Sri Vishnu sahasra nama - Lord Ranganatha's Name?

11-19-2005, 03:47 PM

the Absolute in terms of opposite superlative extremes like smaller than the
smallest, greater than the greatest, etc.:aNor-aNIyAn-mahato mahIyAn>> Tricky
names and trickier meanings are what makes the sahasra-nAmas what they are.
They are at the same time texts for recitation as prayers and also storehouses
for information to be leisurely digested during meditation.He is both Existence
- sat - and Non-Existence - asat -. Existence, because He is the One that exists
in all things and beings; Non-existence, because He is the conditioned and
limited plurality of the universe which is manifest to us but has no ultimate
reality. Recall the words of the Lord in the gItA (9 - 19):sad-asac-cAham
arjuna>> He is the changeless core amidst all changes, but He appears as
changing just as the ocean appears as the changing and dying waves. He is
therefore at the same time the perishing superposition as
well as the imperishable substratum -- ksharaH as well as aksharaH>> He is ekaH,
one, because there is no second. He is also naikaH, that is, not one, because He
is the One immanent in all the plurality of the visible universe. Recall Rg-veda
(1-164-46): The one Truth, Wise men speak of in varied ways. ekam sad-viprA
bahudhA vadanti>> Also recall kathopanishad (2 - 2 -9): Just as fire, though
one, having entered the world, assumes separate forms in respect of different
shapes, similarly, the Self inside all beings, though one assumes a form in
respect of each shape; and yet, it is outside:agnir-yathaiko bhuvanam pratishTo
rUpam rUpam pratirUpo babhUva / ekastathA sarva-bhUtAntarAtmA rUpam rUpam
pratirUpo bahiSca //Again, chAndogya-upanishad: (6 - 2 - 1): brahman is one,
one only, without a second.ekam-evAdvitIyam brahma>> He is aNuh, atomic; bRhat,
macrocosmic; kRSaH, lean;
sthUlaH, fat; guNabrt, full of attributes; nirguNaH, attributeless; mahAn,
great; adhRtaH, supportless. These names occur in continuous succession that
parASara, one of the great commentators on the vishNu sahasra-nAma, excels here
by interpreting these eight names as describing the eight powers of yoga:
namely, aNimA, mahimA, laghumA, garimA, Isitva, vaSitva, prAkAmya and prApti
--meaning, the powers to become atomic, transcendent, light, heavy, the power
to will anything beyond any natural phenomenon, effortless attainment of
anything and omniscience coupled with omnipotence! This is a gem from
parASara.>>> From Mahabharatha Shanthi parvam chapter 352 > You will find many
namas with their derivations as told by Krishna Himself to Arjuna.In chapter
346, Narada pays a sthuthi on sriman Narayana, by 198 namas. Before he starts
this, Vyasa says that Narada thus began the sthuthi of
Narayana who is both 'nirgunaNan' and 'guna-swaroopi'.Regards, jayasree
saranathan.>> "M.G.Vasudevan" wrote:>> Dear srivaishNava
perunthagaiyeer,> > Here is a part of mahaa bhaaratham translation read by me
today. [Translation by Kesary Mohan Ganguly which is available in internet] > >
Since it was a coincidence that sri sukumar raised a point on the 'sri vathsa
vakshase nama' where he adds -- quote "Which one we should believe in this
context (if my thoughts are not unfounded) - sruti (which refutes this) or
purana / smriti (which details this incident)?". Unquote.
Honganour Srinivasarangachar Krishna
E-Mail: hokrishna (AT) yahoo (DOT) com
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