Vishnu Sahasranamam

[Guest guest]

Om Namo Narayanaya. Dear Shyamalaji. I totally agree with you that reading the Vishnu Sahasranamam can change the course of one’s life; it has the power to uplift one’s life. I started reading the Sahasranamam after I got my first job, about 10 years ago. I had just finished college, and got a job as a site engineer on a construction site. Simply put, I was terrified. What we learn in books in college and what actually happens on site can feel like two different worlds. The site I was on involved the construction of a 1 crore company and it was in the finishing stages, but it seemed so huge to me, I walked around thinking that I was going to make some big mistake. And to add to my worries I had a boss who was known to blow his fuse very easily i.e. get angry and scream at people very quickly. I also travelled a lot by bus at the time, going from Nigdi to Hadapsar in Pune, starting at 6.45 a.m. and coming home only at 7.30 or 8 p.m. After two or three weeks on the bus, I met another Muslim woman, who would wear a burkha, with her face uncovered. A young mother with two kids, she was a teacher in a school in Pune. I noticed that as soon as the bus started and she got her ticket, she would take out a small book from her bag and start reading. Clearly it was some religious book; she would be totally immersed in it until she got off the bus. For me this was a pleasant experience. Someone in a burkha, speaking excellent English, teaching in an English school, with a very cultured manner, were all by themselves sufficient to impress me. But the fact that she did not waste any time in trivial talk impressed me even more. Until then my spiritual life was restricted to going regularly/weekly to the temple, attending the annual functions such as Janmashtami, Dassera etc. and the annual Bhagavada Saptaham in our

temple as and when time permitted. But I never chanted any strotras regularly. On the job, I would say Om Namo Narayanaya and other namam as and when it occurred to me or when I was stressed out enough. Just a few months before I started my job, my mom’s friend had got me a copy of the Vishnu Sahasranamam when she got the same for her two daughters. But my copy was sitting in the show case very neat and tidy. After my constant bouts of fear and anxiety at the new job and then watching this Muslim teacher devoting her time on the bus to reading her scriptures, I thought, ‘what better way to spend one’s time. I should also start reading the Sahasranamam.’ The book was in Sanskrit. But being fluent in Hindi I realized that I could understand some of it. Then whenever I got the time I would sit down with MS Subbulakshmi’s audio cassette and learned to read it properly (MS must have surely won a place in heaven for her rendition of the Sahasranamam and Venkatesha

Suprabhatam). Thereafter almost every day I would try to read it on the bus; I left that job, without any harm to my fragile(!) reputation, more experienced and confident, after two years and moved on to better prospects. But I strongly believe, the strength and peace I got reading the namam helped me considerably with the job and my general mental health. This belief was further strengthened by another major incident in our family. My brother, an ardent Guruvayurappan bhaktan, would always go to Guruvayur whenever he made a trip to Kerala; in fact there were occasions when he would go for office work to Coimbatore, totally skip going to our ancestral homes in Trichur and Palakkad, but go and make a night halt at Guruvayur. In February 2001, my brother’s wife delivered a baby boy. Mihir is the first (and only) grandchild in our family; he was born after 6 years of my brother’s marriage. The delivery

was okay and we all were able to see Mihir, alert and eyes wide open (which was unusal, we thought) looking at the world. Due to some inexplicable reason, a few hours after he was born, sometime in the night he started crying. Later we could think of several reasons why this may have happened, but at the time the doctors could not offer any reason. My brother and his brothers-in-law, my parents, were totally upset; the doctor and his wife both sped at night with Mihir to the closest neo-natal clinic. There he was put in an incubator and kept under observation. But his crying continued. When I visited the hospital in the morning, Mihir was still crying. It was a heart breaking sight, because here he was separated from his mother in a box full of tubes and crying and nobody had a clue. Sometime towards noon the neonatal specialist suggested that we take him for a brain scan; to check if he was deprived of oxygen at the time of his delivery which may have caused

some problems. This terrified us even more. At the time, my brother did not have a car. My neighbor, Rajeev, had come by to see Mihir. Immediately he said, let us go and get the scan done. My brother, parents, and myself went with Mihir in the car for the scan at a place about 15 minutes away; Mihir cried all the way; my brother was totally devastated by this time. I held Mihir when we went in and put him on the surgeon’s table, myself crying and saying, ‘doctor please do something. He is crying nonstop’. By then Mihir had been crying continuously for 12 to 14 hours. The scan was done and was declared normal, and that was good news, but even then the crying had not stopped. We started on our way back in the car, my mother was crying and saying different baby things, and she tried putting her little finger in Mihir’s mouth so that he could suck on something; but the crying continued. Then it was that she started reciting the Vishnu Sahasranamam. My mother, a

very spiritual person, always strong, has been the best guide my brother and I have had. That day Guruvayurappan chose her to express Himself. When she started reciting the Sahasranamam, Mihir stopped crying. Period. And then the rest of us, even Rajeev were crying, because this was Guruvayurappan making His presence felt. We continued the journey and reached the neo-natal clinic and after a few more days under observation Mihir was re-united with his mother. Mihir is now a happy, at times too naughty, 5 yr old. That experience was by turns painful, humbling, and uplifting. We only need to tap Him and He is there to uplift us. We are only instruments. We are going to go through experiences that will shake us to our depths. We will meet people who are going to give us hell or may be meet good Samaritans in disguise. We cannot choose our family or our relatives. We think we are in certain situations because of the choices we made. But as Shree Krishna

himself says in the Vibhooti Yoga (chapter 10 in the Bhagavadgeeta), everyone and everything is He. After that experience, rarely have I missed reading the Vishnu Sahsranamam. It is strength, all the strength that we need. And I always remind myself, when Yudhisthir requested Bhishma to give him one important thing, the most important thing for the benefit of mankind, the dying Bhishma imparted to him “the Vishnu Sahasranamam”. We recite the namam before we read the Geeta. Bhagavada gurus chant it before they start the day’s saptaham. It is our group’s great fortune (like Bhattathiri would say, "hanta bhagyam janaanam"), that Sunitaa has chosen to explain each stanza word by word. It is a great service and I pray that our dear Guruvayurappan will grant her ayur-arogya-soukhyam. God bless. In reply to Thanu-shree’s mail, from what I have seen, if time permits, the naamam is read from the beginning, starting with Shuklaam Bharadaram Vishnum and ending with the phala-shruti. On a daily basis, I start with a chant of the invocation mantra, “Shantaakaaram bhujangashainam….” and then continue with Om Vishwam Vishnur Vashatkaaro…and end with the phala shruti. The phala shruti also, instead of starting from "iteedam keertaneeyasya keshavasya mahaatmanaaha...", one can start from--Arjun uvaacha "Padmapatra vishaalaaksha Padmanaabha surottamma..." The lines "Vanamaali gadee shaanki shanki chakri cha nandaki, Shreeman NarayanoVishnur Vaasudevo bhi rakshatu.." are

chanted 3 times. Hope the senior members will also guide and offer advice in this regard. Om Namo Narayanaya. Sarvam ShreeKrishnaaya samarpayaami. Syamala Nair <syamalaraghunath wrote: Dear Geetha I am a very very humble devotee of KANNAN and I firmly belive that whatever I have and do not have are HIS BLESSINGS. I am grateful to HIM that I could be a part of this group

where we talk only about HIS love and affection Jai Sreekrishna kezhoor <kezhoor wrote: Dear Smt Syamala,That was really a good narration. Hope to hear more from our dear members.om namo bhagavathe vasudevaaya; om namo bhagavathe vasudevaaya; om namo bhagavathe vasudevaaya;with regards,Geetha.guruvayur , Syamala Nair <syamalaraghunath wrote:>> 1.7.2006> > Dear devotees> > > I had several experiences which proved to me that my KANNAN is always with me and if we keep one step ahead HE will come 10 steps ahead > > Here I would like to narrate one

or incident which took place way back 1999 which changed my course of life. At that time, I never used to read any prayer books . I used to light the lamp both the times and sit and pray for few minutes with folded hand. Further, I know Harinama Keertanam by heart and immediately after getting up in the morning and washing the face, I used recite the same. This I am doing even today. This goes as a routine while I do my household work.> > At that time I had the habbit of reading all those weeklys like Mangalam, Manorama etc., and whenever I get spare time in office or for that matter while traveling to and fro office, I used to read the same.> > In the year 1999 Apirl, one lady has been appointed on temporary basis in my office in place of one who left on maternity leave for three months. The lady was a Malayalee.> > As usual one day I was reading a Manorama weekly when this

lady came to me and said" today is Ekadashi and also Thursday Why can't you read Sahasranamam" instead of this weekly"> > To be frank, I had heard others chanting this during Saptaham, which I used to attend atleast for a day , but never tried to read the same and also did not have the book. I told her I have not read the same earlier. She told me she will sit with me and we both will read. So that day for the first time in my life I read the Sahasranamam. She then asked me to buy "Agre Pashyamai" a book printed by Giri Trading which I bought and found very interesting. She also gave me copies of "Guruvayoor Suprabhatham" and "Narayana Kavacham" to read. I started the reading the same every day and coul by heart the same and with all humbleness I can say, now I can recite both without any reference> > What surprised me is the fact that earlier also ladies went on maternity , but no

alternative was kept at that time. Furthermore, the lady who came was a deveotee of Guruvayurappan and had completed one Sampoornam of Srimat Narayaneeyam. The lady went away after three months , but I believe that it is my KANNAN who made her join our company for three months which changed my way of life completely. It took sometime for me to leave the habit og reading weeklys, but slowly, i stopped reading all such stuffs as I got many many devotional books to read which includes "Poonthana SarvaswamBhagavat Gita" etc. I am also a r to Bhaktapriya> > Now I read Vishnu Sahasranamam , one dasakam of Narayaneeyam every day. Also whenever I get time I read Bhagavatahm kilipattu and Ramayanam> > WHAT ELSE CAN BE THIS EXCEPT HIS BELSSING > > Learning Narayaneeyam is yet another incident which shows HIS love and affectin to HIS devotees which I shall narrate next time>

> I hope I did not bore you all > > With Pranams at HIS LOTUS FEET> > Syamala> A humble devotee> > > > > > Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Mail Beta.> Music Unlimited - Access over 1 million songs. Try it free.

Get on board. You're invited to try the new Mail Beta.