MantraOnNet.com: Vishnu Sahasranaama

851. Sarvakaamadah ? “One Who fulfils all

desires of all true devotees.” Such devotees have no other

desire but to reach, meet and merge in Him. In this way the

term would also indicate that He destroys the chances of ful-

filment of all unholy, sensuous and lusty desires in the faithless.

852. Aasramah ? Sree Narayana is the har-

bour, the sequestered haven for all who are tossed about in

the storms of life without and within. For each one, the source

of all strains is attributable entirely to his functioning as a

body-mind-intellect equipment. To remain as the Self?the

essential real nature of man?is to experience the end of all

stresses and strains. This state of Peace and Joy, of Quiet and

Bliss is Sree Narayana, the Lord of the heart.

853. Sramanuh – “One Who persecutes the

worldly people”-who, driven by their hungers and passions,

seek sense-gratifications. By the very nature of the ephemeral

sense-objects and the ever-changing instruments of experience

in us, the life of gratifications can only yield exhausting fatigue

and weary disappointments. This is the ‘Law’ and Sree Narayana is the ‘Law-Giver.’ The Law and the Law-Giver are but one in theology.

854. Kshaamah – “One Who destroys everything

during the final deluge”-He Who prunes our agitations and

shrinks our desire-prompted world-projections.

855. Suparnah – “The Golden Leaf.” In Bhagavad-Gita the world is pictured as the Asvattha tree and its leaves are declared to be the Vedas. The theme of the Vedas is none other than the Self, making the term extremely enchanting with its springs of suggestions.

856. Vaayu-vaahanuh – “The mover of the winds.” From fear of Him Fire burns. Sun and Moon function, earth rotates, the Wind moves . . . declares the Upanishad.

857. Dhanurdharah – “The wielder of the

Bow.” In His Incarnation as Sree Rama, He drew the great

Bow as no one else ever could. Also in the Upanishad there is

the famous metaphor of the Bow with which the arrow of the

individuality is to be shot to strike and sink into the goal.

The Rishi of the o Mundakopanishad explains that the ‘Bow’

is the OM(Pranava mantra). (The significance is clear.)

858. Dhanurvedah – “One Who declared the Science of Archery.” The One Who propounded the unfailing technique of meditation for realisation of the Self.

859. Dandah – “0ne Who punishes the wicked.” In Geeta, Bhagavan declares Himself to be the policeman of the Universe. The term can also mean the ‘Sceptre’ – the insignia of king-ship. Sree Narayana, the King of kings in the entire, limitless universe, holds the Sceptre of total royalty.

860. Damayifaa – “The Controller.” One Who punishes the wicked, destroys the sinners and thus regulates and cultivates life in the universe, making it a garden for the blossoms of spiritual beauties.

861. Damah – That which is ultimately gained by

the worldly punishments-the final experience of Beatitude

in the Self.

862. Aparaajitah – “The Invincible; One

Who cannot be defeated.” The Self ultimately asserts within

every bosom from wherein the spiritual values finally emerge

victorious. The Self alone remains when all else has been destroyed.

863. Sarvasahah – “One Who carries the entire Universe.” The One Who meets heroically all the enemical impulses of unspiritual lusts. He carries the entire Universe

as its very material Cause: as mud in pots.

864. Aniyantaa – “One Who has none

above Him to control Him.” He is the One Who has appointed

all other controllers of the phenomenal forces as the Sun, the

Moon, Air and Waters.

865. Aniyamah – “One Who is not under

the laws of anyone else.” He is the Law and the only Law-

Giver. It is His hand that governs the inscrutable and un-

relenting laws of nature.

866. Ayamah – “One Who knows no death.”

He is the Eternal: how can He know death?-the principle

of death cannot act in Him. Within Time alone there is change

or death. The Pure Consciousness is That which illumines the

sense of time and so is beyond Time-beyond death.

867. Sattvavaan – “One Who is full of

exploits and courage.” Supremely adventurous, daring and

heroic is Narayana-as witnessed in all His actions during

all His Incarnations.

868. Saattvikah – “One Who is full of

Saattvic qualities.” Quietude, tranquility, peace-these are

some of the sattvic qualities. Sattva is the creative-pause of the

mind before it launches out into a burst of creative thoughts

and action. Full of inspiration and meditative-poise is the

Total-Mind, Sree Narayana.

869. Satyah – “Truth.” That which remains the

same in the past, present and future is Truth. Self knows no change. It is ever in Its own Nature in all the three periods of Time.

870.Satya-dharma-paraayanah – “One

Who is the very abode of “Truth and Righteousness.” Satyam

(Truth) is ‘truthfulness in thought, speech and action. Dharma

(Righteousness) is the injunctions regarding ‘what is and what

is not the duty to be fulfilled.

871. Abhipraayah – “One Who is faced by

all seekers marching to the Infinite.” Or it can mean, “One

Who merges the entire world of plurality into Himself.”

872. Priyaarhah – “0ne Who deserves all

our love.” Priya also expands its meaning into: “things we are

supremely fond of,” therefore, the term, as it stands, may be

read: “One Who deserves to be worshipped by His devotees

with all that they are supremely fond of.” As an expression of

our devotion we do offer to the Lord that which we love the

most in life.

873. Arhah – Narayana is the One Who deserves

to be worshipped by all devotees. He, being our very own Self,

is the treasure-source of all our devotion. Thus He does draw

from us all our surrender, love and reverence.

874. Priya-krit – “One Who is ever-obliging

in fulfilling our wishes”-One Who is anxiously eager for the

well-being of all devotees. But the term can also yield just the

opposite meaning-“One Who destroys the wishes or disturbs

the well-being of the wicked and the faithless.”

875. Preeti-vardhanah – The sense of

drunken joy that arises in one’s bosom when one loves deeply

and truly is called Preeti. “One Who increases Preeti in the

devotee’s heart” is Sree Narayana. The more He is contemplated

upon, the more His glories are appreciated, thereby the more

our Preeti in Him increases.

876. Vihaayasa-gatih – The term Vihaayasa means pertaining to, depending on, the space-aerial. Gatih means one who moves. Therefore, in its totality, this

name describes: “One Who travels in space-having the nature

of the Sun, Soorya-Narayana.”

877. Jyotih – “Effulgent with His own inherent

Light.” The Lord as Consciousness is the ‘Light of all lights.’

“By Its Light all are brilliant: by Its Light all are illumined.”

Sree Narayana is the Self-effulgent Atman, the Self.

878. Su-ruchih – The suffix ‘5y’ indicates

Auspiciousness (sobhana): the term ‘Ruchi’ is Glory or Desire.

The Glory of Lord Narayana is this world: it is His ‘desire’

(sankalpa) that manifests as the universe.

The Supreme Brahman, the Infinite Reality, functioning

through the ‘Total- Vaasanaas,’ meaning the ‘Total-Causal-

Body’ (Maayaa), is Lord, the Eesvara. So we are given the

irrefutable scientific truth in the Self declaration that the

universe is the ‘will’ or ‘desire’ of Lord Narayana.

879. Huta-bhuk – “One Who receives and

enjoys all that is offered into the sacred fire during the Vedic

Rituals-Yajnas and Yaagas.” The faithful may offer oblations

invoking his own special Deity, but it is the One Lord, Narayana Who receives them all, manifesting as the particular Deity invoked.

880. Vibhuh – “All-pervading.” Lord Narayana,

the Self, is unconditioned by time or space for He is the Eternal,

the Omnipresent. In His Absolute Nature, He is All-pervading

as He is unlimited by any conditionings.

881. Ravih – “One Who absorbs the vapours

(Rasa) from everything.” As the Soorya- Narayana, Sree Hari

dries up everything in the universe.

882. Virochanah – “One Who shines in different forms.” Whatever form the devotee chooses for contemplation upon Him, the Lord manifests in that very Form

for the sake and joy of the devotee. Additionally it may be

interpreted as “One Who Himself manifests as the Sun and

the Moon and all other resplendent spheres in the Cosmos.”

883. Sooryah – The term etymologically means

the One Source from which all things have been born or out of

which they have been delivered. The Lord as the First Cause

is the Womb of the Universe. On the surface of the world it is

the Sun that nurtures and nourishes all living creatures. It

must be noted that many of the Lord’s names indicate or are

associated with the Sun-as He is in us like the Sun in the Solar

System: the Centre around which the entire system revolves

and by Whose benign rays, as the ‘Orb-of-all Energies’, He is

thrilling to life the infinitude of creatures.

884. Savitaa – “The One Who brings forth,

from Himself, the Universe of things and beings.” The Supreme Self functioning through the Sun is called Savitaa.

885. Ravi-lochanah – “One Whose Eyes

are the Sun.” In the Upanishad and the Geeta, the Viraat Form

of the Lord (the Cosmic-Form) is described as having for His

eyes the Sun and the Moon.

886. Anantah – “Endless.” One Who is not

conditioned by time and place is Self. In His All-pervading

nature He is immortal, and thus Immutable.

887. Huta-bhuk – “0ne Who accepts the

things devotedly poured as oblation into the sacred Fire.”

These oblations which may be in the name of any devataa, are

all received by Narayana in the form of that devataa because He

is the One Infinite Self Who plays in and through all forms,

worldly and heavenly.

888. Bhoktaa – The One Who enjoys the world of

objects-emotions-thoughts, through the equipments of body-

mind-intellect is none other than the Self expressing through

these ‘instruments-of-experiences’ as the individuality-con-

stituted of the perceiver-feeler-thinker-ego.

The term Bhoktaa also means “One Who Protects” (the

Universe) – as He is the very material Cause for the entire

world of names and forms.

889. Sukha-dah – “0ne Who gives the experience of Eternal Bliss to the devotees at their final spiritual

destination-Moksha. As the term stands in the verse, some

would read it-‘A-sukha-da’ in which case the nominative

would mean: “One Who removes all the discomforts and pains

of the devotees.”

890. Naikajah – Na- ‘not’; Eka- ‘once’; Ja

,-born.’ One Who is born not only once, but many times,

in many Forms, to serve the devotees in His different Incarnations. In fact, all births are all His manifestations alone as He is the Spark-of-Existence in the Universe of inert matter.

Through all equipments He alone is the One Consciousness

that dances Its Infinite Glories.

891. Agra-jah – “The One Who was First-

Born.” Naturally, everything came from Him alone; this

Primordial First Cause is the concept of God. That from which

everything comes, in which everything exists and into which

all things can again finally merge-‘That’ is conceived as God.

892. Anirvinnah – “One Who feels no

disappointments”-Who has no chance to feel disappointment

as He is ever the totally fulfilled. The agonising disgust with

things that comes to a bosom when a burning desire is un-

fulfilled is called Nirveda. One who has no Nirveda is called

Anirvinnah. He, being “Ever-full” and “Perfect,” has no desires

yet unfulfilled or something yet to be fulfilled in the future.

Bhagavan declares this in Geeta: “There is neither anything that

I have not gained nor anything I have yet to gain.”

893. Sadaa-marshee – “One Who ever for-gives the trespasses of all His devotees”-One Who is infinitely merciful and kind.

894. Loka-adhishthaanum – The one sole substratum for the entire Universe of things and beings.”

895. Adbhutah – “Wonder is He.” The Geeta roars of this ‘wonder,’ and the Upanishads assert that He and

the teacher who teaches of Him, and even the student who

grasps Him are all ‘wonders.’ “Wonder” is an experience that

comes to one whose mind and intellect are stunned by the

overwhelming experience of any given moment. The experience

has made the mind stagger, the intellect to halt-so that no

feelings or thoughts emanate from them. That moment of

realisation is a moment of total transcendence of the “inner-

equipments,’ so this term “Wonder” is often used in our

scriptures to point out the condition within at the time of our

Experience Infinite.

896. Sanaat – “The Beginning-less and the

Endless factor is He.” Time cannot condition Him. He, the

Consciousness, illumines the very concept of Time and Space.

He was, is and shall ever be-He being Changeless, Immutable.

897. Sanaatanatamah – “The most Ancient.” It is from Him that the very intellect springs forth and thereafter one of the concepts of the intellect is Time. Therefore, He is the most ‘Ancient,’ inasmuch as He was already there to

be aware of even the first experience of the beginning of Time.

898. Kapilah – The Lord Himself, manifested

as the great Rishi Kapila, propounded the Saamkhya philosophy.

In the Geeta, Bhagavan Sree Krishna declaring His own Glory,

describes Himself: “I am Kapila among the great ones.”

899. Kapih – “One Who drinks water” -by one’s

rays. The Sun it is that dries up everything, evaporating the

water-content contained on the surface of the earth.

900. Apyayah – “The One in Whom the entire

Universe merges”-during the great deluge when the Total-

mind-the Creator-rests. The Supreme Atman functioning

through the Total-mind is the Creator, Brahmaaji-each mind

being ruled by its own vaasanaas. The Total-vaasanaas in the

Universe (Causal-Body) is Maayaa and the Supreme Self ex-

pressing through Maayaa (the Total-Causal-Body) is Eesvara.

Therefore, Sree Narayana, as Eesvara, is the One into Whom

the total world of experiences merges when the Total-mind rests

during the ‘pause’ between two busy cycles of Creation and

involvement in the projected world of thoughts-feelings-objects.

In the north this term is read as Avyayah where

the meaning is clear: “Immutable” and needs no explanation.