“dhyayan Krite
yajan yagnaihi Tretayam
Dvapare archayanu
yadapnoti tadapnoti
Kalau sankirtya keshavam”
Vishnu Purana proclaims the routes (Marga) for achieving the supreme goal in different Yugas. Yugas are divided into four — Krita or Satya, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. The utmost devotion and surrender leads one to the attainment of Moksha or Salvation. In the Krita Yuga, one achieved this by performing years of continued meditation (Dhyana). In the Treta Yuga, people achieved the supreme objective by doing extensive YagaYagnas, which are Vedic rituals, performed in front of fire (Agni) by chanting hymns (mantras). In the Dvapara Yuga, Moksha was achieved by worshipping the deity by performing boundless prayers (Archanas). However, in Kali Yuga one can achieve the same results by merely chanting the holy names of Lord Krishna.
Nama Sankeerthana
The above verse (shloka) describes how each Yuga has its own Marga for performing bakthi and attaining the Moksha. For Kali, the last of the four yugas, Nama Sankeerthana (Chanting the names of the supreme power) is considered the Marga. We may wonder why cannot one perform the same Dhyana or YagaYagnas in Kali Yuga to achieve the same purpose. As each Yuga progresses, the lifespan, power of devotion, resolve, will power and perseverance of the individual deteriorates. One may not have all it takes to perform the same meditation (Tapas) or YagaYagnas as it was done in the Yuga before. Hence Kali Yuga gets the simplest and easiest way of reaching the utmost goal.
It is often said that to perform bakthi and surrender there may be obstacles in this materialistic world. It could be the samsara that is preventing one from discerning the real purpose of life or the worldly attachment causing one to forget the Atman. These obstacles can be considered similar to the weed in plants. To help the plant grow well, we control the weed growth and aid the plant to get the needed resources. The same parallel can be drawn in the context of bakthi too. To remove the obstacles for bakthi, one is asked to chant the names of the Lord or Supreme power or Sriman Narayana. To be specific, the Vedas assert that the Nama Sankeerthana has the power to remove any obstacle as it creates enormous focus through devotion. But can the Nama Sankeerthana in itself not have any obstacles? The Sanskrit Puranas clarifies this by answering that the Nama (holy names) are so intensely powerful, they have the strength and influence to remove their own obstacles.
Mahabharatha and Vishnu Sahasranama
śuklāṃ baradharaṃ viṣṇuṃ śaśi varṇam catur bhujam
prasanna vadanaṃ dhyāyet sarva vighnopa śāntaye
yasya dviradha vaktrādya pariṣādya paraśatam
vighnaṃ nighnanti satataṃ viśvaksenaṃ tamāśraye
Is the first verse in Vishnu Sahasranama, an integral part of the well-known Mahabharatha.
Vyasa Mahabharatha is a grandeur epic (Ithihasa) with shlokas of even grander proportions. The significance of Mahabharatha is expressed fantastically by the single Sanskrit verse below:
“Dharmecha arthecha Kaamecha mokshecha Bharatarshabha
Yadhihasti tadanyatra Yannehasti na tadkvachitu”
Mahabharatha is a solitary guide for all the manifestations in life –
· Dharma (Righteousness, Charity, Law)
· Artha (Material, Monetary, Economics)
· Kama (Desire, Carnal, Pleasure seeking)
· Moksha (Salvation, Liberation, Surrender)
The Shloka affirms that, if there is anything written or said in the Universe about Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, it will be found in Mahabharatha. If there is a thing about the above four that is not in Mahabharatha, then it is to be found nowhere else. Such is the superiority of Mahabharatha.
There are approximately around 1.25 lakh Shlokas in Mahabharatha. Of these intricately tied classic verses, two parts are considered as filtered gems. They are the Bhagavad-Gita and Vishnu Sahasranama.
The superiority and greatness of Bhagavad-Gita is that Lord Krishna himself speaks the verses through his divine mouth. Bhagavad-Gita is named the Lord’s own Upadesa (Teaching). On the contrary, the excellence and merit of Vishnu Sahasranama is that Lord Krishna himself listened to it. In spite of being the greatest Teacher, which he is referred to as the Guru of all Gurus (Jagadh Gurum), Krishna becomes the audience to hear the Vishnu Sahasranama.
Bhagavad-Gita says “satatam Kirtayantaha yatantascha drdha vratah”.
In this Gita Shloka Krishna asks the baktha (devotee) to chant his names. But he does not specify which names to chant or how to say them. The key to this intriguing question is found in the Aanusasanika parva of Mahabharatha.
During the Kurukshetra war, after getting defeated in the combat by Arjuna, Bhisma, the greatest of all warriors lies in the SaraSarpa (Arrow bed) waiting for his last day to depart the world. Yudhistra, the first of the Pandavas also known as the Dharma Putra asks Bhishmacharya
ko dharmaḥ sarva dharmāṇāṃ bhavataḥ paramo mataḥ
kiṃ japan mucyate jantur janma saṃsāra bandhanāt
”What is Dharma and which Dharma is the most righteous of all?”
Bhisma responds to Yudhistra by saying
Yeṣha me sarva dharmāṇāṃ dharmo dhikatamo mataḥ
yad bhaktyā puṇḍarīkākṣaṃ stavair arcen naras sadā
“Of all Dharma known to me, worshipping the Lotus eyed Lord and chanting his names with utmost devotion is what I regard as the greatest”.
Through this explanation Bhisma asserts that chanting the holy names (NamaSankeerthana) of lord Vishnu is the meritorious and greatest dharma of all the dharmas. He continues further and goes on to say the names of Sriman Narayana and enlists the thousand (Sahasra in this context refers to the number 1000) names, which becomes the Vishnu Sahasranama.
The fact that Krishna himself sat and listened to this upadesa confirms to the importance of Vishnu Sahasranama. The Shlokas below further explains how chanting the names of Vishnu add to the greatness of his attributes (Gunas).
yAni nAmAni gauNAni vikhyAtAni mahatmanaH
RiShibhiH paragItAni tAni vaxAmi bhUtaye
To know his Gunas one needs to know his names; to know him one needs to know his names. So chanting the names in Vishnu Sahasranama not only calls the names of Vishnu but also praises his attributes.
Six indicators explaining the superiority and distinction of Vishnu Sahasranama
In the Sanskrit work “Bhagavath Guna Dharpana” — a prestigious commentary to Vishnu Sahasranama based on the Vishistadvaitic school of thought by Swami Parasara Bhattar who is a highly eloquent scholar and a descendant of Sri Ramanuja, the six reasons that speak to the greatness and reverence of Vishnu Sahasranama are explained and supported in great detail.
“Mahabharatha Sarathvathu Rishibi Pariganathaha
Vedacharya Samaharathu Bishmothkrishna Mathathvathaha
Parigrahaa Dhishayathaha Gita Dyaiykaarthatharshanaha
Sahasranamna adhyayaha Upadeyo Yathamomathaha”
The above shloka explains the magnificence of Mahabharatha as follows:
1. Mahabharatha Sarathvathu:
Vishnu Sahasranama is the essence of Mahabharatha itself. Mahabharatha is highly regarded as the fifth Veda, as described in the Vedic Phrase “Bharathaha Panchamo Veda”. ‘Panchama’ in this phrase refers to number five or fifth in series. If there could exist a quintessence of the great epic Mahabharatha it lives in the Vishnu Sahasranama.
2. Rishibi Pariganathaha:
The names of Vishnu in the Sahasranama are all once revered by the great sages and Rishis. The sages and rishis have time and again used the names of Lord Vishnu such as Govinda, Keshava, and Madhava etc. as a powerful mantra. They celebrated these names and gave them extraordinary stature with profound bakthi.
3. Vedacharya Samaharathu:
The revered Mahan, Rishi Veda Vyasa’s most glorious work is Vishnu Sahasranama. Veda Vyasa is regarded as the Acharya (Teacher) of Veda as he separated and grouped them into parts as the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana Vedas. Veda Vyasa comes from a lineage of highly austere Sages. The preface shloka in Vishnu Sahasranama describes Veda Vyasa’s ancestry as below:
vyāsaṃ vasiṣṭa naptāraṃ śakteḥ pautraṃ akalmaṣam
parāśara ātmajaṃ vande śukatātaṃ tapo nidhim
Vyasa is the great grandson of Vashista and grandson of Shakti. He is the son of Sage Parashara and is the father of the brilliant Mahan Sukha. He is so untainted and purely outstanding that he has no flaws. The Shloka verse further continues to quote the excellence of Vyasa as below:
vyāsāya viṣṇu rūpāya vyāsa-rūpāya viṣṇave
namo vai brahma-nidhaye vāsiṣṭāya namo namaḥ
Vyasa is the form of Vishnu himself and that Vishnu who is again in the form of Vyasa is bound with a wealth of knowledge; such honorable Veda Vyasa authors the Sahasranama compiling it together meritoriously in the epic Mahabharatha.
4. Bishmothkrishna Mathathvathaha:
The great Bhisma speaks the Vishnu Sahasranama in front of Krishna himself. The greatness of Bhisma in Mahabharatha is quoted throughout the epic and everyone glorifies him as BhismAcharya giving him the status of an Acharya. That Bhisma who is the Son of the Ganga; one who lived his entire life for truth and dharma, one who is as pure as the Ganga; one who is the most skilled and knowledgeable; speaks the Vishnu Sahasranama when asked by Yudhistra.
5. Parigrahaa Dhishayathaha:
Vishnu Sahasranama is accepted and recognized by all as it gives both the worldly contentment as well as the Moksha Prapthi (attainment of Salvation) to the one that chants it. There are Vedic Shastras that discourses about worldly satisfactions and ways to achieve them. On the other hand, there are Shastras that talk about Atman and Moksha. But Vishnu Sahasranama is revered a Moksha Shastra that also grants the material world’s pleasures such as health, wealth etc.
6. Gita Dyaiykaarthatharshanaha:
Vishnu Sahasranama essentially aligns with all other Shastras like Bhagavad-Gita and Upanishads in meaning and intent. The fact that the meaning of learning the Veda or Upanishads can also be achieved by learning the Vishnu Sahasranama elucidates its supremacy and honor.
Thus lists Swami Parasara Bhattar the six wonderful reasons speaking to the importance and significance of Vishnu Sahasranama in his Sanskrit commentary work.
There are works/books in the world that may be profound and good to read but the creator or author may be unknown. Or perhaps, the author is well known but the book or his work may not be as worthy. But this analogy is invalidated in this case because Mahabharatha, which in turn has Vishnu Sahasranama, is accepted as a great work where both the creator Veda Vyasa and his work are well regarded.
Conclusion
The entire context presented above leads to an eventual question. What is the true purpose/essence of NamaSankeerthana/Vishnu Sahasranama? In my opinion, Yudhistra the Dharma Putra asks a selfish question to Bhishmacharya. Selfish not in the literal sense of personal gain but rather with the intent of providing a solution to humanity bounded by the mundane duties of the material world that includes him as well. Yudhistra had just waged a war to destroy Adharma, which resulted in casualties in the counts of millions. Being a Dharma Putra, he knew one of the ways to attain Moksha is through the pursuit of dhyana (meditation) and Self-realization. However such a path required removing himself of worldly duties and living the life of a sage. Yudhistra was duty bound to serve his people, kingdom and nation, which presented the conundrum. If Moksha is the ultimate goal, which also required him to forgo all the worldly duties, why did he wage a war to rule a kingdom that in turn binds him back to the worldly duties? Yudhistra knew that he had to wage the war to reestablish Dharma, but as a result of that he was being sucked back into the mundane circle of life. This is where Bhishmacharya offers an elegant solution to the puzzle in my perspective. His solution not only solved Yudhistra’s personal dilemma, but also created a path for common men and women like us to attain Moksha. In fact Yudhistra was learned and skilled enough to even pursue the path of meditation to attain salvation, whereas in kali Yuga the common men may not have the knowledge, will power or determination to pursue this path. Hence, Yudhistra’s question to Bhisma was not only intended for himself but rather more towards the sake of humankind. Such is the depth and conceptual sophistication hidden inside just one shloka of Vishnu Sahasranama, which in turn is a small section of the epic Mahabharatha.
In conclusion, Sahasranama has the power to grant all the goodness one seeks including the Parama bakthi (utmost supreme devotion), the key objective that will help one attain the great Vaikunta and Moksha.
The beautiful Tamil work of Saintly Azhwars also further validates this fact, through their verses. “vaiyam thagaLiyA vArkadalE neyyAga veyya kadhirOn viLakkAga seyya sudarAziyAn adikkE sUttinEn sol mAlai idarAzhi nIngugavE enRu”
“The earth becomes the lamp, Ocean becomes the Ghee (the energy to burn), and Sun becomes the wick and light. I garland, the feet of The One who wields the shining discus Sriman Narayana, with words, his names and his attributes. Let this lamp drive away the darkness and light the path to salvation”.
