Sri Vishnu Sahasranama: Meaning of the first Nama

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Shloka 1:

 

Om Visvam vishnur- vashatkaaro

 

(1) Visvam - He whose manifestation is the whole universe of forms: the

Viraat-Purusha. The cause is always present in the effects and as such That Form

from which the whole universe has emerged out can only be its own manifestation.

The whole cosmos of gross forms is His own expression, and therefore, He is

called as Viraatpurusha. ‘Sa eva Sarva- Bhootaatmaa Visvaroopo Yato-Avyayah’.

The Sanskrit term Visvam comes from the root Vis, to enter: Thus it means He who

has created and entered into the entire universe, as the All-Pervading Reality.

It can also mean, That into which the entire universe has entered to remain

therein established. In the Upanishads also we have assertions of similar ideas.

It is only when intellectually, we view the Lord that we come to recognise Him

as the ‘cause’ for the universe. When viewed through contemplation, since the

effect is nothing other than the cause, there can be no world other than Him. In

fact, there is nothing other than the

 

Supreme. In the Mandukya Upanishad we read ‘Omkaara Evedam Sarvam’. In Geeta ‘OM

ltyekaaksharam Brahma’.