Vishnu Sahasranamam Stanza 40

[Guest guest]

Om Namo Narayanaya!!

 

viksharo rohito maargo hetur daamodarah sahah

maheedharo mahaabhaago vegavaan-amitaasanah.

 

363. Viksharah -Ksharah means " decaying, " " that which is perishing " ,

and so Viksharah means " Imperishable " . All material things are

conditioned by time and all objects are, therefore, perishable. The

Lord, the Self, is the Subject and is, therefore, ever Unchanging

and always Imperishable. SrI Sankara bhAshyam is " vigatah ksharah

(nASo) yasya asau viksharah " – One who has no decay. SrI BhaTTar

gives the interpretation that bhagavAn's love for His devotees never

diminishes, and He is vikshara by this reason.

 

364. Rohitah -The term `Rohita' means fish, and this name has come

to indicate Lord Vishnu because of His first incarnation as the

Fish. When the entire world was submerged in the waters of the

deluge, the only living creatures that were available at that time

could only be fishes. Lord could incarnate at that time only in the

form of the Fish. Therefore, here the term means " One who had

manifested to serve the living creatures as the Fish among the

fishes. "

 

365. Maargah – " The Path. " In order to realise the Highest which is

the Nameless and Formless, human mind will have to first hold on to

a divine form, and that is Lord Vishnu. He is the Way and the Goal.

In short, " He is the One whom seekers of the Highest meditate upon

in order to reach the Supreme. " SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives another

aspect - After the Universe disappears at the time of praLaya, it is

He who is the way for the world's re-appearance. He is mArgah

because He is always sought after by His worshippers (Sri Bhattar).

 

366. Hetuh – " The Cause " . One who is the cause for the whole

universe. He is at once the material-cause (Upaadaana Kaarana), the

instrumental-cause (Nimitta Kaarana) and He who alone is also the

efficient-cause in the creation of this universe. Hence, He is

called The Cause. He is the cause for the realization of the desires

of His devotees (Sri Bhattar).

 

367. Daamodarah –This term has come to indicate the Lord because, He

is One who is known through a mind which is purified (Udara) by

means of self-control (dama) and such other qualities. According to

Mahabharata, " We call Him as Daamodara as He is known by means of

Dama. " - damAt dAmodaro viduh. Brahmapurana [76.13.14] re-capitulates

the incident in the early childhood of the Lord when He was tied

with a cord (daama) round His waste (udara).

Dadarsa c'alpa-dant'asyam, smita-hasam ca balakam

Tayor Madhya-gatam baddham damna gadham tathodare

Tatas ca Damodaratam sa yayau dama bandhanat

" The inhabitants of Gokula saw the boy smiling with tiny teeth,

passing between two trees with the rope tied tightly around his

waist. As He was thus tied up with the rope, He got the name

Damodara from that time. "

There is the following verse by Vyasa:

Damani loka-namani tani yasy'odarantare

Tena damodara devah sridharah sri-samasritah

" Dama means the world. He in whose abdomen the worlds have

existence, that Lord, known also as Srinivasa or Sridhara is

Damodara. "

This term can also mean " One in whose bosom rests the whole

universe. "

 

368. Sahah – " All enduring " . The Lord is One who has patience at

everything, and is One who readily forgives all the faults of His

sincere devotees. SrI Sankara vyAkhyAna is that He forgives the

lapses of His devotees - sahate sarvAn abhibhavati iti sahah. SrI

rAdhAkRshNa SAstri points out that He bears the burden of the

Universe for the sake of the welfare of the creatures in the

Universe. SrI BhaTTar links this nAma to the previous one by

pointing that He patiently accepted being tied by the rope.

 

369. Maheedharah – " The Supporter or the Bearer of the Earth " . Since

He is the very essence in the universe as its material-cause, He is

the One who supports all forms in the universe. The Lord supports

the world, just as gold `supports' the ornaments, the

cotton `supports' the cloth, the ocean `supports' the waves. Sri

Sankara gives reference to vishNu purANa -vanAni vishNur girayo

diSaSca - 2.12.37) - The forests, mountains, and directions are all

vishNu.

 

370. Mahaa-bhaagah - He who is extremely Fortunate. SrI BhaTTar

explains that Lord kRshNa has the good fortune (mahA bhAgya) of

being chosen for service as their Lord by the cowherdess nILa,

sixteen thousand celestial damsels, rukmiNi, satyabhAmA, jAmbavati,

and others. SrI Sankara gives the vyAkhyAna that He is fortunate in

being able to take any form He likes, or He who gets the best of

everything in His incarnations. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri points out

that He is mahAbhAgah because He gets the major (mahA) portion

(bhAga) of any offering as He likes. He refers us to the incident of

the offering by the gopa-s to the govardhana giri instead of Indra

at the insistence of kRshNa. Lord kRshNa appeared at the top of

the govaradhana mountain and accepted all the offerings.

 

371. Vegavaan – " He who is swift " ; SrI Sankara interprets the nAma in

terms of the ISopanishad declaration " anejadekam manso javIyah - He

is unmoving, but at the same time faster than the mind " . The

context here is that He is inside us, but no amount of reasoning

with our mind can decipher Him and figure Him out. He cannot be

understood by reason and logic alone, since even a lifetime of

reasoning with the mind that is faster than anything that is known

will not result in realizing Him. SrI BhaTTar points out that even

when He was child kRshNa, His actions were displaying His

irresistible supremacy and Lordship. SrI v.v.rAmAnujan refers us to

the incident of pUtanA, SakaTAsura, lifting of govardhana giri at

the tip of the finger, etc. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri points to the

incident of rukmiNi svayamvaram as an example of the quickness of

action that He displays. SrI cinmayAnanda gives the interpretation

that He reaches His devotees the moment they think of Him because He

is everywhere and all-pervading.

 

372. Amitaasanah – " Of endless appetite. " SrI Sankara interprets the

nAma in terms of His swallowing the whole Universe at the time of

praLaya. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri points out that there is nothing

that He cannot digest, since He is the jATarAgni that digests the

food that every being consumes - aham vaiSvAnaro

bhUtvA ....pacAmyannam caturvidham (gItA 15.14). The dharma cakram

writer points out that we can neither live and grow without eating,

nor live without digesting the food we eat, and both are made

possible by Him, and this is siginified by this nAma. SrI BhaTTar

points out that Lord kRshNa displayed His greatness, among other

acts, by swallowing the unlimited quantity of food offered to

govardhana giri, making the cowherds exclaim in wonder - " devo vA

dAnavo vA tvam " - " Who are you - adeva or an asura? " - vishNu

purANam 5.13.121.

 

krishnarpanamastu!!