Vishnusahasranama

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the fields of activities, never interfering with the freedom of the individuals

to act. “The Supreme Purusha in this body is also called the spectator, the

permitter, the supporter, the enjoyer, the great Lord, and the Supreme Self.”

>From the Puranic standpoint the Lord in His Vaamana manifestation was installed

as the king of the three worlds and, therefore, this name, say the Pauraanikas.

(134) Suraadhyakshah -The President of the Heavens to whom the Devas run for

protection when they are threatened by their constant enemies -the Daityas and

the Asuras. When in the Heaven of our bosom, the thought-angels are threatened

by the negative tendencies and criminal purposes, He to whom the good in us

surrender totally for sure protection and safety is Vishnu, the President

within the bosom. (135) Dharmaadhyakshah -Presiding over the activities of

the living organisms,

Consciousness revels, illumining both the good and the evil therein. The One

Sacred factor that constantly thus illumines all the nature and functions

(Dharma) of the body, mind and intellect is the Dharmaa- dhyakshah, Lord

Vishnu. (136) Kritaakritah -Kritam = that which is done = that which is

manifested or created Akritam, therefore, is that which has not manifested or

become. The former (Kritam) indicates all the “effects” manifested out of the

Creator’s activities, and the latter (Akritam) is the “cause” from which no

manifestation has yet emerged -it is still unmanifest. The Self, the Atman, is

the ‘Post’ -in the ghost-in-the-post example -upon which the cause and the

effect, the unmanifest and the manifest, like the “ghost” apparently come to

play (Kritam = Vyaktam, A-Kritam = A-Vyaktam). (137) Chaturaatmaa -The Self

is described as

four-fold when we consider the Atman as the Glory (Vibhooti) of the Self. Thus,

the Essential factors, with which alone the endless play of creation,

sustenance and destruction can continue, are the glories of the Self

(Aatma-Vibhooti). In Vishnu Purana, four distinct vibhooties of the Lord -when

He functions as the creator, sustainer and destroyer -are found enumerated.

>From the standpoint of a Vedantic student, since in the Non-dual Reality there

cannot be anything other than It- self, all the plays of the gross, the subtle

and causal bodies, in the microcosm and in the macrocosm, are the glories

(vibhooties) of the One Self. In the Absolute, in the Eternal, all these are

transcended; these- the water, dreamer, deep-sleeper, the Tureeya -are all Its

Glories. The Possessor of these Glories is the One that transcends even

“Tureeya”; He is called as the Tureeyaateetah. (138) Chaturvyoohah

-One who manifests into the four mighty powers (Vyooha). The Truth, that plays

thus Himself in these four levels having apparently created the world of

experiences, is Vishnu, the All-Pervading. According to the Vaishnava

literature, for the purpose of creation, Maha Vishnu Himself became four mighty

powers (Vyooha) and they were called Vaasudeva, Samkarshana, Pradyumna and

Aniruddha. One who has Himself these four mighty powers, necessary for the

conduct of plurality, is the Great Self, Maha Vishnu. (139) Chatur-Damshtrah

-The canine teeth fully developed in the upper and the lower rows, as in the

case of carnivorous animals, are called in Sanskrit as Damshtraa. This is

reminiscent of the Powerful Damshtraa of the Lord when He took the form of

Nara-Simha to protect Prahlaada. Also in the Puranas we find that the Great

white Elephant of Indra, “ Airaavata,” has four tusks -He whose glory is the

four-tusked

Airaavata is Maha- Vishnu. To the student of the Upanishad, it is indeed very

clear that these four ‘tusks’ or ‘teeth’ are nothing other than the four paadas

which Mandukya thunders -”Chatushpaada”. The manifestation of the Might and

Glory of the Supreme are the play of the waking, dream and deep-sleep

conditions. With reference to these three, transcending them all, is the fourth

plane-of-consciousness the Springboard for all these three. He, whose Glory are

all these four grinding, crushing, fearful experiences of duality, is the One

Non-dual Self, the Great Maha Vishnu. (140) Chaturbhujah –“One who has four

hands”. It is famous that Maha Vishnu has four hands and they carry the Conch,

the Discus, the Mace, and the Lotus. According to the Puranas, these four are

used by the Lord in maintaining Dharma among mankind. The ‘Conch’ calls man to

the righteous path that directly leads to Peace

and Perfection, the Divine Vishnupada. Very many of us in the enchantment of the

immediate sense-joys refuse to listen to the small inner voice of conscience,

the sound of the Paanchajanya-conch, and so He wields the ‘Mace’ and we come to

suffer small calamities and tragic jerks in our smooth existence -communal,

social or national. If still the individual is not listening to the call of the

‘Conch’, the wheel-of-time, Chakra annihilates the entire. The call and the

punishment are all only to take man towards his Ultimate Goal, represented by

the “Lotus” in His hand. Subjectively Vishnu is the Self within, who

manifests as the four-armed ‘subtle-body’ to serve as the Eesa of the gross

physical structure, in all its actions and protect it with existence. The

“Subtle-body” as the inner-equipment (Antah-Karana) functions as four mighty

powers -mind, intellect, chit and ego. Chit is the ‘Lotus’, intellect is the

‘Conch’, ego is the ‘Mace’, and mind is the

‘Discus’. All these four are wielded by the One Infinite Blue-bodied Narayana,

clothed in His ‘yellow garb’, manifesting to maintain and sustain the world of

good and evil. Since the Self functions thus in a four-fold pattern, Vishnu has

the appellation, “the four-armed Lord.”

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