Vishnu Sahasranamam Stanza 34

October 1, 2006

Om Namo Narayanaya!!

ishto visishtah sishteshtah sikhandee nahusho vrishahkrodhahaa krodhakrit kartaa visvabaahur maheedharah.

308. lshtah -This term can be interpreted in two ways. One who is invoked through the different types of Vedic rituals (Yajnas), is Ishtah. Or, it can also mean, One who is loved by all, the Lord being the very centre of all love in everyone. The Brihadaranyakopanishad very clearly indicates this idea in almost unvarnished words: "The man loves his wife not because of the wife, but because of himself. ...etc." All love springs from our personal love for the Infinite which is the Self in us. He is ishTa because He is liked by everyone and this is because He is the Supreme Bliss.

The dharma cakram writer emphasizes that there is nothing else that is worth liking and going after, because nothing else is Permanent Bliss. We should learn to convert the desire that we have for material objects to the desire for understanding AtmA, and ultimately to the desire for paramAtmA.

309. Visishtah -One who is the noblest and the most sacred. Vishnu, the Lord, dwells in the heart of every- one. He is the sole essence presiding over every physical, mental and intellectual activities in every living creature and, therefore, He is indicated by this term. Sri Sankara interprets the nama as Avisistah –One who resides within all.

310. Sishta-ishtah -To all spiritually minded good people and therefore sincere seekers, the Lord is the greatest beloved in-as-much as, He represents the Goal and the Destination of all devoted seekers. In short, He is the Supreme Beloved for all spiritually inclined divine hearts.

He can also mean that the Lord is one who Himself is sincere and ardent lover and courtier of all devotees, sincerely and diligently seeking Him. Sankara gives reference to bhagavad-gItA - "priyo hi j~nAnino atyarthamaham sa ca mama priyah (7.17)" - I am dear to a j~nAni beyond description; and he is also very dear to Me. A j~nAni here refers to one who has realized that the one goal that is worth striving for is He, and nothing else; thus, by his very nature, the only thing dear to him is BhagavAn.

311. Sikhandee -One who wears `Sikhanda' meaning "the peacock feather". Lord Krishna is described in Bhagavatam as having adorned with the `eye' of the peacock feather, especially in his early child and boy-hood. SrI BhaTTar uses the meaning `crest' to mean that He is at the crest or peak of Lordship.

312. Nahushah -The term "Nahanmn" means bondage, therefore, the term stands for "One who is familiar with bondages". ln Vedanta, the word `Isvarah' is the Supreme Consciousness conditioned by the total- Causal-Body (Maayaa); at the same time, Isvara is One who has the Maayaa under His control, It can also be understood as "One who binds, all creatures of the world with the cord of Maayaa." SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives the interpretation that He binds all beings through His beauty and soulabhyam.

313. Vrishah - The word is derived from the root vRsh - to drench or to shower. He also showers whatever is asked for on His devotees, and so He is vRshah. - kAmAnAm varshaNAt vRshah - SrI Sankara. Vrishah also means Dharma. He is the embodiment of dharma. Sankara also gives the following verse from mahAbhArata - vRsho hi bhagavAn dharmah smRto lokeshu bhArata | naighanTuka padAkhyAnaih viddhi mAm vRsha ityuta || (SAntiparva 330.23) "O arjuna! vRsha is explained by the lexicographers and likewise known in this world as sacred dharma. Hence know Me as vRsha". Thus, vRsha and dharma are synonyms.

SrI BhaTTar interprets the next 8 nAma-s as referring to paraSurAma or bhArgava rAma incarnation.

314. Krodhahaa - SrI Sankara's interpretation: One who destroys anger in all sincere seekers. We have already found earlier that anger manifests when fulfilment of a deep desire is obstructed. On realising the Lord, all desires end and, therefore, there cannot be any anger on any occasion. Also, anger can come only when we recognise the world of plurality around us. For one who is experiencing the Self, there is nothing but the One Self everywhere and, therefore, there is no occasion to entertain this emotion of anger. Sri Bhattar says He can control His anger and overcome His own anger [as with evil beings who harass His devotees and later repent]. SrI BhaTTar's interpretation: At the mere request of KASyapa mahArshi, He gave up His anger which had previously resulted in the destruction of 21 lineages of kshatriya-s. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri points out that this nAma indicates that BhagavAn can control His anger just at the mere thought of controlling it. In His incarnation as Lord rAma, we find that He became intensely angry at times (rosham AhArayat tIvram - 3-30-19), (krodhasya vaSameyivAn - 6-59-136), but only He can also get rid of this anger at will in an instant. A lesson applicable in this context to real life is given by the dharma cakram writer who quotes SrI paramahamsa on how to handle situations which may require one to be angry - "Hiss but don't bite". In other words, do not ever let your anger get to a point where you cause harm to others.

315. Krodha-krit-kartaa –

SrI Sankara gives the meaning of Krodha-krit that He creates anger in people who are wicked or bad -asAdhushu krodham karoti iti krodha-kRt, and they cause their own destruction because of this anger. SrI Sankara gives the meaning that He is kartA or Creator of the Universe - kriyata iti karma jagat tasya kartA. SrI Sankara gives the interpretation for 315 and 316 as individual nAma-s,and also suggests that the can be considered as one nAma together -krodha-kRt-kartA - One who destroys those who demonstrate anger viz. the asura-s. Sri Chinmayananda says He is the One who generates in a sincere and serious seeker anger against the lower tendencies when they manifest-"Krodha-krit". Also He is the very creative impulse `Kartaa' behind the lower tendencies; because all things come out from Him alone. SrI BhaTTar interprets this nAma as referring to the slaying of kArta-vIrya in Parusurama avatar. Sri Bhattar says, in His incarnation as paraSurAma, He got angry at kArta-vIrya and his kshatriya race and destroyed 21 generations of them, before giving up His anger as mentioned in the previous nAma.

316. Visvabaahuh -One who has number of hands; whose hands are everywhere doing all activities in the universe. SrI Sankara gives the meaning -He is viSva-bAhu, since He has arms that are endless in number to support the world, and extend everywhere for the same cause. All hands that are doing variegated activities all over the world are all His hands in-as- much as, where He is not, that lifeless hand can perform no more any activity. Since He is thus the dynamic One Principle that functions through all hands at work, He is called a Visvabaahuh.

Again the context in which SrI BhaTTar interprets the nAma is with respect to paraSurAma incarnation, and thus the reference here is to the destruction of 21 generations of rAkshasa-s.

317. Maheedharah -mahIm dhatte iti mahI-dharah. SrI Sankara bhAshyam is that mahI means both pUjA (mahatva) and earth. He is mahI-dhara because He accepts the offerings from devotees or because He supports the world. He supports the world by removing the evil-doers or wicked people in the world. SrI cinmayAnanda gives an example to explain the meaning of 'support'. This is like the cotton supporting the cloth, the gold supporting the ornament, or the clay supporting a clay pot. In this sense, His supporting the world is the same as saying that the world and He are inseparable and same, and the world is one of His manifestations.

Krishnarpanamastu!!