Vishnu Sahasranama Stanza 15

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Om Namo Narayanaya!!

 

 

 

lokaadhyakshah suraadhyaksho dharmaadhyakshah krita-akritah

chaturaatmaa chaturvyoohas- chatur-damshtras-chatur-bhujah.

 

 

 

 

 

133. Lokaadhyakshah –One who presides over all fields of experiences

-all lokas. President is one who is responsible for the conduct of the

assembly; he guides the discussion in a disciplined manner, and

ultimately at the end of it all, he dissolves the meeting. All through

the discussions he never interferes with the freedom of speech and

action of the members, if they act within the agenda of the day.

Similarly, the Lord presides over all the fields of activities, never

interfering with the freedom of the individuals to act. " The Supreme

Purusha in this body is also called the spectator, the permitter, the

supporter, the enjoyer, the great Lord, and the Supreme Self. " From

the Puranic standpoint the Lord in His Vaamana manifestation was

installed as the king of the three worlds and, therefore, this name, say

the Pauraanikas. Sri Sankara says: He who witnesses the whole universe.

That is, one who sees all is as involved in Pradhana or Prakriti.

 

134. Suraadhyakshah -The President of the Heavens to whom the Devas run

for protection when they are threatened by their constant enemies -the

Daityas and the Asuras. When in the Heaven of our bosom, the

thought-angels are threatened by the negative tendencies and criminal

purposes, He to whom the good in us surrender totally for sure

protection and safety is Vishnu, the President within the bosom. Sri

Sankara: One who is the overlord protecting Divinities of all regions.

 

135. Dharmaadhyakshah -Presiding over the activities of the living

organisms, Consciousness revels, illumining both the good and the evil

therein. The One Sacred factor that constantly thus illumines all the

nature and functions (Dharma) of the body, mind and intellect is the

Dharmaa- dhyakshah, Lord Vishnu. Sri Sankara: One who directly sees the

merits [Dharma] and demerits [adharma] of beings by bestowing their due

rewards on the beings.

 

136. Kritaakritah -Kritam = that which is done = that which is

manifested or created Akritam, therefore, is that which has not

manifested or become. The former (Kritam) indicates all the

" effects " manifested out of the Creator's activities, and

the latter (Akritam) is the " cause " from which no manifestation

has yet emerged -it is still unmanifest. The Self, the Atman, is the

`Post' -in the ghost-in-the-post example -upon which the cause

and the effect, the unmanifest and the manifest, like the

" ghost " apparently come to play (Kritam = Vyaktam, A-Kritam =

A-Vyaktam).

 

a) The grantor of fruits that are this-worldly as well as those that are

eternal.

b) One who is both the cause and effect of all things.

c) One who has a form which is nitya or permanent, as well as transient

forms.

 

SrI Sankara interprets kRta as effect (kArya rUpa) and akRta as cause

(kAraNa rUpa), and thus he interprets this nAma as symbolizing that

bhagavAn is both cause and effect of all things. KRtam is vyaktam (that

is manifested), and akRtam is unmanifested or avyaktam. Or, the nAma can

mean that bhagavAn appears with a form that is akRtam or nityam in

nature, and also in forms which remain only for a limited time (kRtam).

 

A third interpretation is that He gives benefits which are this-worldly

(kRtam), as well as eternal (akRtam), and so He is kRtAkRta.

 

137. Chaturaatmaa -The Self is described as four-fold when we consider

the Atman as the Glory (Vibhooti) of the Self. Thus, the Essential

factors, with which alone the endless play of creation, sustenance and

destruction can continue, are the glories of the Self (Aatma-Vibhooti).

In Vishnu Purana, four distinct vibhooties of the Lord -when He

functions as the creator, sustainer and destroyer -are found enumerated.

From the standpoint of a Vedantic student, since in the Non-dual Reality

there cannot be anything other than It- self, all the plays of the

gross, the subtle and causal bodies, in the microcosm and in the

macrocosm, are the glories (vibhooties) of the One Self. In the

Absolute, in the Eternal, all these are transcended; these- the waker,

dreamer, deep-sleeper, the Tureeya -are all Its Glories. The Possessor

of these Glories is the One that transcends even " Tureeya " ; He

is called as the Tureeyaateetah.

 

Another explanation for this is the Self has control over the four-fold

nature - the wakeful state, the state of dreams, dreamless deep sleep,

and turIya state where even the breath is suspended. These involve the

external senses, the mind, breath, and suspended breath. These are also

the four stages of development which a worshipper who meditates upon the

Lord goes through.

 

SrI Sankara interprets the nAma as signifying that bhagavAn expresses

His energies in four forms in each of His acts of creation, protection,

and dissolution. He quotes the following sloka in vishNu purANa -

 

brahmA dakshAdayah kAlas_tathaivAkhila jantavah | vibhUtayo hareretA

jagatah sRshti_hetavah || vishNur_manvAdayah kAlah sarva_bhUtAni ca

dvija | stither_nimitta_bhUtasya vishNoretA vibhUtayah || rudrah

kAlotankAdyASca samastAScaiva jantavah | caturdhA pralayAyaitA

janArdana-vibhUtayah ||

 

Brahma, Prajapatis like Daksha, Kala and Jivas-these are the powers of

Vishnu for creation. Vishnu, Manus, Kala and the living beings-these are

the powers of Vishnu for sustentation. Rudra, Time, death and the living

beings-these are the Visnus's power for the purpose of dissolution.

 

138. Chaturvyoohah -One who manifests into the four mighty powers

(Vyooha). The Truth, that plays thus Himself in these four levels having

apparently created the world of experiences, is Vishnu, the

All-Pervading. According to the Vaishnava literature, for the purpose of

creation, Maha Vishnu Himself became four mighty powers (Vyooha) and

they were called Vaasudeva, Samkarshana, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. One

who has Himself these four mighty powers, necessary for the conduct of

plurality, is the Great Self, Maha Vishnu. vyUha refers to a form that

has a purpose associated with it. pradyumna is for " padaippu " or

creation; samkarshaNa is for samhAra or destruction; aniruddha is for

protection; vAsudeva is the overall leader of these three forms.

Pradyumna, the one in charge of creation, is endowed with the leadership

of aisvarya and vIrya. pra-dymna means one who has enormous vIrya in His

responsibility of creation. aniruddha, in charge of protection, is

endowed with immeasurable Sakti and tejas. a-niruddha means One who

cannot be obstructed in His function of protection. SamkarshaNa is

endowed with enormous ~jnAnam and balam. Sam-karshaNa means one who

attracts (note AkarshaNa - attraction) or draws everything towards Him

and makes them draw into Him during the pralaya or great destruction.

VAsudeva is the form endowed with all the six qualities and is the

Supreme parabrahman.

 

139. Chatur-Damshtrah -The canine teeth fully developed in the upper and

the lower rows, as in the case of carnivorous animals, are called in

Sanskrit as Damshtraa. This is reminiscent of the Powerful Damshtraa of

the Lord when He took the form of Nara-Simha to protect Prahlaada.

 

Also in the Puranas we find that the Great white Elephant of Indra,

" Airaavata, " has four tusks -He whose glory is the four-tusked

Airaavata is Maha- Vishnu. To the student of the Upanishad, it is indeed

very clear that these four `tusks' or `teeth' are

nothing other than the four paadas which Mandukya thunders

- " Chatushpaada " . The manifestation of the Might and Glory of the

Supreme are the play of the waking, dream and deep-sleep conditions.

With reference to these three, transcending them all, is the fourth

plane-of-consciousness the Springboard for all these three. He, whose

Glory are all these four grinding, crushing, fearful experiences of

duality, is the One Non-dual Self, the Great Maha Vishnu.

 

140. Chaturbhujah – " One who has four hands " . It is famous

that Maha Vishnu has four hands and they carry the Conch, the Discus,

the Mace, and the Lotus. According to the Puranas, these four are used

by the Lord in maintaining Dharma among mankind. The `Conch'

calls man to the righteous path that directly leads to Peace and

Perfection, the Divine Vishnupada. Very many of us in the enchantment of

the immediate sense-joys refuse to listen to the small inner voice of

conscience, the sound of the Paanchajanya-conch, and so He wields the

`Mace' and we come to suffer small calamities and tragic jerks

in our smooth existence -communal, social or national. If still the

individual is not listening to the call of the `Conch', the

wheel-of-time, Chakra annihilates the entire. The call and the

punishment are all only to take man towards his Ultimate Goal,

represented by the " Lotus " in His hand. Subjectively Vishnu is

the Self within, who manifests as the four-armed `subtle-body'

to serve as the Eesa of the gross physical structure, in all its actions

and protect it with existence. The " Subtle-body " as the

inner-equipment (Antah-Karana) functions as four mighty powers -mind,

intellect, chit and ego. Chit is the `Lotus', intellect is the

`Conch', ego is the `Mace', and mind is the

`Discus'. All these four are wielded by the One Infinite

Blue-bodied Narayana, clothed in His `yellow garb', manifesting

to maintain and sustain the world of good and evil. Since the Self

functions thus in a four-fold pattern, Vishnu has the appellation,

" the four-armed Lord. "

 

 

 

Krishnarpanamastu!!