Vishnu Sahasranamam Stanza 35

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achyutuh prathitah praanah praanado vaasavaanujahapaam nidhiradhishthaanam apramattah pratishthitah

 

 

 

318. Achyutah -One who has not got any modifications (Chyutam) such as birth, growth, decay, disease, death etc. The Eternal and Immutable cannot have any change and the Self being the Eternal, it cannot have any of the changes that are natural to all mortal and finite things, Upanishads themselves thunder this Truth-“Sasvatam sivam acyutam- Eternal, Auspicious and Changelessâ€.

 

319. Prathitah -One who exists pervading all; spreading Himself everywhere. It can also mean “One whose glory, as described in the Upanishads, has spread round the world everywhere.â€

 

320. Praanah -All manifested expressions of life are called as the Praana. He is the Praana in all-living creatures; meaning, it is His manifestations that we recognise as the endless activities in all living creatures in this dynamic world. Also it can mean that “He is the One who in the form of vital-air, sustains life in all creatures.â€

321 Praanadah â€"One who gives strength (Praana) to everyone. The root ‘da’ has a meaning of destruction and, therefore, the term comprehends also the power of destruction everywhere. According to the Puranas, therefore, He is the One who gives the strength and glory for Devas, and again, He is the One who supplies special strength to them to win over the brutal forces of the diabolically wicked, the Asuras. Subjectively, it is the Self that supplies the mental strength for cultivating the higher values of life, and it is the same Source Divine that floods the seekers heart with the courage to annihilate the lower impulses that come to destroy his peace and tranquility within. The dharma cakram writer points out that the different aspects of our life and body - such as our thoughts, our words, etc., are all different reflections of the prANa in us. Without prANa, our life will cease to exist, and our body will cease to function. But by controlling this prANa,we can control our body and all its actions. There is no limit to what can be achieved by having control over our prANa or breath. This nAma of mahAvishNu should teach us that the prANa that has been given to us by Him should be used for good purpose.

 

322. Vaasavaanujah -the brother of the Indra. This name has been acquired by lord Vishnu because of his incarnation as the Adorable Dwarf-(Vaamana). At that time, the Lord had to take birth in the womb of Aditi and manifest as the younger brother of Indra. In the subjective science of Vedanta, the king of the gods (Indra) is the Lord of the sense organs and so he is the Mind. The spiritual urge that dawns in us as a younger brother of the Mind, ultimately comes to measure away and win over the three worlds of waking, dream and deep-sleep, and thus comes to conquer over the entire kingdom of Indra in more sense than one.

323. Apaam-nidhih -Treasure of waters, meaning the ocean. The very glory and might of the oceans are all but a reflection of Sri Narayana’s own glory divine. SrI Sankara gives the meaning "The Ocean" to this nAma based on "Apo yatranidhIyante sah apAm-nidhih - The place where the waters get collected in abundance". He also gives reference to the gItA - sarasAm asmi sAgarah -Among lakes I am the Ocean - gItA 10.24. SrI cinmayAnanda points out that the glory and might of the oceans are but a tiny reflection of bhagavAn's glory divine. SrI BhaTTar continues his interpretation of this nAma based on the kUrma incarnation, and points out that this name indicates that He sustained the great Ocean when it was being churned. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri takes the anubhavam of this nAma a step further and points out that just as the waters of all the rivers and canals ultimately reach the ocean and lose their identity, so also those who worship BhagavAn become one with Him. In this sense He is apAm-nidhih, or the Ocean where everybody merges in the end. The dharma cakram writer points out that just as the ocean is the beginning and the end for the water (by evaporation of the waters of the ocean, the vapor rises, condenses and comes back in the forms of rain, which then forms the rivulets and rivers, and these in turn go back to the ocean), so also the beings of this world originate from Him, and ultimately merge back into Him. Just as the good water as well as the dirty water gets into the ocean but then lose their identity and get merged into the ocean, so also the jIvAtmA-s attain equality without distinction when they reach Him. Unlike the bounds which man can place for the lesser bodies of water, there is no bound that he can place for the ocean - another reflection of BhagavAn as apAm-nidhih or Ocean. Though the external surface of the ocean is full of waves, it’s deep inside is peace incarnate, and in this sense also He is apAm-nidhih.

324. Adhishthaanam - the substratum for the entire universe. SrI Sankara gives the more general meaning that He is adhishThAnam because He is the basis or support for everything in this Universe - adhithishThantibhUtAni. SrI BhaTTar interprets this as referring to His supporting the mandara mountain in His kUrma incarnation. He gives reference to vishNu purANa in support - "kshIroda-madhye bhagavAn kUrma-rUpI svayam harih | mandarAdreh adhishThAnam bhramato'bhUt mahA-mune || (1.9.88) Bhagavan nArAyaNa Himself, in the form of kUrma, supported the mandara mountain in the middle of the Milk Ocean when the mountain was revolving (at the time of churning)".

325. Apramattah - SrI Sankara's interpretation is that He is vigilant in awarding the effects of karma to those who are entitled to them. SrI cinmayAnanda points out - One who has no Pramaada, meaning, ‘One who never commits a mistake in judgment.†The Lord is the Law behind all happenings in the universe. The results of the actions are always strictly according to the quality of the actions. In administering this Law of Karma, One who never makes any mistake is Apramattah. We are full of Pramaada -we make the mistake of misunderstanding ourselves to be the matter equipment around us and due to this Pramaada, we project in ourselves the false concept of an Ego. The Supreme is ever the Pure Consciousness and, therefore, He is without such wrong self-judgement.

 

326. Pratishthitah -Everything in the world depends upon something else to serve as its cause. Since all things that we perceive and experience in the world are all effects, they have their own causes, and the effects must necessarily depend upon the cause for their very existence. The Supreme Lord is the One uncaused Cause with reference to whom everything is only an effect. Since He is thus the ultimate Cause, He is not depending upon anything other than Himself. This self-established Reality is indicated by the term Pratishthitah. Sri Sankara: One who is supported and established in His own greatness. Cha. Up [7.24.1] says “Sa bhagavah kasmin pratisthita iti, sve mahimni â€" O Lord! Where does He stand? In His own greatness.â€

Krishnarpanamastu!!