Vishnu Sahasranama Stanza 23

[Guest guest]

Om Namo Narayanaya!!

 

 

gurur-gurutamo dhaama satyas-satya-paraakramah

nimisho-a-nimishah sragvee vaachaspatir-udaara-dheeh.

 

 

 

 

 

209. Guruh -The teacher, who initiates seekers into the secrets of the

sacred scriptures, is called the Guru. Since the Lord, the infinite

alone, is the very author and knower of the Vedas, He is the Teacher in

all spiritual study. Aatman being the Light, that illumines the

knowledge in the teacher, his very capacity to speak and the very

ability in the student to hear, understand and apprehend this great

Truth, He alone is the Teacher wherever there is any transference of

knowledge. He is the foremost of preceptors since he is the one who gave

the veda-s to brahma, who then is the source of the veda-s to the rest

of the world. yo brahmANam vidadhAti pUrvam yo vai vedAnSca prahiNoti

tasmai- He who brought brahma into existence and imparted the veda to

him (SvetASvatara 6.18). We also have " guruh ka iti | guruh

sAkshAd-AdinArAyaNah " - The Ultimate guru is AdinArAyaNa (tripAdvibhUti

mahAnArAyaNopanishat - 8.15). In SrI SankarAcArya guru pramparA, the

first guru is nArAyaNa - Narayanam padmabhuvam vasistham shaktim ca

tatputra parasharam ca | vyasam shukam gaudapadam mahantam govindam

yogindram athasya shishyam | Srishankaracaryamathasya padmapadam ca

hastamalakam ca shishyam | tam totrakam

vartikakaramanyanasmadguru-nsantatamanato 'smi.

To Narayana, to the lotus-born [brahma], to Vasistha, to Shakti and to

his son Parashara, to Vyasa, to Shuka, to great Gaudapada, to

Govinda-Yogindra and to his disciple Sri Shankaracarya, then to his

disciples Padmapada, Hastamalaka, Totraka and Vartikakara [suresvara],

to these our Masters we pay our respectful obeisance now and forever.

Also, SrIman nArayANa is the first and foremost in the SrIvaishNava guru

paramparA. Lakshminatha samarambham Nath Yamuna Madhyamam | Asmad

Acharya paryantham vande guruparamparam ||

 

210. Gurutamah -The Greatest Teacher; One who had inspired with

knowledge and initiated the very Creator Brahmaaji into the knowledge of

the four Vedas. The creative mind of the very first Spiritual Master

must have received this experience of the Transcendental, initiated by

none other than the Supreme Itself. Later on, the Man of Realization

might come to help other seekers, and to that extent the following

generations of disciples can, no doubt, psychologically believe that the

teacher guided them to Truth. But, in fact for all times to come, the

final experience of the theme of the Vedas is arrived at only through

the final revelation, which has nothing to do with the teacher or the

text. Svetaasvatara Upanishad (6-18) says, " Yo Brahmanam vidadhati

purvam - He who first Created the Creator (Brahmaa) and imparted him the

Vedas. "

 

The Guru and the scripture, devotion to God, meditation, moral conduct

and the religious discipline are all necessary, in as much as, they

prepare the bosom of the seeker for the dawn of realization. But the

final unveiling is done by the Infinite alone, and hence, Vishnu, the

Self, is the best among the Gurus. Heaviness is called by the same term

(Gurutvam), and in this sense the Lord is Indicated here as " that

which is heavier than the heaviest. In dharam cakram, the writer says

that He is guru-tama because you don't have to even go and look for Him.

He pervades everything and is everywhere, and all we need to get His

teaching is to feel the need for it. All that is needed is the thirst

for His mercy in order for us to progress in getting true knowledge

instead of living the life of a stone or tree.

 

211. Dhaama -The Goal; the Sacred destination of a pilgrimage. The

Supreme is the Param-dhaama, the `Supreme Destination', having

reached which, there is nothing more to reach beyond. This Absolute

State of Perfection is called the " Peak " (Dhaama). The Sanskrit

term Dhaama also means " Effulgence " (Tejas); the Pure

Consciousness as the illuminator of all experiences is considered and

glorified as the Light of all Lights etc. SrI Sankara interprets the

nAma as being the Supreme Leading Light. He quotes from nar. Up.

" narayana para jyotih – Narayana is the supreme brilliance " .

Gita says " param Brahma param dhama – The Brahman is the

ultimate support " . The writer in dharma cakram elaborates further on

the term " Supreme Light " . The eye sees with the light from the Sun. But

neither the Sun's light nor the eye can see the Ultimate. For that you

need the light called bhagavAn's Grace, the Inner Light. This is what

mahA vishNu is, viz. dhAma the Supreme Light, which can reveal what no

other light can. It is the eye of intense desire to reach Him that can

see this light, and no other eye can.

 

212. Satyah -One who is Himself the Truth. The difference from the

general connotation, we have for the term " That which remains

without a change in the past, present and future " is called Satyam.

" Truth, Knowledge, Infinite is Brahman " , thunder the scriptures.

Brihad Upanishad (4-1-20) says, " The Praanas are the truth, and He

is the Truth of them. " Sri Sankara quotes the Brih. Up 2.3.6,

" prana vai satyam, tesam esa satyam –Pranas are true. The

paramatman is the truth even behind them. " The sruti says

" Tasmat satyam paramam vadanti – Truth is therefore said to be

supreme " .

 

213. Satyaparaakramah -Dynamic Truth. Passive truthfulness is the

harbour of the fools, the dark den of the cowards; although it is any

day better than suicidal un- truth and criminal dishonesty. The Lord,

the Infinite is not only Himself the Truth but He is Dynamic in

insisting that " Truth shall prevail, not untruth " . Not only

gravity is a law of nature, itself ever truthful, but it insists that

none shall escape its influence or disobey sway. So too, the Infinite

Law of Harmony and Love is an Inevitable Truth persisting with

insistence in life. The Lord is therefore indicated by the term

" Satyaparaakramah " . The writer in dharma cakram points out that

there can be two kinds of valor, one which is used for the good of the

people, such as that of SrI Rama, and the other that is used for

demonstrating power and for hurting others, such as RAvaNa's. Meditating

on mahA vishNu gives us the ability to develop the valor of the former

kind. Sri Sankara: One of unfailing valour.

 

214. Nimishah -The condition of " the eyelids closed " is called

Nimishah; the unwinking is called Animishah. When the eyes are open, the

mind is extrovert; the condition of mental introvertedness is expressed

in an unconscious closing of the eyes. When a man is deeply thinking,

remembering, contemplating, we find him naturally closing his eyes. Sri

Sankara: One whose eye-lids are closed in Yoga-nidra.

 

In a state of intense contemplation, when the intellect is turned away

from the objects-of-experiences, the bosom experiences the One Divine

" Subject " both within and without. The Lord is described here as

" with eyes closed " , only to indicate that He is ever rooted in

Himself; from Him viewed, there exists nothing other than Himself to

constitute the world- of-objects. The dharma cakram writer points out

that He of closed eyes is seeing all because He is everywhere, in every

one of us, all the time, and is watching all that happens everywhere

even without eyes. Those who can contemplate on the yoga-nidrA of vishNu

can close their eyes and meditate, and over a period of time, will be

able to divert their minds towards Him in that state (normally, whether

our eyes are open or closed, they wander in worldly thoughts!).

 

215. Animishah -One who remains unwinking. Whenever we wink both the

eyelids close together and what we are seeing is at least technically

veiled from the seer in the eye. The Supreme is indicated here by the

term " unwinking " , in the sense that, the consciousness is

Ever-Knowing. In Sankara's words, in Chandogya Bhaashya, " there

is no cession of knowing in the knower " . The dharma cakram author

gives the significance of this nAma as indicating that one who

contemplates on this nAma will be always spiritually awake, and bad

thoughts and the worldly distractions won't enter his mind.

 

216. Sragvee -A garland is called Srak and, therefore, the term means

One who is constantly wearing a garland of undecaying flowers. The

famous garland of Vishnu is called Vaijayantee. Prof. A. srinivAsa

rAghavan points out that the vaijayanti is composed of the five precious

gems - pearl, ruby, emerald, sapphire, and diamond. SrI Sankara refers

to the vaijayanti as referring to the garland made of the tanmAtrA-s or

the rudiments of the five basic elements (taste, sight, sound, smell,

and sensation) of the pa~nca bhuta-s.

 

217. Vaachaspatir-Udaaradheeh -Vaachaspati is a term given to One who is

eloquent in championing the Supreme law of life; and Dheeh means the

power of intelligence; and Udaaradheeh one who has a " Large- hearted

intelligence " , One who is not puritanical in his view points. God is

not only the Declarer of the Law but He has a large-hearted tolerance to

appreciate the weakness of the devotee's heart, suffering under the

delusion of Maayaa, and hence, has a great sympathy for the weakness in

us. This is expressed in God's Infinite kindness towards sinners in

general.

 

The laws of spiritual living can be disobeyed for a long time without

any tyrannical onslaught, unlike the law of physical nature, which is

blind and uncompromising. Fire knows no mercy. But Narayana, the Great

Vishnu, is kind and considerate the while He expresses the Truth of Life

eloquently at all times around us. In His Large-heartedness, He has

enough paternal kindness to overlook our trespasses. Sri Sankara: Being

the master of Vak or word i.e. Knowledge, He is called so. As His

intellect perceives everything, He is Udaradhih.

 

 

Krishnarpanamastu!