Vishnu Sahasranama Stanza 52

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Om Namo Narayanaya!

gabhastinemih sattvasthah simho bhootamahesvarah

aadidevo mahaadevo deveso devabhrit guruh.

 

486. Gabhastinemih -The Centre of the Supreme planetary system. The

Sanskrit term `Gabhasti' means `rays', and the term `nemih' means

the `spokes.' Therefore, the term indicates " One who is the hub of

the wheel-of-light in which the spokes are His own rays of

brilliancy. " Astronomically, we can consider this as the sun, the

centre of the planetary system. Subjectively, He is the Atman, the

Self-the Effulgent Consciousness-beaming out Himself to the whirls

of matter (the five koshas). SrI Sankara bhAshyam is that bhagavAn

is the Center of the planetary systems - gabhasti-cakrasya madhye

sUryAtmanA sthita iti gabhastinemih. SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam

is " gabhastih dIpyate jyotir-mayam,nemi-lakshitam cakram yasya iti

gabhasti-nemih - He who possesses the effulgent cakra. His cakra is

bhAsvara-sahasrAra-cakrah - the effulgent cakra with a thousand

spokes. yama and yama-dhUta-s don't even come anywhere close to

those who bear the mark of cakra on their bodies (see SrI BhaTTar's

vyAkhyAnam for the previous nAma), since their savior is gabhasti-

nemih who has as His weapon the thousand-spoked effulgent cakra. The

dharma cakram writer comments that this cakram in bhagavAn's Hand

denotes the dharma cakram which controls, guides and directs

everyone towards the path of dharma, and is the kAla cakram which

shows the never-ending nature of time which is His manifestation.

 

487. Sattvasthah -Abiding in Sattva. Maayaa is constituted of the

three gunas: unactivity (sattva), activity (rajas) and inactivity

(tamas). When the Maayaa is predominantly constituted of Sattva, it

becomes the vehicle for the Supreme Brahman to express as God, Sri

Narayana. The Lord is essentially constituted of the " Sattva Guna "

and, therefore, He is pure truthfulness in nature (Suddha Satya

Svaroopa). It can also mean that He who remains (Stha) in all beings

(Sattva). SrI Sankara interprets sattva here as referring to the

sattva-guNa, and gives the meaning that bhagavAn abides in the

sattva guNa - sattvam guNamprakASakam prAdhAnyena adhitishThati iti -

He who chiefly presides over the quality of sattva guNa which is

radiant. SrI BhaTTar points out that when bhagavAn is in the heart

of the devotees, there is no karma in them since darkness does not

exist where there is sun.

Dharma cakram: Of the three guNa-s that are reflected in everyone,

sattvaguNa is the one that results in the clarity of mind that is

necessary for realizing the Absolute Truth. The food we eat, the

thoughts we think, etc., should all be directed towards development

of this sattva guNa in us. Habits like getting up in the brahma

muhUrta (~ 4 a.m.), observing japa, dhyAna, etc. at this time,

performing one's prescribed duties with the welfare of the fellow-

beings in mind, never harming anything else, etc, are habits that

will foster the development of sattava guNa in us. This nAma teaches

us that leading our lifewith sattava guNa is the path to the

realization of bhagavAn.

 

488. Simhah –The Lion due to His great exploits in fighting the

negative forces during His various incarnations, He is indicated as

the Lion among beings in the universe Also in Sanskrit " any part of

a name can indicate the full name " Thus Bheema means `Bheema Sena'

or `Bhaamaa' means `Satya-Bhaamaa' Similarly, `Simha' here might

mean a part of the Lord's name as `Narasimha'; Narayana had taken

the form of the Man-Lion in order to end the tyranny of

Hiranyakasipu, and bless his God-devoted son Prahlaada

 

489. Bhoota-Mahesvarah -The Great Lord of Beings. One who is the

Lord who orders, commands, regulates and presides over all

activities of all living creatures, and hence is ever the Ruler of

All creature. SrI Sankara interprets the nAma as bhUtAnAm mahAn-

Isvarah - He who is the Great Lord of all beings. His alternate

interpretation is bhUta - truly, maheSvarah - nArAyaNa is the

Supreme Lord. bhUtena - satyena, sa eva paramAtmA mahAn Isvara iti

bhUta-maheSvarah. SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is that BhagavAn is the

Supreme Lord of all beings, as evidenced by His being the Lord of

the likes of brahma, yama etc. who are themselves the lords of

beings.

 

490. Aadidevah -The first Deity. Or it can also mean as one who is

First (Aadi) and one who is resplendent (Deva); further we can also

take it to mean that He is the First Deva, meaning, He is the God of

all gods. The term `Aadi' also means " one who eats; " the term' Deva'

can mean `one who evolves': thus the term can mean " one who evolves

in eating up, " by consuming the names and forms. This implies that

to the extent one withdraws himself from his false occupations with

the perceived names and forms, he moves deeper and deeper into the

experiences of the divine Lord in himself; with this idea in mind,

Lord is described by this term, " One who evolves in consuming the

names and forms. " SrI BhaTTar's vyAkhyAnam is Adih dyotamAnaSca Adi-

devah. Adi - The cause, and deva - ever-shining. He is the cause of

all the other gods, and is possessed of great splendor that

subjugates them. SrI BhaTTar gives one example of this - bhIshA'smAt

vAtah pavate (taittirIya - Ananda valli 8.1) - The wind blows out of

fear from Him. SrI Sankara bhAshyam is - sarva bhUtAni AdIyante

anena iti Adih; AdiSca asu devaSca iti Adi-devah. He is the first

through whom all beings come to exist, and He is divine as well.

Unlike SrI BhaTTar and SrI Sankara who both have treated Adi and

deva as two separate aspects of bhagavAn's guNa, SrI cinmayAnanda

treats Adi as the qualifier for deva, and gives the meaning that

bhagavAn is the First Deity. The dharma cakram writer remarks that

this nAma indicates that bhagavAn is not governed by nature as we

know it, where everything has an origin - e.g., the tree comes from

the seed, and the seed comes from the seed, the deva-s come from

bhagavAn, but He is Adi-deva who has no origin. Everything that is

created has an end, but He has no end. Even the gods can't

comprehend Him fully. We who have an origin and an end can't fully

comprehend Him who has neither origin nor end, and the more we

meditate on the significance of the nAma Adi-devah, the more we are

closer to realizing Him.

 

491. Mahaadevah -The Great Deity, He is the Source of all

Consciousness, and from Him have risen all further deities and

beings, therefore, it is right to consider Him as the Supreme Lord.

 

492. Devesah -The Lord of all Devas. He is the very Consciousness in

the gods themselves; therefore, in His unquestionable prominence, He

is addressed here as " God of all gods. "

 

493. Deva-bhrid-guruh – " One who is the king of gods " -Indra -(Deva

Bhrit) and one who is the teacher (Guruh). In short, He is the

protector and advisor of the very Indra, who is the king of gods.

Krishnarpanamastu!