Vishnusahasranama

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sufficiently, he, in time, grows to become an experienced Saint of Divine

Realization, a Buddha. The enchanting atmosphere of irresistible peace and

compassion, love and perfection, knowledge and strength, such a man throws

around him, is called the aura of Divinity (Dyuti). In the lOth Chapter of the

Geeta, the Geetacharya autobiographically confesses, “I am the Might in all

strength; I am the Brilliancy in all that is brilliant.” Some commentators are

found to take these three terms as separate names of the Lord. However, Sankara

interprets it as one single term. 276. Prakaasaatmaa -The Effulgent Self.

The One who is the Self in all hearts, who can be experienced as the

Consciousness, which is the source of all illumination to shine upon all

experiences in the three planes-of-consciousness, in all living creatures, at

all times. This Universal and Absolute Self is Maha Vishnu. 277. Prataapanah

-The One who manifests Himself as the Essential Thermal Energy, that lends Life

Potential to the very atmosphere around each living creature. In the words of

the Geetacharya, we find a confirmation to thus declaration when the Lord

declares to Arjuna that He Himself is the Reality that manifests as the heat

and light in the Sun and the Moon, and it is He again who warms up the crust of

the earth and impregnates it with its fertility. (Geeta XV-12 & 13). 278.

Riddhah -One who is ever full of all prosperity. As the very Lord of Lakshmi,

Vishnu should be one who has all glories (Aisvarya). When the entire universe

of wealth, strength and beauty is itself a manifestation from Him, He Himself

must be the Absolute Glory. 279. Spashta-aksharah -Spashtam=clear. One who

is clearly indicated by the Supreme Sound (Akshara), the famous

Sound-Symbol of the Eternal Lord Om. In Geeta we read: “One who chants my name

Om and leaves his body at the time of death thus remembering Me, he shall go to

the Supreme State” In Sanskrit, Kshara means the “Perishable” and Akshara means

the “imperishable.” The world of plurality, the “perishable” is no doubt

nothing other than the All-Perfect, the Immutable Truth, but due to the

imperfections of the instruments-of-perception-body, mind and intellect-the

perceiving ego can experience only this world constituted of a plurality-sense

objects, emotions and thoughts- The ego peeping through the vehicles can never

experience the One co-ordinating Reality, the Divine. When the mind is hushed

and the ego thus sublimated, the Immutable Akshara-factor is experienced,

wherein we gain the clearest (Spashta) understanding of the Absolute. Since it

is thus clear (Spashta) only in Its Immutable nature (Akshara=Kootastha),

Vishnu, the Supreme Self, is indicated here as Spashtaaksharah). 280. Mantrah

-One who is of the nature of the Mantras of the Vedas. The declarations of the

Vedas the mantras are the vehicles that will take us straight into an

experience of the Transcendental. The vehicles are often called by the nan1e of

their destination. Mantra means that which can save us on being properly

meditated upon. Only through the mantras of the Upanishads we ever come to

experience the Supreme Nature of the Lord, and so He is named as Mantrah.

281. Chandraamsuh -Rays of the moon. That the moonlight has got an effect upon

the herbs was known to India in the Vedic period. “As the rays of the moon

(Soma) I fill the vegetable kingdom with nutrition”, confesses Bhagavan

Vaasudeva. Thus the Lord is One who nurtures and nourishes all living creatures

instilling into each its particular vitality. Though this is the deep

philosophical significance, superficially the beauty, calm and

peace that the moon suggests to our mind is but a reflection of the Infinite

Peace of Vishnu. 282. Bhaaskaradyutih -The Effulgence of the Sun. Sun is

the centre of the solar system, an eternal exchequer of energy, ever

distributing Life and Strength to all living upon the earth; life would have

been impossible but for the Sun. At the same time, the Sun stays where he is

and he never interferes with life; from afar he blesses life. The Lord who thus

from afar blesses by His mere presence is the true Sun of Life, the Atman, the

Self- Sree Maha Vishnu. http://groups.msn.com/