Vishnu Sahasranamam Stanza 44

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Om Namo Narayanaya!!

 

vaikunthah purushah praanah praanadah pranavah prithuh

hiranyagarbhah satrughno vyaapto vaayuradhokshajah.

 

405. Vaikunthah – " One who prevents men from going astray into wrong

paths " The bringing together of diversified things is Vikuntha. He

who is the agent of this is Vaikunthah. It can also mean one who has

no opposing factor.

SrI BhaTTar derives the meaning from the root kuThi gati praghAte -

obstructing the path. Thus kunThA signifies the obstacles to union.

vaikunTha-s are those whose obstacles have been removed. The

obstacles to bhagavAn are sins. He is the remover of sins, and so He

is called vaikunTha. SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri explains the nAma as

vigatA kunThA tasyAh kartA -One who regulates those that tend to go

their own way if left unobstructed. At the beginning of the earth,

when the pa~nca bhUta-s tended to expand uncontrolled without

uniting with each other, bhagavAn controlled this and made them co-

exist through union with other. SrI Sankara and SrI BhaTTar both

quote the following Sloka from mahAbhAratain in support " mayA

samSleshitA bhUmih adbhir-vyoma ca vAyunA | vAyuSca tejasA sArdham

viakunThatvam tato mama || (SAnti343-50) " By me the earth was united

with water, ether with air, and air with fire. So I am called

viakunTha " .

 

406. Purushah – " One who dwells in all bodies (Puris). " In

Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (3-4-1) it is said, " sa yatpUrvo'smAt

sarvasmAtsarvAn pApmana aushat tasmAt purushah (Br. Upa. 1.4.1) - He

existed before everything. He reduces all sins to ashes. Hence, He

is called Purushah. " SrI Sankara gives the additional support from

the Sruti-s: sa vA ayam purushah sarvAsu pUrshu puriSayah (BR.

Upa. 2.5.18) - He is indeed called purusha who lives in all the

bodies. In short, He is the One Self which thrills all living

creatures everywhere at all times.

 

407. Praanah – " One who is the form of `Praana' exists in the body,

propels all sense organs to act in their appointed fields, it is the

Lord Vishnu that activates the body as the five praanas, is found in

the Vishnupurana. V.P - " cestam karoti svasana rupi –he functions in

the form of the life giving force called Prana [sri Sankara]. The

dharma cakram writer points out that when bhagavAn gives life in the

form of the sun, the beings that receive this light are livelier

than the beings that do not get exposed to the sun. Similarly,

those who identify themselves with their body are not in an awakened

and energized state compared to those who realize that they are the

belongings of bhagavAn. bhagavAn in His mantra svarUpa awakens the

spiritual light in those who chant the gAyatri mantra, and this in

turn leads to God realization. Thus, He gives life in different ways

to the beings of this world.

 

408. Praanadah –This can mean " One who gives `Praana' or as one who

takes away `Praana', because, the root `da' has both the

meanings, `to give' and to break.' Therefore, Vishnu is the supreme

who gives Praana to all creatures in the beginning of the creation,

and He alone is again the one who destroys all the Praanaas

(movements) at the time of the dissolution. The interpretations

were: a) prANAn dadAti iti prAna-dah - He who gives life (SrI

Sankara and SrI BhaTTar); b) prANAn dyati iti prANah - He who takes

away the vital airs at the time of death (SrI Sankara); and c)

prANAndIpayati - He who purifies and brightens the vital airs (SrI

Sankara).

 

409. Pranavah – One who is praised or to whom prostrations are made

with Om. Om iti pranauti – so protration is made with OM. SrI

Sankara quotes sanatkumAra - praNamantIha vai vedAs-tasmAtpraNava

ucyate - He for whom prostrations are made in the veda, is praNavah.

praNavah refers to the praNava mantra, and this is considered the

verbal representation of bhagavAn - mantra svarUpi.

He who deserves to be worshiped. praNAmayati iti praNamah. By His

superior character, He makes others bow before Him [sri Bhattar].

 

410. Prithuh – " The expanded. " He whose expanse is expressed as the

world of infinite forms. In short, " He who All-pervasive. " SrI

Sankara gives the meaning " He who has expanded Himself as Cosmos " .

Looking at the world, through Puranas, it suggests, " the one who is

born as the king Prithuh, the son of the king vena –for bringing

prosperity to the country, is Lord Narayana. "

 

411. Hiranyagarbhah –it is the term used in the Vedanta for

the " creator " . He is the expression of the creative urge of the lord

Narayana. " The Golden-egg " means here that from which all the

objective world had emerged out, indicating the creator. " The term

thereby suggests that the entire creative power of the creator is

but the expression of the Self, Narayana.

SrI radhAkRshNa SAstri gives a connected account of the nAma-s

starting with viakunThah and ending with this nAma in terms of

creation. BhagavAn vaikunTha who has unobstructed and enormous

energy, descended from His state of parama purusha and decided to

reside in the beings in this Universe in the form of purusha in this

body as if it is vaikunTha. Then He converted the prAna Sakti which

operates the prakRti into a form which supported the beings, and

thus became prANa-dah. Thus resulted this Universe, the AkASa being

the first of the bhUta-s (tasmAd-vA etasmAdAtmana AkASas-sambhUtah).

First there resulted the great sound of praNava. From this AkASa,

there resulted the other bhUta-s (AkASAd-vAyuh, vAyoragnih,

agnerApah,adbhyah pRthivI), and thus He expanded into the cosmos

(pRthuh). This pRthu is the Father of this Universe. pRthvI is the

daughter of this pRthuh. Starting from the sthUla form, and

following through with the bestowing of the SUkshma form, He then

gave the prANamaya, manomaya, and vi~jnAna maya koSa-s to His

creations as the hiraNyagarbhah. Thus, starting from the nAma

viakunThah, and up to the nAma hiraNya garbhah, the secret of

creation is nicely revealed.

 

412. Satru-ghnah – " the destroyer of the enemies. " The lord is the

one who annihilates all the enemies of the gods, meaning, He is the

one who destroys all the negative tendencies in all serious seekers

totally devoted to Him. SrI BhaTTar points out that He subdues by

His arrows of wisdom the senses which lead away the people to the

enjoyment of earthly pleasures. That is, when one mediates on Him,

this is how He slays the enemies to the devotee's realization of Him.

 

413. Vyaaptah – " The Pervader. " The effects can never remain without

the Cause; the Cause is concurrent and inherent in it, effects. And

thus, the world that has risen from the Infinite, should be pervaded

by the Infinite. He who thus pervades everything is Narayana.

 

414. Vaayuh – " One who in the form of the atmospheric air sustains

all life everywhere. " He is not the air, but He is the life-giving

power in the air.

SrI Sankara derives the meaning from vAti - gandham karoti iti

vAyuh – He who is the cause of smell. Gita says- Punyo gandhah

prithivyam ca- I am the purifying smell in the earth. SrI BhaTTar:

He who moves (towards His devotees). He is called vAyu because He

Himself goes seeking His devotees wherever they may be. Examples are

His going to Sabari seeking her with respect.

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri refers us to the upanishad - vAyurasmai

puNyam gandham Avahati - aitareya 1.7. bhagavAn is the antaryAmi

for vAyu, and makes vAyu perform its functions - " yo vAyau tishThan-

vAyorantaro yam vAyur-na veda yasya vAyuh SarIram yovAyumantaro

yamayati, esha te AtmAntaryAmyamRtah " - bRhadA 3.7.7. SrI

rAdhAkRshNa SAstri gives several passages from the Sruti to bring

out the uniqueness and importance of vAyu among the devatAs. The

Sun, moon, fire and water all merge into vAyu when they disappear -

vAyurvAva samvargoyadA vA agnirudvAyati, vAyumevApyeti, yadA

sUryo'stameti vAyumevApyeti, yadAcandro'stameti vAyumevApyeti,

yadApa ucchushyantivAyumevApiyantivAyuhyavaitAn-sarvAn-amvRkye

(chAndogya 4.3). When the indriya-devatA-s such as the sun and the

moon enter the sushupti state, vAyu continues to be active as the

prANa vAyu - mlocanti hyanyA devatAh, navAyuh, saishA'nastamitA

devatA vAyuh - bRhadA 1.5.22. bhgavAn vishNu bears the earth

through His vibhUti as vAyu - kim tad-vishNor-balamAhuh |vAtAt-

vishNor-balamAhuh | (taittirIya 1.8.3). vAyu is the thread that

keeps this world together like a string holding the beads of a

chain; without this the world will break apart like a chain with a

broken string; bhagavAn is this force - vAyurvai gautama tat-sUtram,

vAyunA vai gautamasUtreNAyam ca lokah paraSca lokah sarvANi ca

bhutAni sandRbdhAni bhavanti (bRhadA 3.5.2). Thus vAyuh and its

vital role in the existence and survival of this Universe is the

reason for bhagavAn's nAma as vAyuh.

 

415. Adhokshajah -Mahabharata says, Adho na ksi yate yasmat tasmat

adhoksajah- " at no time My vitality flows downwards, and hence, I am

called, Adhokshajah'. The term can also mean, " One who is not

available for the powers of the sense organs to perceive. " Or, it

can also mean, " He who remains under both the atmosphere and the

earth as the Supporter of the entire universe. "

SrI Sankara gives an alternate interpretation - He who is perceived

when the sense organs (aksha gaNa-s) are made inward-looking. He

gives reference to the following verse. adho bhUte hyakshagaNe

pratyag-rUpa-pravAhite | jAyate tasya vai j~nAnam tena adhokshaja

ucyate ||

Yet another interpretation given by SrI Sankara is " He who manifests

Himself as the virAt between the sky (aksha) and the region below

(adhah) i.e., the Earth " - aksham adhah tayor-madhye vairAja rUpeNa

ajAyata iti adhkshajah. He is adokshajah because He never gets

diminished even though He is enjoyed by His devotees [sri Bhattar].

SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri adds yet another dimension: adhah -

j~nAtRtvabhAvAthInam, akshajam j~nAnam yasya sa adhokshajah - He who

is not recognized by indriya-s such as the eyes etc., even though He

is everywhere, in everything.

 

Krishnarpanamastu!!