MantraOnNet.com: Vishnu Sahasranaama

Vishnu Sahasranaama 401 to 450 Names

401. Veerah � �The Valiant." One who, by His prowess, creates the fear in the minds of the Rakshasas.

402. Saktimataam-sreshthah � "The best among those who have power." All powers that are available, have been classified under three types: the power-of-Knowledge (Jnaana-Shakti), the power-of-Desire (lcchaa-Shakti) and the power-of-Action (Kriyaa-Shakti). All these powers are expression of the Self in the intellect, in the sub-conscious mind and in the physical body, respectively. Naturally the Self is the best among all other kinds of powers inasmuch as, all powers are expressions of this Great Self.

403. Dharmah � This term is used in Hinduism in thousands of different shades that, to the early student, the meaning of this term is lost in confusion. Dharma of a thing is that because of which the thing is, without which the thing is not." This term, Dharma, has, therefore, been translated as "the Law of Being"�the Dharma of the Sun is light; the Dharma of the Fire is heat, the Dharma of Sugar is sweetness. What then is the Dharma of the individual? The essential Dharma of the individual can only be the Self, because, without which the individual cannot exist, and the individual's expressions, physical, mental and intellectual, are all expressions of the Self through the equipment in Him. Thus, "Dharma" means the One Self in all individuals.

This essential Dharma in anything is that which supports the things and, therefore, the Self which is the essence everywhere, is considered as the very One which supports everything.

404. Dharma-vid-uttamah - "One who is the Highest among men of realisation." All those who know the Reality are knowers of this Self. Naturally, therefore, the Self is the best Knower among all knowers of the Self.

405. Vaikunthah � "One who prevents men from going astray into wrong paths (Vikunthah)."' In Mahabharata it is mentioned, "I united the Earth with water. Space with air, and Air with fire, hence, the name 'Vaikunthah" has come to Me.

406. Purushah - "One who dwells in all bodies (Puris )." In Brihadaranyaka Upanishad it is said, "because He as the first (Poorva) of all of them consumed (Aushad) by fire all sins, therefore. He is called Purushah.� In short, He is the One Self which thrills all living creatures everywhere at all times.

407. Praanah -"One who in the form of 'Praand exists in the body, propels all sense-organs to act in their appointed fields. It is Lord Vishnu that activates the body as the 5 praanas, is found in the Vishnupurana. As Praana, He causes movements.

408. Praanadah � This can mean "One who gives 'Praana' or as "One whb takes away �Praana because, the root 'da� has both the meanings, 'to give and 'to break. Therefore, Vishnu is the Supreme who gives Praana to all creatures in the beginning of creation, and He alone is again the One who destroys all Praanas (movements) at the time of dissolution.

409. Pranavah - "That which is praised or adored by even the gods." There is a declaration of Sanatkumara, "Because it is being worshipped and adored by the gods, the Self is called as Pranavah This great Reality is indicated in the Vedas by the symbol 0m and, therefore, 'Omkaara' is called as Pranava. Thus the Supreme Self, 'Omkaara' is Vishnu.

410. Prithuh � "The expanded." He whose expanse is expressed as the world of infinite forms. In short, "He who is All-pervasive." Looking at the world, through Puranas, it suggests, "The One who is born as king Prithuh, the son of king Vena �for bringing prosperity to the country, is Lord Narayana."

411. Hiranyagarbhah - It is a term used in Vedanta for the "Creator." He is the expression of the creative urge of the Lord Narayana. "The golden-egg" means here that from which all the objective world had emerged out, indicating the Creator. So, the term means "He who is in Himself the very Creator." The term thereby suggests that the entire creative power of the Creator is but the expression of the Self, Narayana.

412. Satru-ghnah - "He destroyer of the enemies." The Lord is the annihilates all the enemies of the gods, meaning. He is the One who destroys all the negative tendencies in all serious seekers totally devoted to Him.

413. Vyaaptah - 'The Pervader." Theeffects cai never remain without the Cause; the Cause is concurrent an inherent in its effects. And thus, the world that has risen from the Infinite, should be pervaded by the Infinite. He who thu pervades everything is Narayana.

414. Vaayuh - who in the form of the atmospheric air, sustains all life everywhere." He is not the air, bi3 He is the life-giving power in the air.

415. Adhokshajah - Mahabharata says, "A no time My vitality flows downwards, and hence, I am caller �Adhokshajah� The term can also mean, "One who is no available for the powers of the sense organs to perceive." Or it can also mean, "He who remains under both the atmosphere and the earth as the Supporter of the entire universe."

416. Rituh - "Seasons"--Here it means, the Lord of Time, who governs the seasons.

417. Sudarsanah � "One who is easy to be perceived if the seeker has sufficient devotion," or "He whose meeting is auspicious inasmuch as it removes the seeker's worldly worries."

418. Kaalah � "One who measures the merits and defects in each individual, and who doles out the appropriate results." Bhagavat Geeta says, "I am the Time of counting." Kaalah is also the name of Lord Death, and in this sense, it can mean "the Lord, who is Death or Annihilation personified to all His enemies."

419. Parameshthee � �One who is centred in His own infinite glory." Or, it can also mean "One who is readily available for experience in the Supreme cave of the heart."

420. Parigrahah � "The Receiver." He who receives from His devotees even insignificant things as a leaf or a flower, with all satisfaction. Some commentators stretch the suggestion of the word and find a meaning in this term as "One who has been accepted as the Sole Refuge by all devotees."

421. Ugrah -�The Terrible." The One who gives fear to those who are diabolically evil", or, as the Upanishad declares, "For fear of Him the fire burns; for fear of Him shines the sun; For fear of Him Indra, Vaayu and Death proceed with their respective functions,"�therefore He is the Terrible.

422. Samvatsarah - "The Year" which is the abode of all living creatures. Time is spread in which creatures exist and gather their experiences,

423. Dakshah - "The Smart." One who undertakes the creation, sustenance and destruction of the Whole Cosmos with ease and efficiency, diligence and promptitude.

424. Visraamah - "The resting place;" "the Quiet." That State wherein people who suffer in Samsar, can discover a perfect rest and quietude is the consciousness Supreme, Sree Narayana.

425. Visva-dakshinah - "The most skilful and efficient." All efficiency and skill that we find in the universe among the dynamic living creatures are all His expressions alone, and, therefore. He is the source of all skills.

426. Vistaarah - The extension. The Lord is named thus because in 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 all the universe.

427. Sthaavarah-sthaanuh � �The firm and the motionless." The Firm (achanchala) indicates that He has no movements, because He is All-pervading. Sthaanuh (motionless) means that He is fixed like "the pillars that denote the frontiers of a country" (Sthaanuh). The terms here used are as one word because the Lord is both these at one and the same time. He is not only All-pervading, and, therefore, no movements in Him (Sthaavarah) but he is also without any locomotion (Sthaanuh). Both these terms indicate the All-pervasiveness of Lord Vishnu.

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).

429. Beejamavyayam � "The Immutable Seed." Since the whole world has sprung from Him, He is the indestructible and changeless cause of the world. It can also mean "that without which the world can never be." Hence He is the un-decaying root of all things.

430. Arthah � One who is worshipped by all; invoked by everyone. Lord Narayana is desired by all as He is the Paramaatman who is of the nature of bliss. Even the sensuous man running after the sense-objects is seeking the Lord in as much as he is searching for bliss which is the nature of the Self.

431. Anarthtill - One to whom there is nothing that is yet to be fulfilled. This means one who has no desires, as He has fulfilled all His desires. So long as vaasanaas exist desires manifest. Where vaasanaas have ended there cannot be any desires and that state is the State of Self-realization.

432. Mahaakosah - One who has got around him great sheaths. The Self in us functions through the fives heaths such as the food-sheath, etc. Sri Narayana is one who, as the Lord of the universe (Jagadeesvamh), is conditioned by the macrocosmic sheaths of the universe, and therefore, the great lshvara is here indicated as Mahaakosah.

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.

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.

435. Anirvinnah - One who has no nirveda. This term nirveda means "the sense of disinterestedness that comes to the bosom of one who could not fulfil his passionate desires in life." The Lord is one who is griefless as He has no desires to fulfil. In His fullness and perfection. He has no more any desires to fulfil, and therefore, Sri Hari has no occasion to suffer from the sense of nirveda.

436. Sthavishthah � One who is supremely gross. The entire cosmos being His form. He Himself is the universe, and as such in His total manifestation. He is supremely gross. Geeta says (Chapter Xl-20) that the Lord spreads Himself covering the whole world and the atmosphere. The Upanishad (Mundaka 1-4) also says how "the sky forms His head, the sun and the moon are His eyes."

437. A-bhooh � One who has no birth, or the one, having realised whom, the seeker will no more have births. Some people dissolve the line Sthavishthah + Bhooh. In that case instead of A-bhooh they give the Lord the name, Bhooh meaning earth Just as the earth is the stage upon which the entire drama of life is being played, Sri Narayana is the substratum upon which the entire world of experiences is playing about.

438. Dharma-yoopah � Yoopah is the name given to the post to which the sacrificial animal is tied in a yaaga. The Lord is the very Post to which all Dharmas (righteousness) are tied. This means He is the very essence behind all righteousness.

439. Mahaa-makhah � The Great Sacrificer. Because the sacrifices dedicated to Him confer total liberation � (Nirvaana). Also in the Geeta we were told, "offer is Brahman, what is offered is Brahman, the fire is Brahman, the offerer is Brahman and the goal reached is also Brahman."

440. Nakshatranemih � The Nave of the stars. One who is the nave around which all the stars and the planets including the sun, moon and other planets always move around. For this brilliant glowing wheel of Light, Sri Narayana is the very Axle.

441. Nakshatree � One who is the Lord of the stars. Lord of the stars is the moon. Geeta says, "among the stars I am the moon,""

442. Kshamah - One who is supremely efficient in all undertakings. One who has extreme patience with all the stupidities of his devotees.

443. Kshaamah - One who ever remains without any scarcity�(kshaama). During the final deluge all things in the world dissolve and perish away but even then the Lord remains untouched by all distinction and hence He is called kshaamah.

444. Sameehanah � One whose desires are auspicious. The Lord is considered as "Well-desiring""" in as much as he desires the well-being of all His creatures at all times. He knows how to control and regulate His power of desiring (lcchaa-shakti) and thus He is extremely efficient in His creative activity.

445. Yajnah � One who is of the nature of yajna. All sacrifices are His own forms. He exists as sacrifice in order to satisfy men and gods. Sruti says that all yajnas are of the nature of Vishnu (Yajno Vai Vishnuh).

446. ljyah - One who is fit to be invoked through yajnas. LordNarayana is the only one who is being invoked in all yajnas, even when the devotee particularly invokes any other deity. He, being the Infinite, all gods are expressions of His own glory and therefore, irrespective of the deity invoked all yajnaas are worship of Vishnu. In Harivarnsa we read a declaration which openly reveals this truth: "They who worship through holy sacrifices, the devas or the pitris, they worship indeed the Vishnu, the Self, through the Self."

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.

448. Kratuh � It is a kind of yaaga wherein there is a pillar to which the sacrificial animal is tied. Since all sacrifices are offered to Him�the Lord, even Kratuh, a sacrifice with violence inherent in it. is also Vishnu.

449. Satram -The Lord who protects the good (Sat) In continuation with the previous Kratuh, when we read this it can also be considered as indicating a particular kind of yajna described as Satram in our Vedic literature.

450. Sataamgatih -One who is the refuge (for the good people). One who is worshipped and invoked by those who wish to liberate themselves from all limitations in life. Gatih in Sanskrit means both the pathandthe goal. Thus, through surrendering to the Narayana alone does one reach Sri Narayana.


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