Vishnu Sahasranamam Stanza 46

February 11, 2007

Om Namo Narayanaya!

vistaarah sthaavarah sthaanuh pramaanam beejamavyayam

artho anartho mahaakoso mahaabhogo mahaadhanah.

426. Vistaarah -The extension. The Lord is named thus because at the

time of Pralaya, in Him the entire universe of names and forms comes

to reside with ample accommodation for all of them. The term

Vistaarah can also mean " manifestation; " since the Lord manifests in

Himself, the universe.

427. Sthaavarah-sthaanuh -SrI Sankara interprets the nAma

as " sthitiSIlah sthAvarah; sthitiSilAnipRthivyAdIni tishThanti asmin

iti sthANuh; sthAvaraSca asau sthANuScasthAvara-sthANuh " . This is

translated slightly differently by two different interpreters. One

is that the apparently motionless objects such as the earth etc.,

rest in Him. The other interpretation is that this nAma refers

to " He who is firmly established, and in whom the apparently

motionless entities such as the earth are established, and He is

both of these " .

Sri Bhattar: a) He who is tranquil after establishing the dharma in

kRta yuga.b) He in whom the earth etc. rest c) He who is motionless,

and in whom the earth etc. rest. SrI BhaTTa's vyAkhyAnam is " evam

dharme sthAvari_kRte, Same sthAsyati itisthAvara-sthANuh " , which

supports interpretation a) above. SrI cinmayAnanda gives the

interpretation " He is both Firm (shtAvara) and Motionless

(shtANuh) " . He is motionless because He is All-pervading. SrI

rAdhAkRshNa SAstri explains sthAvara as referring to the pa~nca

bhUta-s that will continue till the time of pralaya, sthANuh as

referring to One whose state does not change, and interprets

sthAvara-sthANuh as referring to One who does not change in His

state, and in whom the changeless pa~ncabhUta-s exist.

428. Pramaanam -The proof. He is the underlying principle of all

intellectual arguments and for all scientific methodology, since He

is the very Consciousness behind all discussions. Lord Narayana is

the very authority behind all Dharmas and hence He becomes the

essential Reality behind all (pramaana). One who is of the nature of

pure consciousness [sri Sankara].

429. Beejamavyayam - The Seed, Imperishable. The nAma is bIjam

(seed) that is avyayam (imperishable). SrI Sankara vyAkhyAnam is

that He is the cause of everything without Himself undergoing any

change (anyathA bhAvavyatih ekeNa kAraNam). Because dharma grows

again and again from Him after the end of each yuga, He is the

Imperishable Seed (SrI BhaTTar). The dharma cakram writer gives a

slightly different interpretation - Unlike some seeds which may not

produce a tree and which may decay in the form of the seed itself,

bhagavAn is the undecaying seed from which the Universe results.

430. Arthah - The Goal - He who is sought after. That which is

obtained or desired to be obtained is " artha " . SrI Sankara bhAshyam

is " sukha rUpatvAt sarvaih arthyata iti arthah " – He who is sought

after by all as He is of the nature of bliss. SrI BhaTTar refers us

to gItA - " j~nAnavAn mAm prapadye vAsudevah sarvam iti " (7.19). SrI

rAdhAkRshNa SAstri remarks that there are many things in this world

which are sought after with a view to deriving happiness, but they

all end up in resulting in misery after they are acquired and

enjoyed. Unlike these, bhagavAn is sought after by those who have

the j~nAna to know that He is the only one to be sought for

permanent bliss.

431. Anarthah - SrI Sankara bhAshyam is that bhagavAn is completely

fulfilled and so does not need any artha (i.e., He does not seek

anything), and so He is anarthah.

SrI BhaTTar: a) He who is not the goal for some. b) He who is self-

fulfilled and does not have any other end to seek. a) SrI BhaTTar

explains that He is not sought after by those who have only little

merit. They seek Him if at all, only for wealth. These are those who

want to regain their lost wealth, those who wish to acquire new

wealth, and those who seek the enjoyment of their own self

(kaivalyam) without seeking kaimkaryam to bhagavAn. The dharma

cakram writer has devoted about one-and-a-half pages to this nAma,

and nicely describes how the current-day human being goes to great

lengths to make himself/herself comfortable, and in the process

keeps making life miserable. The needs just keep increasing the more

new things are invented. The atom bomb is invented, and instead of

protecting man it becomes a threat to worry about. More and more

cosmetics are invented; and more and more diseases result as a

result of their use. More and more things are invented to satisfy

our taste buds, and more and more problems result because of over-

consumption. This nAma should illustrate to us that life that does

not keep multiplying our needs is the life that will ultimately lead

us to the mental state where we can contemplate on bhagavAn.

432. Mahaakosah - SrI Sankara's interpretation is based on the

meaning " shield " for koSa. This interpretation is that the real

nature of the soul is shielded by the five koSa-s, anna maya koSa,

prANa maya koSa, mano maya koSa, vij~nAna mayakoSa, and Ananda maya

koSa, and bhagavAn is the mahAkoSa who is shielded from all except

the yogi-s.

SrI BhaTTar: a) He who has a great treasure. b) He who is a Great

Treasure. c) He who is shielded by the five koSa-s or shields. koSa

means treasure. mahA-koSa refers to vast, inexhaustible treasure.

Even though BhagavAn is giving away Himself and His belongings

always to His devotees in all ways, still it does not diminish. The

dharma cakram writer points out that by control of our indriya-s we

can cross the anna maya koSa, by control of breath we can cross the

prANa maya koSa, by control of the mind the manomayakoSa is crossed,

by channeling one's intellect and through control of worldly desires

and passions we can cross the vij~nAnamaya koSa, and through

meditation on the Self we cross the Anandamaya koSa, and ultimately

realize bhagavAn.

433. Mahaabhogah -One who is of the nature of enjoyment (bhogah), He

being of the nature of bliss. Also He is the one from whom the

greatest bliss (bhogah) can be gained by the seekers. In short, the

term indicates Him as one who gives the greatest happiness to all

those who are devoted to Him. He who has objects of great enjoyment.

One who has bliss as the greatest source of enjoyment [sri Sankara].

SrI BhaTTar: He who has objects of great enjoyment. Great sensual

gratifications which have got to be acquired by means of wealth,

they too can be had from Him. The objects of desires that are

obtained by the worship of indra and other gods is but a blessing of

bhagavAn - " labhate catatah kAmAn mayaiva vihitAn hitAn " - gItA

7.22. The dharma cakram writer points out that among the joys that

one gets, there are those which are conducive to desirable benefits,

and there are those which lead to misery as a result of the

enjoyment. When one eats food for satisfying hunger, this does not

lead to suffering, but when one consumes food to satisfy the taste

buds, it is of the later kind. The enjoyment involving gambling,

intoxicating drinks, stealing other's wealth, etc., are bought at

the price of misery as a consequence. The term mahAbhogah indicates

that bhagavAn is the source of the bliss that is the greatest of all

joys that lead to positive benefits, the one that leads to Self

realization.

434. Mahaadhanah -One who is supremely rich with the wealth of

bliss, which he can give to His devotees. Vishnu is one from whom

His devotees gain great wealth. He is endowed with immeasurable and

unlimited wealth to be given to those who need it [sri Sankara]. SrI

BhaTTar quotes vishNu purANa - marIcimiSraih daksheNa tathaiva

anyaih anantatah |dharmah prApatah tathA ca anyaih arthah kAmah

tathA paraih || - vishNupurAna 1.18.23 " dharma in an endless manner

has been obtained from Him by the revered marIci, daksha, and

others. Similarly wealth has been obtained from Him by others.

Likewise, by yet others kAma (the sensual enjoyment) has been

acquired " . SrI rAdhAkRshNa SAstri points out that He is the

possessor of the great wealth that can be put in the mahAkoSa -

great treasure chest (nAma 432),and that is needed for the

mahAbhoga - great enjoyment (nAma 433).The dharma cakram writer

discusses three kinds of wealth - material wealth, knowledge, and

devotion. The first two can be attained by anyone irrespective of

their character etc. Those who have material wealth or knowledge are

praised by the people of this world, and as a result get intoxicated

with pride. But the third category of wealth is rewarded and praised

by bhagavAn, and does not lead to anything except bhagavAn Himself.

Lord rAma during His paTTAbhishekam gave away lots of material gifts

to the participants, but He did not give any material gift to

hanumAn. When siTa asked rAma about this, He told her that He has

already given to hanumAn what nobody else knows, and that she can

find out what it is from hanumAn himself. When asked, hanumAn shows

Lord rAma and sItA residing in His heart. This is what vishNu's nAma

of mahAdhanah indicates, viz. that He gives away the greatest wealth

there is, Himself, to His devotees.