Vishnu Sahasranamam Stanza 43

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Om Namo Narayanaya!!

raamo viraamo virajo maargo neyo nayo-anayah

veerah saktimataam-sreshthah dharmo dharmaviduttamah.

 

394. Raamah – " That which revels in every form or that in which all

Yogins in their meditation revel. ramante yoginah asmin iti rAmah.

Therefore, by the term `Raamah', the Supreme Self is indicated. The

term can also mean " One who has a compelling charm about Himself. He

who is the most Handsome. "

Sri Sankara quotes from padma purana: Ramante yogino yasmin

niyanande cidatmani. Iti ramanpadena'etat param brah'abhidhiyate –

the word Rama denotes supreme Brahman who is eternally blissful

spiritual self in whom the Yogis delight. Or the word can mean one

who of his own will assumed the enchanting form of rama, the son of

dasaratha.

SrI BhaTTar gives several references. rAmo ramayatAm SreshThah -

rAma is the foremost among those who delight the minds of all people

(rAmAyaNa - ayodhyA 53-1); guNAbhirAmam rAmam ca – rAma who is

filled with kalyANa guNa-s (mahAbhArata sabhA 58-42); tathAsarva-

prajA kAntaih prIti sanjananaih pituh | guNaih viruruce rAmah

dIptahsUrya iva amSubhih || - rAma who is liked by His citizens, who

brings happiness to His father, and who is full of kalyANa guNa-s,

shone like the Sun with its intense and bright rays - ayodhyA 1.33.

The dharma cakram writer adds that there are two kinds of delight-

delights of this world which have sadness associated with them

always as a consequence, and the delight pertaining to the enjoyment

of para brahmam which has pure lasting happiness associated with

it. rAma is the source of the later kind. The writer refers us to

Sabari's holding on to life only to have the darSan of rAma, the

Rshi-s who delighted themselves in the sight of rAma, and the gopi-s

and gopAla-s who had bhagavad-anubhavam by being with kRshNa

 

395. Vi-raamah – " He in whom the creatures rest; The Abode of perfect

rest " , having reached which, there is no return into the realms of

experiences. That state is called Viraamah. Some commentators

recognise in this term a meaning as, " He (Isvara) in whom the world

of plurality merges during the deluge. "

SrI Sankara gives the explanation that He is the final resting place

or goal of all beings - virAmah avasAnam prANinAm asmin iti

virAmah.

SrI cinmayAnanda explains that He is the final resting place because

having reached Him there is no return into the realm of experiences.

SrI BhaTTar has explained the nAma as follows: viramyate asmin

varapradaih brahmAdibhih, varaiSca avadhyAdibhih, labdha-varaiSca

rAvaNAdibhih itivirAmah - Before rAma all become powerless,

including the likes of brahma who grant the boons, the boons

themselves of indestructibility even by death, and people like

rAvaNa who acquired the boons by their austerities. He quotes

rAmAyaNa in this context - brahmA svayambhUh caturAnano vA ...

(Sundara kANDa 51.45), where hanumAn advises rAvaNa to understand

rAma's prowess. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri refers us to rAmAyaNa wherein

we find that those who have seen rAma or have diverted their

thoughts on Him do not even try to get out of this mode. na hi

tasmAt manah kaScit cakshushI vA narottamAn | narah

SaknotyapAkrashTum atikrAnte abhi rAghave || (rAmA 2.18.13)

" The dharma cakram writer comments that until the soul reaches Him

i.e. attains moksha, there is always re-birth, and He is the final

resting place, attaining which alone one can rest finally. So this

nAma should remind us that the final goal is mahA vishNu, and teach

us to meditate on Him.

 

396. Virajah – " Passionless. " " One who is not associated with the

agitations (Rajas) of the mind. " The mind gets agitated when it

identifies with the sense-objects of the world outside. The Atman,

the Self, in its Pure Nature, has no such identifications, and,

therefore, He is recognised as `passionless.' SrI BhaTTar remarks

that virajo-mArgah is the version when the two words are combined as

one nAma, and the meaning is that He is the One who shows the

flawless path. SrI cinmayAnanda gives the interpretation that He is

without the rajas or agitation of the mind, and so He is virajah

(passionless). The dharma cakram writer points out that the

difference between us and bhagavAn is this - that we are attached

and He is detached. The significance of this nAma is that we should

learn to be detached by meditating on this nAma of bhagavAn.

 

397. Maargah – " The path. " There is no other way to know Him. For

complete liberation, there is no way other than realising the Self,

Sree Narayana. SrI Sankara quotes the taittirIya upanishad - nAnyah

panthAvidyateyanAya (3.13). There is no path to liberation other

than knowledge of Atman.

 

398. Neyah – " The Guide " , the " Conductor. " He who guides and

ultimately takes the seeker to the Reality is Lord Narayana, the

Saguna Brahman. Through surrender to Narayana, the devotee develops

the integration within and when fully integrated, he becomes the

meditator and through meditation, the Highest is achieved.

Therefore, Vishnu is indicated here as the " Conductor. "

The term can also mean " One who is fit to be conducted to the

Highest. " The individual-ego is that which tries to realise its own

real nature, the self. The very individuality (Jiva) who is fit to

be led towards the gateway to the Higher Consciousness is the One

that has removed its false attachments and is held in animated joy,

in meditation. In essence, such a jiva is nothing other than the

Supreme, and, therefore, the Supreme is thus called as the Jiva.

Sri Bhattar: He who lets Himself be governed (by His devotees). netA

refers to one who leads. neyah is one who is led. SrI BhaTTar gives

the derivation - niyoga arhatvAt neyah. niyogah means order. One

who is fit to be entrusted with the responsibility to command is

also neyah. SrI BhaTTar gives the following

references: " Ag~nyApyo'ham tapasvinAm " - I am agreeable to be

commanded by those who practice austerities - (rAmAyaNa AraNya

6.22);:niyunkshva cApi mAm kRtye sarvam kartAsmi te vacah - KRshNa's

words to yudhisThira - You may ask me to do whatever you want; I

shall certainly carry out your behests (mahAbhArata anuSAsana

33.25); " ayam asmi mahAbAho brUhi yat te vivakshitam| karishyAmIha

tat sarvam yattvam vakshyati bhArata! ||

 

399. Nayah – " One who leads. " When such a true devotee slowly and

steadily gains his detachments from the outer world he moves himself

more and more into the Higher and Subtler states of Consciousness.

The one who leads such a seeker is again the grace of the same Self-

Atma bala. Sri Bhattar- When rAma reached daNDakAraNyam,the Rshi-s

there were drawn to Him, and they entrusted their protection solely

to Him, even though they had their tapo-balam. SrI v.v.rAmAnujan

refers us to bhagavAn's words in His varAha incarnation - nayAmi

paramAmgatim - I will lead everyone to the Ultimate, viz. moksham.

The dharma cakram writer points out the examples of arjuna being led

in the right path by bhagavAn through the gItopadeSam. Meditation on

this nAma of bhagavAn should reveal to us that the path to moksham

is to be drawn towards Him and to follow His lead.

 

400. A-nayah -If the ego is led by the Lord (as Naya) to the

Highest, then when once the Supreme State is reached, It has none to

lead or guide It. The Lord guides all, but there is none to guide

Him. This is because He is All- pervading and, therefore, He needs

no guide to lead Him to Himself, as He is everywhere at all times.

SrI Sankara's interpretation that He is one who is not led by

anyone, unlike He who leads everyone in the spiritual path. SrI

bhaTTar gives the example of the futile effort of rAvaNa to lift and

carry away lakshmaNa when he was lying on the battleground after

being struck by the Sakti weapon by rAvaNa.

 

401. Veerah – " The Valiant. " One who, by His prowess; creates the

fear in the minds of the Rakshasas. SrI Sankara bhAshyam

is " vikramaSAlitvAt vIrah - One who is valorous " .

SrI bhaTTar gives reference to the following: mArIca tells rAvaNa

about rAma - " vRkshe vRkshe ca paSyAmi cIra kRshNAjinAmbaram

| gRhIta dhanusham rAmam pASa hastamiva antakam || (rAmAAraNya

39.14) " " In every tree I see rAma dressed in tree bark and black

deer-skin and His bow drawn as though He is the god of death with

the rope in hand " . " brahma-daNDa prakASAnAm vidyut-sadRSa varcasAm

| smaran rAghava-bANAnAn vivyate rAkshaseSvarah ||(yuddha

60.3) " " rAvaNa, the king of rAkshasa-s, became uneasy when he even

thought of the arrows of rAma, which had the luster of the club of

brahma and the glitter of the lightning " . " mAta~nga iva simhena

garuDeneva pannagah | abhibhUto'bhavad-rAjA rAghaveNa mahAtmanA ||

(yuddha 60.2) " " The king (rAvaNa) was overpowered by the powerful

rAma like the elephant by the lion, and the serpent by garuDa " .

 

402. Saktimataam-sreshthah – " The One who is the most powerful among

the powerful beings. " All powers that are available have been

classified under three types: the power-of -Knowledge (Jnaana-

Sakti), the power-of-Desire (Icchaa-Sakti) and the power-of-Action

(Kriyaa-Sakti). All these powers are expression of the Self in the

intellect, in the sub-conscious mind and in the physical body,

respectively. Naturally the Self is the best among all other kinds

of powers in as much as, all powers are expressions of this Great

Self. SaktimatAmapi SaktimattvAt SaktimatAm SreshThah. He is the

most praiseworthy among the powerful gods and others.

 

403. Dharmah –SrI cinmayAnanda discusses in some detail the

significance of this term " dharma " . By example, he points out that

the dharma of sugar is sweetness, the dhaarma of fire is heat, etc.,

and thus the dharma of an the individual in this sense is the soul,

without which the individual does not exist and the individual's

expressions, physical, mental and intellectual, are all expressions

of the self through the equipment in Him. Since bhyagavAn is the one

Self that supports all the individuals, He is the Ultimate Dharma.

Thus " Dharma " means the only self in all individuals.

One who supports all beings. Kath Upa says " Anuresa dharmaah " - this

dharma is extremely subtle [sri Sankara]. Dharma in anything is that

which supports the things and, therefore, the self which is essence

everywhere, is considered as the very one which supports everything.

SrI bhaTTar interprets this nama as Virtue Incarnate. He points out

that He is Virtue Incarnate because He sustains all beings by

conferring prosperity and salvation on them. In yuddha kANDa brahma

says of Lord rAma - lokAnAm tvam paramo dharmah - Thou art the

Supreme Dharma in all the worlds. In mahAbhArata we have " sAkshAt

devahpurANO'sau sa hi dharmah sanAtanah - He is ancient God Himself

and also the eternal dharma incarnate " . About kRshNa incarnation -

" ye ca vedavido viprAh ye ca adhyAtmavido janAh | te vadanti

mahAtmAnam kRshNam dharam sanAtanam || " Those brAhmins who are well-

versed in veda-s, and those who realized the Brahman, declare in one

voice that the great SrI kRshNa is the eternal dharma incarnate " .

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri reminds us of " dharmo rakshati rakshitah,

dharma evahato hanti " - dharma protects those who protect it, and

destroys those who destroy it. Dharma is like the guides on both

sides of the road; if we follow them, we reach our destination

safely; if we go outside the limit, or if we collide with the

guides, we encounter suffering. bhagavAn is this guide for those

who want to follow it. Those who don't follow it pay dearly. The

dharma cakram writer gives several examples of where dharma has

protected those who followed it, and destroyed those who tried to

ignore it. In the former category are hariScandra, the pANDava-s,

etc. In the latter category are rAvaNa, duryodhana, etc. BhIshma

tried his very best to advice duryodhana that no one who follows

dharma can be defeated in the end, no matter how many bhIshma-s try

to help duryodhana. But he won't listen, and ultimately paid the

price for adharma. Same was the case with rAvaNa, who would not

listen to vibhIshaNa-s advice. Meditation on this nAma of mahAvishNu

should teach us the basic lesson that dharma protects those who

follow it, and adharma will have no end other than self-destruction.

 

404. Dharma-vid-uttamah –The greatest knower of Dharma. He is called

so because all the scriptures consisting of Sritis and Smrities form

His commandments. " One who is the highest among men of realisation. "

All those who know the Reality are knower among all knowers of the

self. Sages such as vasishTha,vAmadeva, and mArkaNDeya who were the

guru-s for rAma resorted to Him for a knowledge of dharma (SrI

BhaTTar).

 

Krishnarpanamastu!!