bondage).

In Gita 15-18, Lord Krishna summarizes the above as follows:

" yasmAt ksharam atIto'ham aksharAdapi cottama: |

ato'smi loke vede ca pratithah purushottama: ||

" Because I am superior to both kinds of purushas - the kshara and

the akshara, all the srutis and smrtis praise Me as purushottama. "

Krishnarpanamastu!