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SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 72 - Part 7.

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Narasimhan Krishnamachari • April 30, 2002 


      SrI vishNu sahasra nAmam - Slokam 72 - mahA-ya~jnah.

682. mahA-ya~jnah - a) He Who is the best among those to be worshiped.
	b) He Who manifests Himself in the form of the best of ya~jna-s.
        c) He Who is worshiped by the great j~nAni-s, or He Who is
worshiped through great sacrifices.

Om mahA-ya~jnAya namah.

As in the previous nAma, the root from which ya~jna is derived is yaj-
deva pUjA sa'ngati karaNa yajana dAneshu - to sacrifice, to make an
oblation to, to give, to associate with, etc.  The act of sacrifice, or
one who is worshipped through a sacrifice, are both referred to by the
term ya~jnah -  yajanam ya~jnah, ijyate iti vA ya~njah (SrI satyadevo
vAsishTha).  

a) SrI BhaTTar's interpretation for this nAma is "He Who is the best
among those to be worshiped".   SrI v.v. rAmAnujan explains this
interpretation as follows:   ya~jnam is bhagavad ArAdhanam;   ya~jnah
is the object of this ArAdhanam;  MahA-ya~jnah is the Most Superior
Object of bhagavad-ArAdhanam, or He Who is the best among those to be
worshiped.   SrI BhaTTar points out that the term ya~jna includes such
ways of worship as singing suprabhAtam to emperumAn, respectful
approach, offering sweet things such as mixture of honey etc.,
prostrating at His Feet, etc.  The best of ya~jna-s is when these are
offered to Him rather than any to other devatA.   SrI BhaTTar points
out that worship of Lord vishNu is the best because "He protects His
devotees as if there were His own body" - rakshate bhagavAn vishNuh
bhaktAn Atma-SarIravat, "He accepts the rites performed by His devotees
with great joy and with a bowed head" - tAh sarvAh SirasA devah
prati-gRhNAti vai svayam (mahAbhArata moksh. 17.163), vidhi prayuktAm
pUjAm ca gRhNAti SirasA svayam (SAnti. 353.64), etc.   

b) SrI Samkara gives the interpretation for the nAma as "He who
manifests Himself in the form of the Great Sacrifice", and gives the
support from the vibhUti yoga in gItA: "ya~jAnAm japa ya~jno'smi" 
(gItA 10.25)- "Of sacrifices, I am the sacrifice of japa".   SrI
rAdhAkRshNa SAstri observes that unlike kratu which is a sacrifice
performed with a specific benefit in mind, ya~jna is a sacrifice that
is done as part of one's duty, and is not done with a specific benefit
in mind.  Among the ya~jna-s, the japa ya~jna (silently repeating a
sacred mantra) is declared as the best by bhagavAn in the referenced
gItA Slokam.  The japa ya~jna can be performed easily, without
interruption, and with no accessory needed other than the desire to
perform this ya~na. 

c) SrI satyadevo vAsishTha gives the meaning "He Who is worshiped by
great ya~jna-s", or  "He Who is worshiped by the great j~nAni-s"  -
mahat yajanam yasya, mahadbhih ijyata iti vA).  

The dharma cakram writer explains the spirit behind offering worship to
bhagavAn who is the mahA-ya~jnah (the personification of the ya~jna-s)
through five types of ya~jna-s that are expected of each one of us: 
the bhUta ya~jna, the pitR ya~jna, the nara ya~jna, the Rshi ya~jna,
and the deva ya~jna.  bhUta ya~jna involves our rendering service and
assistance to the life forms that are below our level.  This involves
the protection of plants, trees, the four-legged animals, etc., all of
which are rendering service to us in various ways, and making our life
possible.  The pitR ya~jna involves our devotion and service to our
elders, to our parents, etc., who have devoted their lives to bring us
up, educate us, and help us live the way we live, and thus made our
lives possible.  The nara ya~jna involves service to our fellow humans
in the society, including how we treat others in our thought, word, and
deed.  Without the help of the others in the society, we will not be
able to lead our lives, and in return, we owe the debt to society to
make it better by spreading good thoughts, good word, and good deed.  
The Rshi ya~jna involves learning, chanting, protecting, and
propagating the mantra-s, veda-s, and the knowledge that the Rshi-s
have given us.  This will lead to our acquiring the kind of knowledge
that they possessed, over time.  The deva ya~jna involves our
worshipping Him with constant and uninterrupted devotion, which will
result in our attaining Him.  The significant point to take from this
discussion is that we should perform all the above five types of
ya~jna-s with the full realization that these are all offerings to Him,
since He is the mahA ya~jnah who is worshiped by al these offerings. 
They should be performed for His pleasure and not with any benefit for
us in mind, with the clear understanding that He is the Doer who is
just using us as the means for getting these done, etc.  

-dAsan kRshNamAcAryan


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