VISHNU SAHASRA NAMAM 140 - Courtesy ARUN

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(140) Chaturbhujah – " One who has four hands " . It is famous that Maha

Vishnu has four hands and they carry the Conch, the Discus, the

Mace, and the Lotus. According to the Puranas, these four are used

by the Lord in maintaining Dharma among mankind. The `Conch' calls

man to the righteous path that directly leads to Peace and

Perfection, the Divine Vishnupada. Very many of us in the

enchantment of the immediate sense-joys refuse to listen to the

small inner voice of conscience, the sound of the Paanchajanya-

conch, and so He wields the `Mace' and we come to suffer small

calamities and tragic jerks in our smooth existence -communal,

social or national. If still the individual is not listening to the

call of the `Conch', the wheel-of-time, Chakra annihilates the

entire. The call and the punishment are all only to take man towards

his Ultimate Goal, represented by the " Lotus " in His hand.

 

Subjectively Vishnu is the Self within, who manifests as the four-

armed `subtle-body' to serve as the Eesa of the gross physical

structure, in all its actions and protect it with existence.

The " Subtle-body " as the inner-equipment (Antah-Karana) functions as

four mighty powers -mind, intellect, chit and ego. Chit is

the `Lotus', intellect is the `Conch', ego is the `Mace', and mind

is the `Discus'. All these four are wielded by the One Infinite Blue-

bodied Narayana, clothed in His `yellow garb', manifesting to

maintain and sustain the world of good and evil. Since the Self

functions thus in a four-fold pattern, Vishnu has the

appellation, " the four-armed Lord. "