Vishnu Sahasranamam Stanza 48

[Guest guest]

Om Namo Narayanaya!

 

yajnah ijyo mahejyashcha kratuh satram sataam gatih

sarvadarshee vimuktaatmaa sarvajno jnaanamuttamam.

 

445. Yajnah - The Sacrifice. The spirit of the nAma is that He is

yaj~na-svarUpi Himself, i.e., He practices yaj~na of the Highest

Order. The term yaj~na is nicely explained by the dharma cakram

writer. karma binds us to the phala-s deriving from these karma-s;

yaj~na releases us from the bondage of karma. In other words, any

act that is done without a selfish goal, for the benefit of others

and for the benefit of the world, with a spirit of sacrifice,

performed without the feeling of " I " associated with it, and acts

done as bhagavad-ArAdhana, these qualify as yaj~na. There is

divinity associated with acts which are performed with this spirit.

This writer goes on to describe the different types of yaj~na.

dravyayaj~na (expending one's earnings for the public good), tapo

yaj~na (contemplating and meditating on bhagavAn and diverting all

thoughts towards Him), yoga yagj~na (practicing utmost self-control

and controlling all five senses and leading a life consistent with

conduct guided by this principle), and lastly the greatest of all

yaj~na-s - dedicating oneself and one's belongings towards the

service of bhagavAn. When we have transformed all our acts so that

they are not karma-s devoted to our selfish goals, we have

transformed the karma-s to yaj~na. The ultimate yaj~na is when we

have offered ourselves as the Ahuti in this yaj~na, i.e., we do

everything for His benefit, not for our benefit. Since every one of

bhagavAn's acts is for the benefit of His devotees and nothing is

for His own benefit, He is the incarnation of yaj~na. Several

references are provided in support of this nAma. SrI BhaTTar refers

us to the Sruti - yaj~no vai vishNuh. SrI Sankara extends this

interpretation to include bhagavAn's nurturing all the other gods.

As yaj~na-svarUpi or sacrifice-bodied, He provides offerings to all

gods, thus causing their satisfaction and happiness -

sarveshAmdevAnAm tushTi-kArako yaj~na AkAreNa pravartata iti.

 

446. Ijyah -One who is fit to be invoked through yajnas. Lord

Narayana is the only one who is being invoked in all yajnas, even

when the devotee particularly invokes any other deity. This is

revealed in gItA - ye tu anya-devatA bhaktA yajante SraddhayA

anvitAh | te'pi mAmeva kaunteya yajanti a-vidhi-pUrvakam ||

(gItA9.23). SrI BhaTTar also refers us to mahAbhArata - ye yajanti

pitR*n devAn brAhamNan sahutASanAn | sarva bhUtAntarAtmAnam

vishNumeva yajanti te || (SAnti355.24) " Those who worship the

spirits of their forefathers, the gods, the brahmins as well as

agni - they in reality worship only vishNu who is the Inner Soul of

all beings " . He, being the Infinite, all gods are expressions of His

own glory and therefore, irrespective of the deity invoked, all

yajnas are worship of Vishnu. SrI Sankara quote the harivamSa to

support the same interpretation - ye yajanti makhaih

puNyair_devaTAdIn pitR*napi | AtMAnam AtmanA nityam vishNumeva

yajanti te || (3.40.27) " Holy sacrifices to divinities and pitR-s

are verily adoration of vishNu Himself, who is the Self of all " .

 

447. Mahejyah -One who is to be most worshipped. One who most

certainly is to be invoked in every ritual because all other

devataas invoked during the yajnas can each fulfil the seeker's

desires; but to invoke Sri Narayana is to invoke the only Power that

can supply complete liberation for the devotee. Therefore, He is the

object of great sacrifice. He is the best object of worship because

He alone can give the final liberation from the cycle of samsAra,

whereas the other objects of worship can only give the lesser

fruits. SrI Sankara bhAshyam is " sarvAsu devatAsumoksha-phala-

dAtRtvAt iti mahejyah " – He who, of all deities worshipped is

capable of giving moksha.

 

448. Kratuh -A Yajna in which there is a sacrificial post is Kratu.

The Lord is called kratu because He is of the form of such

sacrifices [sri Sankara].

SrI BhaTTar: a) Object of worship through the sacrifices called

kratu-s. b) He who is behind the actions of everybody or He by whom

everything is done. SrI rAdhAkRshNa Sastri points out that among the

different types of yAga-s, the type where one uses one's resources

to perform a yAga with a definite objective and within a prescribed

duration, is called a kratu. This requires firm dedication, sincere

effort, and the firm belief that the desired result will be

obtained. Since He is the one worshipped by all these, He is kratuh.

Or since He is the personification of all these, He is kratuh.

 

449. Satram - SrI BhaTTar: a) He who is worshipped by the sacrifice

called satram. b) He who protects the good people c) He who makes

everything go. satram is another type of sacrifice, this one done on

an unlimited timescale, devoted to world-welfare, with participation

from multitude of people. SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is " dIrgha-kAla

bahu-yajamAnakamAsacodanA-lakshaNam satram " . SrI rAdhAkRshNa Sastri

points out that the activity that is commonly undertaken to feed the

pilgrims in large numbers in choultries (called Sattiram in tamizh)

is an example of this kind of selfless activity where many good

people participate for the welfare of a larger community of people.

Again bhagavAn is the object of worship of these activities, and so

He is satra-svarUpi. SrI Sankara gives an additional interpretation -

He who protects the good -satah trAyati iti sat-tram.

 

450. Sataam gatih - The Goal of the pious. This nAma occurred

earlier as nAma 184 - Slokam 20. SrI Sankara bhAshyam is " satAm -

mumukshUNAm na-anyA gatih iti satAm-gatih " - The sole support for

those who seek liberation. SrI BhaTTar comments that whereas in

previous nAma-s, bhagavAn is described as the goal of those who

follow the pravRtti-dharma, i.e., dealing with the pleasures and

business of the world, this nAma signifies that He is also the goal

of those who follow the nivRtti-dharma, i.e., discontinuance of

worldly acts or emotions. SrI BhaTTar gives reference to vishNu

purANam -nirdhUta dosha-pa~nkAnAm yatInAm samyatAtmanAm | sthAnam

tat paramam vipra! puNya-pApa parikshaye || 2.8.94 " O brAhmin! That

is the sublime place for yati-s (i.e., yogins) who have washed off

the mire of sins and who control their minds when all their merits

and sins have been annihilated " . SrI cinmayAnanda comments that the

term gatih in samskRt means both the path and the goal. SrIman

nArAyaNa is both the means and the end for the sAdhu-s, and it is

only by surrendering to Him that they reach Him.

 

451. Sarvadarshee –The All-Seer. One who, by His innate insight, is

able to see all the good and evil actions of living beings. " As He

is the pure Consciousness in all living creatures, all knowledge in

all beings is illumined by Him. Just as the sun is " the eye of the

universe, " so the Consciousness is the Illuminator of every- thing.

Since He is the antaryAmi in everything, He sees everything even

without the awareness of the beings. SrI cinmayAnanda observes that

as the Sun is known as the " eye of the Universe " , bhagavAn is the

Illuminator of everything. SrI rAdhAkRshNa Sastri points out that He

observes everything irrespective of whether we perform what are

supposed to perform or we don't perform what we are supposed to

perform. The dharma cakram writer summarizes the purport of this

nAma by pointing out that when we act with the full realization that

He is our Inner Consciousness, and when we act consistent with that,

we have understood the meaning of this nAma. This is behind the

concept that we should do every act of ours by dedicating it to Him,

and not perform any act that is not towards His Will. (AnukUlaya

sa~nkalpam,prAtikUlya varjanam).

 

452. Vimuktaatmaa – " The ever-liberated Self. " The Supreme, though He

expresses Himself through the equipments, He is never conditioned by

the matter envelopments through which He apparently expresses

Himself. Just as the waves rise, exist and dissolve in the ocean,

the equipments of experiences rise, play and dissolve themselves in

Him. He is ever-liberated, never-shackled by gross matter. This

great principle of Paraatmaa is Sri Narayana. -Sruti says

(Kathopanishad 5-1). " vimuktas ca vimucyate- Himself free, He

liberates others " [sri Sankara].

 

453. Sarvajnah – " Omniscient. " He is the Principle of Consciousness

and, therefore, He is the Illuminator of all thoughts, all

intentions, motives, emotions and all sense perceptions in an

individual. The meaning is the same as in Sarvadarsee. One who is

all and knows all. " idam sarvam yad ayam atma – all that is seen is

Atma " Brih Up 2.4.6 [sri Sankara]. Sri BhaTTar explains that He

knows that He is the antaryAmi in everything, and thus He is

sarvaj~nah. He knows He is the best dharma, the best means, and the

best goal.

 

454. Jnaanamuttamam –That conciousness which is superior to all,

birthless, unlimited by time and space and the cause of all

achievements. " The Supreme Knowledge of all other knowledges. " The

Self is the Supreme Knowledge, for, without the Consciousness, no

knowledge is possible. Taittireeyopanishad indicates the Self

as. " Satyam Jnaanam, Anantam Brahma " .

 

Krishnarpanamastu!