Dear Sri Vishnu Baktakas,
This is the article i had sent to Times of India for Speaking Tree
Column, and was published on 2 feb 2002
THE POWER OF CHANTING VISHNU SAHASRANAMAM
The chanting of the Divine Name or nama japa has an important place
in bhakti tradition. Nama japa can be in the form of japa or stotra.
Japa is silent repetition of a mantra while stotra is uttered out
loud.
The sahasranama stotra is perhaps the most popular of all stotras.
There are sahasranamas of most of the deities of the Hindu pantheon
of which two have attained great popularity. These are the Lalita
Sahasranama in praise of the Divine Mother and Vishnu Sahasranama in
praise of the Lord conceived as Vishnu.
Vishnu Sahasranama is a part of the Santhi Parva of the Mahabharata.
Towards the end of the great war, Bhisma lies on a bed of arrows,
waiting for uttarayana to dawn so that he can give up his mortal
coils.
He is questioned by Yudhistira who wonders who the Supreme Lord of
all is, by praising and worshipping whom one can gain good and attain
salvation. Bhisma answers Yudhistira's query by reciting the Vishnu
Sahasranama in Sri Krishna's presence. Reciting the thousand names of
Vishnu, Bhisma tells Yudhistira that Vishnu is the Jagat Prabhu or
Lord of the Universe, Bhuta-Bhavya-Bhavan-Natha ? Lord of past,
present and future. The Almighty is depicted in terms of space and
time as being immanent. He is one in many things to many.
The body of Lord Vishnu consists of the three worlds. His feet being
the earth, His naval the sky and His head the Heavens. The life
breath is air, His eyes are the sun and the moon. His ears are the
directions, His face the flames of fire, His abode the milky ocean,
He is Himself the universe. He is the origin of all that originated.
He is Adhoksajah, the one who doesn't degenerate. There is no change
in His original nature.
Vishnu is also Pavanah Pavano Nala or one who is air among all
purifying agents. He is Saptajihvah, the Lord in His manifestation as
fire having seven tongues of flame, that which cannot be adulterated.
He is Vasavanujah or the one who is born as the younger brother of
Indra (Vasava) in His incarnation as Vamana, the dwarf. Even the Lord
had to resort to the dwarf's form while begging for a gift of land
from King Bali. He is also Suparno vayu vahana.
Here Suparna is Garuda who carries the Lord. Vishnu in this nama is
described as one who has Garuda as His vehicle, but who instead rides
on Vayu the wind.
The many weapons of Vishnu are described by the various names that
occur towards the end of Sahasranama. Samkha - the panchajanya,
Nandaki - the sword, Chakri - the sudharsana chakra, Sarnga dhanva -
the divine bow, Gadadhara - the mace and Rathangapaani - the one who
has the wheel of ratha in His hand. It is said that during the great
Mahabharata war Krishna gave his word to the Kauravas that He would
not use any weapon in the battle. But on the ninth day He wanted to
control the fierce onslaught of Bhisma. He forgot the word given to
the Kauravas. He jumped down the chariot and dropped the whip he was
holding. Realising that He had no weapon in His hand, He is stated to
have grabbed a wheel from one of the chariots and rushed towards
Bhisma.
Bhisma seeing Krishna running toward him in this fashion reminds Him
of His promise. That sight of Krishna running with the wheel of a
ratha in His hand was fresh in Bhisma's memory even when Bhisma was
lying on the bed of arrows. And the one-thousandth nama depicts
Vishnu as Sarva Praharnayudha.
There is no rule that the Lord has got only the above-mentioned
weapons to fight the unlawful and protect Dharma. In His
manifestation as Varaha, He used His mighty tusks to kill Hiranyaksha
and as Narasimha, He used His fingernails to rip open the belly of
Hiranyakashipu to save Prahalada. He also used His foot to crush the
ego of King Bali in His incarnation as Vamana the dwarf.
The Vishnu Sahasranama is open to all; anyone can chant it without
any distinction of caste, creed or sex. It can be chanted at any time
and no special rituals are obligatory to do so. There are no hurdles
in chanting the praise of the Lord.
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