Vishnu Sahasranama Stanza 21

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Om Namo Narayanaya!!

 

mareechir-damano hamsah suparno bhujagottamah

hiranyanaabhah sutapaah padmanaabhah prajaapatih.

 

 

 

189. Mareechih -The term Mareechih means `Effulgence'.

Consciousness illumines objects and therefore in terms of worldly

knowledge the Upanishads declare that the Supreme is the Light-Infinite.

In the Geeta we read Bhagavan, Vaasudeva declaring: " Tejas

tejasvinam aham - I am the Light in all effulgents " -(Geeta Ch. 10,

St. 36) [sri Sankara]. The word marIci also means a ray of light. SrI

Bhattar interprets this name as indicating that bhagavAn reveals Himself

to His devotees through the eye of their devotion even though they can't

see Him through their natural eye. The author in dharma cakram indicates

that this guNa of bhagavAn should remind us that we should aim for the

ray of light that will help us meditate on Him. This we can achieve by

first controlling our indirya-s, which then converts the body's energies

into mental energy. Then by control of the mind, this energy is

converted into the light that gives the clarity of mind that can help us

meditate on Him.

 

190. Damanah -One who restrains and controls every Raakshasic impulse

within the bosom. In the forms of the ten incarnations, He had

controlled the irresistible tyrannies of the vicious against the good.

In the form of pain and agitation, sorrow and death, it is He, who is

the Controller, Damanah, of all negative tendencies in everyone's

Heart.

 

The word is derived from the dhAtu - dam upaSame = to tame. damayati

iti damanah - One who dispels.

 

SrI Sankara interprets the nAma as " The Subduer " - One Who

controls and punishes those that swerve from their assigned duties

(damayitum Seelam yasya sa damanah). This could be in the form of a king

while the people are in their mortal bodies, as yama after they die,

etc. SrI cinmayAnanda explains that the damana aspect of bhagavAn is

responsible for controlling the rAkshasic impulses within every one of

us. In the form of pain and agitation, sorrow and death, it is He who

controls all the negative tendencies in everyone's heart. He also has

controlled the vicious against the good in the form of His ten

incarnations.

 

Continuing his interpretation of the previous nAma (One with great

radiance), Sri Bhattar interprets this nAma as indicating that He is the

" dispeller of the samsAra bhAram " . He guides His devotees

overcome the sufferings of samsAra or the material world through His

guiding Light – kAnti mandAkinIbhih bhava-tApam daayati iti damanah

 

SrI vAsishTha interprets the nAma as " One Who controls everything in

this world by pervading everything and keeping things in order "

– damayati – upaSamayati yathA sthAnam prApayati, damana

dharmeNa viSvam sa-carAcaram vyApnoti, iti damanah.

 

The author in dharma cakram points out that when one does not lead a

life based on strict sAttvic principles, including the food habits,

etc., one gets diseases and other mental pains. These are all acts of

bhagavAn to discipline the person with the intent of helping the person

learn and realize the right path. This is His act of damana, or

controlling, punishing, guiding, etc.

 

191. Hamsah -One of the great declarations of the Vedas is: " I am

Brahman " (Aham Brahmaasmi). Here the term I, the first person

singular used, denotes the supreme Self functioning through the

conditionings. This individual concept is called jeeva. Thus I, the

Jeeva (Aham), once detached from the conditionings, is essentially

nothing other than He, the Lord (Sah). This experience that Aham is Sah

is the very God-consciousness and therefore, Vishnu, the Supreme State

of Realization is declared as Hamsah. The interpretation, given by SrI

Sankara, is that hamsah indicates that bhagavAn kills (han) the fear of

samsAra in those who realize that aham sah - I am He.

 

Hamsa is capable of separating milk from water and drinking only the

milk and leaving the water behind. Hamsa is also noted for its beauty,

especially for its walk. BhagavAn is hamsa in that He is everything that

is good and nothing that is not good. He is also hamsa for His beauty in

thought, word, and deed.

 

192. Suparnah -Parna means wings; Suparna means that which has beautiful

wings-bird. " A pair of white- winged birds extremely friendly sit on

one and the same tree; one eats the fruits, the other eats not and gazes

on " . Thus traditionally in the Upanishads, the Suparnas suggest the

Jeevaatmaa and the Paramaatmaa sitting on the same tree (body): one

(Jeeva) eats the fruits (of actions) and the other (the Self) merely

gazes on (Saakshee). Vishnu is this All-experiencing Principle of

consciousness.

 

193. Bhujagottamah - bhujaga refers to the species which navigate using

their shoulders or arms - bhujena gacchanti, rather than through their

legs. Here bhujaga refers to AdiSesha. uttama can refer to 'one who is

above'. Here it refers to bhagavAn who is reclining on top of the

AdiSesha. He is the SeshI or the Lord of the Sesha. He is reclining on

ananta the Serpent as the couch.

 

Or the name could also refer to bhujagAnAm uttamah - One who is the best

among the serpents. i.e., it can refer to ananta - see bhagavad-gItA

10-29 - anantaScAsmi nAgAnAm.

 

194. Hiranyanaabhah -He, who supports at His navel, the creator,

Hiranyagarba. The great brahmA was borne out of the navel of vishNu, and

thus the greatness of the navel that bore the great brahmA is evident.

Just as a nation that creates great people becomes known as a great

nation, so is the analogy here.

 

 

 

195. Sutapaah -One who has glorious Tapas. Consistent creative thinking

is called tapas. For this, mental concentration is unavoidable. Mind

cannot have consistent concentration unless it can have a perfect

control over the sense-organs. Even when the mind is withdrawn from the

sense-organs, it must have a consistent intellectual ideal to

concentrate upon. In the Upanishad, we read: " He thought and through

thought, He created all this " . The author in dharma cakram points

out that the strength derived from tapas is more powerful than any other

strength, and gives the example of how viSvAmitra's army was powerless

against vasishTha's tapo-Sakti. It was through tapas that viSvAmitra

ultimately attained brahma-j~nAna, and it was through tapas that dhruva

attained the immortal position. Lord vishNu is tapas-Incarnate

(sutapAh), and thus guides His devotees in the path of tapas.

 

 

 

196. Padmanaabhah -One who supports at His navel the very seat of all

creative-power. We have described this term earlier (48). According to

Sankara, here the term may mean one who has a navel region which in its

rounded beauty is as charming as the lotus flower.

 

197. Prajaapatih -The Lord of the creatures. Since all creatures have

emerged from Him, the living creatures are His children (Prajaa) and He

is their Pati. The term Pati has a direct meaning: `father'.

Thus Vishnu, as the only source from which all creatures have emerged

out, is called as Prajaapatih.

 

Krishnarpanamastu!