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Shri Maha Vishnu Sahasranamam - some observations ...

From the Bhakti List Archives

Raja Krishnasamy • May 9, 1997 


I have been taught that in these days of modern living, if one can not
find time to meditate on the Lord's name for a significant period of
time, utterring of Sri Vishnu Sahasranam once a day is sufficient to
lead one towards the path of moksham.  In the prologue to the
Sahasranamam, Dharma Putra asks of Shree Bheeshma Acharya - one of the
greatest of Gurus:

"kimEkam Dhaivatham lokE kim vABhyEkam parAyaNam"

meaning - whose is the supreme of all beings that once should perform
penance for to achieve true meaning of life ?

Shri Bheeshma Says:

"jagath prabhum dEva dEvam anantham purushOthamam
sthuvan nAma sahsrENa purusha sthathathothithaha"

The purest of all beings - one without a beginning or an end
("anantham") - the Lord with a Thousand Names, he is the Lord of the
World, the Lord of all the Devas and the Lord of all the Lokas.

Interestingly, these words were uttered by Shri Bheeshma Acharya, who
was under the tutelage of great Gurus such as Shri Surya, and Shri Guru,
whom only the Devas has had access to.  He also weilded such supreme
respect from all the Gods, that even Shri Dharma Devar (God of Death)
would take him away only when Shri Bheeshma wished it.  Surely enough,
Bheeshma attained Mahasamadhi on the holy day of Ekadashi as he wished.

Another interesting shloka in the "balashruthi" part of the composition
is:

"vEdAnthakO BhrAmaNasyAth kshathriyO vijayI BhavEth
vaishyO dhana samudhrasyAth shUdraha sukham avapnuyAth"

karuththu (meaning):
God realizes neither caste nor creed.  Everyone may utter the Lord's
name and when utterred with genuine devotion,  every one is blessed with
true meaning of life.  If a bhrAhmanA utters the Lords name to excel in
his knowledge of the 5 Vedas (I always contend that the nAlayiram is the
5th Veda), the so be it.  If the names are called by a King, then he
will flourish in his reigning supreme.  If it was utterred by a vaishyA
(a businessman), he would foreverbe wealthy, and the shUdhra (serving
class) who reaches to the Lord would forever remain happy.

utkaruththu (the subtle meaning):

In the olden days, mankind divided themselves into classes for division
of labor.  Not everyone can be a brAhmaNa for there would be no one to
provide for him and his pursuit of knowledge disemmination and not
everyone could be vaishyA, for there may be no one to spread the word of
ethics.  The four classes here are symbolic to indicate that by
utterring the Maha Vishnu Sahasranamam, you would attain the supreme in
your field of endeavour and if you endeavour to realize the Supreme
Truth then - so be it.

There is a tamil saying - "seyyum thozhilE dhramam - athil thiramai thAn
selvam". 

This means that what ever you do is your dhrama (through karma yOgA) and
as long as you do it righteously and in the true interests of Godliness,
then that is the profit you reap from it.  Similarly the above
balashruthi shlokam says that when you utter the name of the Lord, you
attain mOksha - in this case through karma yOga as the layman would
understand it.  Such sublime meaning and such a common thread between a
composition in an Aryan Language (sanskrit) and a Dravidian Language
(Tamil)



shrI BhUmAdEvI samEdha shrI uppiliappan thiruvadiyE charaNam

Raja Krishnasamy

-- 
Raja Krishnasamy
(617) 483-1437                          
raja@cyberdude.com
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