Vishnu Sahasranamam Stanza 18

May 14, 2006

Om Namo Narayanaya!!

vedyo vaidyah sadaa-yogee veerahaa maadhavo madhuhati-indriyo mahaamaayo mahotsaaho mahaabalah.

163. Vedyah -That which is to be known; in the language of the Geeta, it is Jneyam. That final knowledge, knowing which every-thing becomes known. "Kasmin nu bhagavo vijnaate sarvamidam vijnaatam bhavati iti"-(Mundaka. 1-3). Sri Sankara: One is known by those who aspire for moksha.

All sciences are investigations into Truth after observing the nature and behaviour of things and beings when the investigator moves ahead seeking the ONE Harmonious Chord of Reality that holds all phenomena in its inescapable love-web, the scientist of Truth-comes to reject first the gross, and soon thereafter the subtle realms, and ultimately even the causal factors, and thus-comes to apprehend this harmony, which he is seeking as the very subjective core of his own Self. This final Goal to be realized, "having known which everything else becomes known," the One Consummate Knowledge to be gained (Vedyah), is the Self, the Great Vishnu.

164. Vaidyah -The One Supreme Doctor who alone can minister to the world suffering from ego and egocentric misconceptions. One who is a master of all knowledge (Vidyaa) is also termed as Vaidvah. Sri Sankara: One who knows all vidyas or branches of knowledge. SrI Bhattar points out that He knows the vidyA of releasing His devotees from the cycle of rebirth, and so He is vaidya.

165. Sadaa Yogee -To the confused and the deluded, to detach themselves from the false vestures-of-matter and to seek their identity with the ETERNAL Self is called Yoga. All attempts in attaining an at-one-ment with the Self is called Yoga. The Goal, the Self, therefore, in the language of the seeker must be Sadaayoga-ever-in yoga. Another explanation for this nAma is that bhagavAn is always attainable, and so He is sada-yogI. The vyAkhyAna in dharma cakram (whose author is not identified) points out that people live one of three ways of life - a rogi, a bhogi, or a yogi. Of these, the life of a yogi (who spends his life by diverting his senses away from sense-enjoyment and towards the parama-purusha) is the one that leads to peace of mind and bodily health. The yogic state of mind is naturally attained by one who devotes one's mind to the worship of the Lord, the sadA-yogi.

166. Veerahaa –"He who destroys the mighty heroes". The powerful men of strength and valour when they grow in their audacity to become tyrants, the Lord manifests to destroy such Raakshasas and thus protects the Dharma and the Good.

167. Maadhavah -Earlier this term was used (72) where we interpreted the term as the "Lord of Lakshmi." Maa means not only "Lakshmi," but she is also "Vidyaa" (Knowledge). The Lord (Dhava) of all Knowledge (Maa) is Maadhava.

He who helps introspection and meditation in the seeker is Maadhava. "To become conscious of the existence of a thing" is called the knowledge of the thing, The Aatman, the Self is Existence (Sat) and Consciousness (Sphurana) and, therefore, Lord Vishnu, the Self is the source of all knowledge and as such the Master of all Vidyaas: (Maa-dhava), Harivamsa saysMa vidya HAreh prokta tasya iso yato bhavan | tasman madhava-namasi dhavah svam iti sabditah || The vidya of hari is denoted by ma. Thou are the master of that vidya. So thou hast got the name Madhava. For the suffix dhava means Master".

168. Madhuh -The term Madhuh familiarly stands for "honey". It is also a term to indicate "nectar." One who generates Nectarine Bliss in the hearts of His devotees is called Madhuh. The springtime in India is called as Madhumaasa since spring is the season of flowers; full of honey for the bees, and joy for man. The month called Madhu (March- April) is the Chaitra month which is considered specially auspicious for prayers, and meditation. One who is of the nature of the Maadhava-maasa, the month of Maadhava (April-May) can also be the suggestion in this term. He is madhu because He creates Nectarine Bliss in the hearts of His devotees. He causes great satisfaction, like honey. We have from bRhadAraNya upanishad - ayamAtmA sarveshAm bhUtAnAm madhu - 2.5.14. The commentator in dharma cakram points out that madhu or honey is unique among all the edibles that when consumed, all of it is digested into the system with no waste products. He also points out that madhu is unique in that there is no ill-effect that results from its consumption, unlike some of the other edibles where an excessive consumption will lead to harmful effects. In our context, bhagavAn is the knowledge that is madhu, from which only good can result.

SrI Bhattar interprets the next several nAmas as descriptive of the six celestial qualities of bhagavAn - ~jnAna, bala, aiSvarya, vIrya, Sakti, and tejas.

169. Ateendriyah -One who is beyond the sense-organs not only in the sense, that the sense-organs cannot perceive Him as their `object' but also in the sense that He is other than the sense-organs and their functions. Lending to them, all their very vitality, is His mere presence! He is the very `subject' in the perceiver, and, therefore, the instruments of perceptions, emotions, and thoughts cannot experience Him: this Source of All-life is Maha Vishnu. Kathopanishad (3-15) says: "He is soundless, untouched, formless, immutable, so without taste, eternal, smell-less. He is also not seen by the indriya-s because He is not anywhere outside where the senses can sense Him, but is inside each of us in the cavity of our hearts where the senses cannot reach, the size of a thumb - angusTha mAtrena.

170. Mahaamaayah -One who is the Supreme Master of all Maayaa. He is the very Substratum upon which all the plurality spring up and play their infinite enchantments, constantly basking in the Light of the Supreme Consciousness. Aatman, the Self, is untouched by the play of Maayaa, and yet the Maayaa-play is sustained only by the exuberant warmth of His Divine presence. The Sun is the Master of all clouds, inasmuch as, in its presence, borrowing its heat, water by its own nature gets evaporated, and the water, vapour again, because of its own nature of a lesser density than the atmospheric air, rises to the higher altitudes and gathers there as clouds. It is, again, the nature of the atmosphere that at higher altitudes it is cooler and the water-vapour so cooled becomes water again, and due to the higher density of water it descends as rain. In this example the Sun can be called as the "Creator" of all clouds and the "Cause for the rains," and consequently the sun is also the "Master of the Seasons." And yet, the Sun is uncontaminated by all these phenomena that are happening in its presence.

In the same fashion the Infinite Reality, Vishnu, is indicated here as the Great Magician, who has the magic of Maayaa at His command. Krishna Himself confesses in the Geeta: "Very difficult indeed it is to cross over My Maayaa" -(Geeta Ch. 7 St. 14).

SrI Bhattar points out that this nAma signifies that He conceals Himself from those who are not devoted to Him through His power of enchantment.

171. Mahotsaahah -The Great Enthusiast; the Ever-Dynamic Accomplisher. The Powers of creation, of sustenance and of annihilation-in their totality is the world of birth and death that we live in. This wonderful world cannot be sustained without the endless enthusiasm of this Mighty Power. Looking at the ocean, through the waves, we come to recognise the ocean as the "Sleepless Agitator"; similarly, looking at Vishnu, "through the ephimeral kaleidoscopic changes in the patterns of life available to us in our experience today, we call Him as the "Dynamic accomplisher" (Mahotsaahah). The term employed here, the Enthusiastic Accomplisher, is indeed one of the most appropriate names for Maha Vishnu.

The word utsAhah traditionally means enthusiasm. The commentator in dharma cakram points out that of the three qualities, the rajas, tamas, and satva bhAva-s, actions that are done with enthusiasm and that benefit the rest of mankind are those that are done by those with the satva disposition. The actions by these are the ones that continue successfully, with full benefits to His subjects. It is good to remind ourselves in this context that He is pure Satva, and one way of offering worship to Him is to follow this model and lead a sAtvic life ourselves.

172. Mahaabalah -One who has Supreme Strength. He, being Omnipotent, is the Source of all Strength that we see in each individual organism in life. His Vitality reflected in each of us, is our individual strength; naturally He is the Infinitely Strong, Mahaabalah.

Krishnarpanamastu!