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June 2, 2023
The famous Sri Vishnu sahasranama strotram appears in Anusasana parva of the epic Mahabharata. Bhisma, the grand old warrior, was lying on a bed of arrows. The war had ended. Judhisthira, the eldest pandava, asked him a question. Who is that one and the only lord in this world? Who is that one and the only goal for all? By praying whom or by worshipping whom, men will be better off? And what set of dharma is the best among all, in your opinion? By chanting whose name shall the creatures in this world be free from the bondage of this world? Bhisma gave him a list of one thousand names of Lord
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That God or the Soul resides in everything and everybody. Bhisma asked everyone to chant it regularly for higher benefits.
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A thousand ways of realizing the self In the famous Sri Vishnu sahasranama Strotram of the great Mahabharata there are a thousand names of Lord Vishnu. These are thousand ways of looking at the world, a thousand qualities man can aspire to acquire and walk with in this world, a thousand ways of looking inward, a thousand ways of looking at our self. Let us count them
So true. The whole univsrse is me indirectly.
St1
Like sai maharaj said of karma in animals and in us
8.bhootatma-This name points to the fact that we are the atman of all things, all beings. Think about anything you love deeply, you shall find yourself as the soul of that thing, even a car, a piece of jewelry. If you are not that then you do not love that completely.
Love everything which feels soulful
bootabhavanah-The Vishnu in all of us is the cause of the growth and birth of all creatures.
pootatma-Essentially we are all pure beings. We do not feel this because we have so consciously practiced a narrower vision.
paramaatmaa-The Vishnu residing in us and in others is also the Super soul. That is why we have so many things in common and so many things as different. All our common and different experiences are a complete whole called Paramatma.
Stephen vedas
muktaanaam paramaa gatih-This aspect of ourselves talks about the final goal we all strive to reach knowingly or unknowingly. Those of us who can liberate themselves reach there first. Others do so later on.
Life or souls goal
avyayah-A part of us is indestructible. In fact the whole of us is not destroyed at all. It is just transformed into another form, another shape to be apparently destroyed again. The process goes on and on. Those who know this are liberated.
purushah-Our body is said to be an abode with nine gates. Two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, one mouth, anus and sex organ each. We dwell in it as a master. The name is not gender centric.
This is that
saakshee- We the Purushah while staying in this abode do a job. That is we are witness to all that is happening in and around us. This is our basic and only job. The other jobs we keep doing are mere purposeless vibrations. Somebody looking at us from another galaxy shall mean as much as we mean looking at an army of ants.
Purushah we just need to witnness happenings around the gaatates. & not carry unnecessary other vibrations
saakshee- We the Purushah while staying in this abode do a job. That is we are witness to all that is happening in and around us. This is our basic and only job. The other jobs we keep doing are mere purposeless vibrations. Somebody looking at us from another galaxy shall mean as much as we mean looking at an army of ants.
Army of bacteria from aanotheer galaxy
akshara-This means we are indestructible. The same meaning was expressed in Avyayah the 13th name with a little twist. Avyayah means someone without destruction. Akshara means someone incapable of being destroyed.
yoga-vidaam netaa-Some among us are more skillful than others. They act as guides for those who know less. That guide is the Vishnu in us. Each one of us is a guide for someone else. Paramatma is the super guide which we all aim to become.
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pradhaana-purusheshvarah- We generally perceive this world around us as Purusha that is we and Pradhana that is the objective world we act upon. And we are the lord of both these worlds. By unveiling this ignorance that there are two separate worlds we become the true master of this universe.
The truth is every being possesses a kind of gracious bravery which one displays whenever the need arises.
shreemaan-Every living and non-living thing owns 'shree' that is a kind of treasure which is very unique to itself. That is the inner value of that being. With that value it is recognized in this world. No one descends on this earth without shree.
keshavah-The word has many meanings. One who is the kah,sah, and vah. That is Bramha,Vishnu and Maheswara. Every human being is simultaneously a creator, a nourish-er and a destroyer. In that sense we all are Keshavas.
24.purushottamah-Every being possesses his best qualifications. Thus each one of us is the best person or the Purusha. Trouble arises when we begin to compare ourselves with others. Virtually we compare the incomparable and establish ourselves as lesser Gods. Believe me, we are the Purusottama.
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sharvas-Have you ever marked the auspicious essence in you ? The essence that helps you differentiate the bad from the good. The essence that prevents you from offering stale food to your child , to sleep on a dirty bed sheet. That essence is you.
shivah-There is something eternally pure in all of us. This purity compels us to behave well with others. It helps us to maintain our good image before others because it constantly searches a pure image of it-self. It weeds out bad thoughts in us towards our-self and others.
sthaanuh-There is an immovable truth about our-self. Apart from calling it the Atman we also keep sticking to our beliefs and faith. It is as if we pose like a pillar and refuse to budge from wherever we are. We become Sthaanuh.
bhootaadih-We are the cause of the five great elements like earth,water,light,air and space. When we say we are the cause it means all of these were conceived so that we can follow. As if some one imagined us first and then created them to make way for us.
God created
nidhir-avyayah- We are that imperishable treasure, the avyaya nidhi. Many of the names seem to be repetitions. For example we talked about this treasure in' Shree'.But there are minute differences between shree and nidhi. Shree is closure to our personality while nidhi refers to our possessions
bhaavanah-To do bhaavana is to give. The name implies God gives everything to whom he loves. At a lesser level we punish our child for a bad deed and reward him for a job well done. Also our own karma brings us good or bad results irrespective of our love for ourselves. In other words we give ourselves both joy and sorrow according to the job we do.
bhartaa-It means One who governs the entire living world. We too try and govern the world around us by protecting ourselves from all harms and securing progress and joy for us. At home and workplace we try to be masters and be in control.
prabhavah-The womb of all the five elements and time and space. The author has simply tried to extend our vision exponentially. To make us live in a realization that from 'me' everything have sprung forth, in 'me' everything resides, I am the mother of all. However obsessive it may seem, the idea describes the most liberated aspect of us.
Watxh nityananda. Lord krishna
eeshvarah-The God as we know is an extremely capable being who does everything without the help of other beings or things. We humans are not as capable as Him. But it is an impression only. Have you ever tried to enumerate the human achievements on this little earth ? Is it possible without a God element in man ?
shambhuh-There is a quality in all of us to secure inner goodness and outer prosperity for ourselves and others. Lord Shiva is also referred to with this name. He too gives us such auspiciousness. Both Shiva and Vishnu live inside us.
aadityah-This is another name of Sun God, meaning one who illumines, one who heats up with life., one who nourishes our intellect. We see people amongst us who can shake us from depression by their presence or talk. Even we possess a sun like illumination ourselves which flashes at times in the form of an insight.
pushkaraakshah-Some one with lotus like eyes. And who does not fall in love with eyes !! Eyes are the gateway to peep into the heart of anybody. Lotus is a beautiful flower that resembles an eye when tilted a little. Never doubt your eyes. They are the most beautiful part of your body. Through them you look like God.
anaadi-nidhanah-We think we are born, live a life and die. But at a universal scale these events look like death of an old condition and birth of a new condition. A body on pyre, ashes, soil, grains, energy in the form of protein, a fetus and another body. This change is endless and without a beginning. We are an immutable part of this process.
We are the experiencer as well as the experienced. Such a non-duality is beyond our general comprehension. It takes knowledge, practice and love (Gyana,Karma and Vakti) to reach there.
vidhaataa-Once we are the Dhaata that is the holder of our experiences like joys and sorrows it follows that we are the provider of such experiences too. We do so through our deeds, thoughts and desires. Every moment is either bad or good for us and we keep reaping the fruits of our actions. Like an employer we give away fruits to ourselves in the form of incentives and punishments.
dhaaturuttamah- It means the finest element at the heart of all creations. The subtlest atoms which get together to form everything we experience. And who knows to what nano scale it can go ? The rishis call it the chit dhatu. Is it consciousness that coagulates to form hydrogen, the oxygen and the hard rock
It is possible to become one with It. Not measurable but very much there.
51.manuh-The name is a celebration of an aspect of ours that is capable of higher reflections that produced or manifested itself as the Vedas. We have a mind that thinks, plans, desires, feels, remembers and reflects. Some of these forces are also engaged in discovering, inventing newer and higher things. So we are Manuh.
tvashtaa-It refers to another aspect in us that breaks bigger things into small. We do so with physical things, concepts and ideas. Much before we were there things were breaking into smaller parts, into atoms, into protein strands or molecules.Much after us they will break into consciousness. We have been programmed to break and make until we are one with that pure consciousness.
sthavishtah-The world that we are a part of, is superlatively gross or sthula. It is both about volume and density. Our own status as a small human being does not take away from us this grossness. As a part of this Whole, we share this sthulatwa in adequate proportions, More than our body our mind pervades this whole universe.
sthaviro dhruvah-Being Sthula was about space. Now it is about time. We are ancient and motionless. Time originated in us. We were and then there was time. And we shall be when time will shrink into that ancient nothingness. We discuss something like this in case of Black-holes, Let us consult a quantum physicist.
agraahyah-Resembles the name aprameyah. It names the aspect of us that cannot be sensually perceived. Though I am the feeler in the mind and the thinker in the intellect I cannot feel or think the feeler or thinker. But I know he is there somewhere feeling and thinking, I can realize him but not through sense organs.
shaashvatah-Nearly all the parts that build us including memories about us in other's minds are shortlived.Yet we want to live forever. So there is something in us that knows it is eternal, unchanging. At least that is how the author thinks. The entire system of Indian philosophy is built around this concept. No body likes to hear-You are everlasting.
57.krishno-A commonly used word that means dark complexioned. It also means the truthful and blissful essence in us. It refers to the aboriginal farmer background existent in us. More attractively it also points to that magnetic being in us that attracts likeminded truthful persons towards us.
Pralaya or destruction happens because that is an essential condition of being complete or ever-full. This is our very nature. We can't go on creating and nourishing forever. We have to get back to our original emptiness. a condition of complete contentment to start all over again.
pavitram-This name points to the purity of our hearts. The god element present equally in all of us ensures this purity. Even die hard criminals have this as exemplified in Do Akhen Bara Haat. Purity in another person ignites such hidden purity in them.
praano-We are the life-force itself. The act of breathing goes on forever on the face of this earth. Sub-atomic particles keep swirling inside non living matter. Planets never stop rotating their axes and encircling their Sun. Life goes on forever. Sometimes it looks like our body. But how can we stop calling ourselves, 'Life" ?
