Vishnu Sahasranamam Stanza 21

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Om Namo Narayanaya!!

 

amrityus-sarva-drik simhah san-dhaataa sandhimaan sthirah

ajo durmarshanah saastaa visrutaatmaa suraarihaa.

 

 

 

198. Amrityuh –One who knows no decay. Birth, growth, decay, disease

and death, are the five great modifications through which every finite

objects must necessarily pass. Everything born must perish. The one who

has no birth has no death. The waves die but not the ocean. That which

is Changeless in the changing whirls of matter is the Infinite Vishnu.

In the Bhagavad Geeta, the Lord is emphatic: " He who sees the

Changeless amidst the changing names and forms, He alone sees the

meaning and purpose of life. " The author in dharma cakram points out

that this nAma should remind us of the indestructibility or

deathlessness of the jivAtmA, and should remind us of the need to

mediate on Him without associating ourselves with this perishable body.

 

199. Sarvadrik -The seer and knower of everything. The Consciousness

that illumines all motives and intentions -and the manifested activities

that spring from them -in each individual, at all times, is necessarily

the Witness of all, the Seer of everything, Maha Vishnu. The author in

dharma cakram points out that it is important to be pure in thought,

word, and deed, since He is ever watchful of these in all beings at all

times. It is easy to swerve from His path without any human being aware

of it, but we should be aware that He is the All-seeing.

 

200. Simhah -One who destroys. The Law behind all destruction and change

in the Maayaa is the Mighty Lord. On transcending the vehicles of the

body, mind and intellect, at a time when all experiences of perceptions,

emotions and thoughts are annihilated from us, the Experience left over

is the Supreme. And in the Non-dual Supreme, there cannot be any object

other than itself. Therefore, that " State " is called as the

Total Destroyer. The State of Waking is the " destroyer " of the

dream-world; the State of Sleep is the " destroyer " of the waking

and the dream; the State of God Consciousness is the total

" Annihilator " of all the known three planes of Consciousness.

SrI Sankara gives the meaning that He is the Destroyer (Lion) of sins.

He gives the following etymological derivation " hinasti iti simhah " -

hinasti smaraNa mAtreNa samasta pApAn iti simhah. According to this

interpretation, the word himsa changes to simha by transposition of

letters according to the grammatical rule " pRshodarAdIni yatopadishTam "

(PANini 6.3.109). SrI Bhattar interprets the nAma as one who has assumed

the body of man and lion. SrI chinmayAnanda points out that even taking

the literal meaning " Lion " for simha, He is the Lion at the mention of

whose name all the animal passions flee from the jungle of the mind. In

the gItA we have " mRgANAm ca mRgendro'ham - Among the animals, I am the

king of animals - The Lion " - gItA 10.30. In dharma cakram, the writer

says that meditating on this nAma with its meaning should give us the

vIrya to destroy the evil in our thoughts, words, and deeds. It is only

a strong personality which can help us overcome the negative forces

around us and help us realize Him.

 

201. Sandhaataa - The Co-relator, the Regulator, the One who co-relates

the actions and their fruits. In fact, the fruit of an action is nothing

other than the action itself; the action itself presents as its fruit in

a different period of time, maturing under its own Law. This Great Law

is the Lord, whom the devotee accepts as " The Giver of all fruits of

action " .

 

202. Sandhimaan - The Supreme is the Law and the Law-giver; and the

Light of Consciousness functioning in the mind and intellect is the

individuality (Jeeva), that comes to suffer the good and bad results of

the actions. Thus not only that it is He, who is the Giver of the

results but It is He, again, Who is the enjoyer or the sufferer of the

results. Hence He is called as the One who is apparently conditioned by

the actions that emanate from Him, Sandhimaan, enjoyer (conditioned). In

fact, He is the One presiding over and illumining all actions; the very

Law of reaction Itself; the ensuing experience in all actions of all

people, at all times. From the standpoint of our existence, with

reference to our individual existence, the Divinity in us, for all

appearances, seems to be conditioned; this Sandhimaan, the Jeeva in His

own Pristine Purity is Maha Vishnu.. SrI Bhattar gives the explanation

that sandhi is union. Thus the name indicates that He is always united

with His devotees, and so He is sandhimAn.

 

203. Sthirah -Firm, consistent. One who is ever consistent in His

nature and One who remains changeless, at all times. SrI Sankara gives

the interpretation that He is sthira in the sense that He is Constant,

being always the same, free from birth, decay, etc. - sadaika rUpatvAt

sthirah. SrI Bhattar's interpretation is that He is sthirah since He is

firmly attached to His devotees in spite of any wrongs by them -

apacAre'pi acAlyatvAt sandhAne sthira ucyate.

 

204. Ajah -Unborn. Ajah is also a term denoting the Creator, Brahmaa; He

who, in the form of Hiranyagarbha, apparently creates the delusory world

of plurality is Vishnu. Sri Sankara: One who goes in to the hearts of

devotees Or One who throws the evil Asuras to a distance or destroys

them.

 

205. Durmarshanah - dushkaram marshaNam asya iti durmarshaNah - One who

cannot be overcome by His enemies. SrI chinmayAnanda gives a very

interesting perspective for this nAma. We may swerve from His path, and

satisfy our sensory urges, but after being born over and over, we

ultimately have no choice except to follow His path. In the lesser

levels of evolution, we may deny ourselves the peace and joy of living

the spiritual values, but in the end we will be seeking the feet of

vishNu for real happiness and true achievement. Thus, His is the final

victory. The other interpretation is by the dharma cakram writer who

gives the meaning that He is durmarshaNah because He destroys the evil

asura-s, and protects the deva-s. Meditating on this nAma with its

meaning in mind will help in driving away the evil thoughts from the

devotee's mind , and help to develop the good thoughts that will lead to

realization of Him. VAlmIki who was ignorant in the beginning, meditated

on rAma nAma, and this led him in course of time to the realization of

Him.

 

206. Saastaa -One who rules over the universe, Not only that He is the

Administrator of the laws of the Phenomenon but also He is the Saastaa.

He is the One who, through Sastra, with firm hand, instructs and guides

us through the righteous path, drives us along steadily to progress in

cultural beauty and finally reaches us at the Great Goal of all

evolutions: the Seat of Vishnu.

 

207. Visrutaatmaa - The interpretations is based on the different ways

in which the vyAkhyAna kartA-s have interpreted the " vi " in viSrutAtmA.

SrI Bhattar gives the interpretation vismayena - with wonder, SrI

Sankara has interpreted it as viSesheNa - specially, and SrI satyadevo

vAsishTha has given the meaning vividhaih - through many forms. Sru

SravaNe to hear is the second part, and AtmA is the third part in the

above nAma. SrI Bhattar adds that this praise in wonder is by all, at

all times, and at all places. SrI Sankara points out that He is

characterized through special terms like truth, wisdom, etc., and

specially glorified in Sruti-s. SrI satyadevo vAsishTha points out that

He is known through different forms like Sun, Moon, etc.

 

The term Aatmaa, famous in all the Vedas, is Vishnu. This term clearly

shows that all the thousand terms, used herein, though can be considered

for the Saguna worship of Vishnu, represent nothing other than the Pure

Self, which is the famous theme of the Hindu Scriptures. Through

hundreds of suggestive definitions, this Great Self has been

successfully pointed out through declarations of Its Transcendental

Nature and through statements of negation indicating what He is not.

 

208. Suraarihaa –Sura- " God of the Heaven " ,

Ari- " enemies " , Ha- " destroyer " . The Supreme is the

Destroyer of the enemies of the gods. The sensuous claims of the flesh,

the mild assertions of the ego, the nocturnal devils of desires and

passions, are the common enemies of the higher mind aspiring to evolve.

When invoked with true devotion, He who drives away and destroys the

inimical negative tendencies, and helps the devotee to master himself,

is Suraarihaa, Sri Narayana.

 

 

Sri Krishnarpanamastu!