Vishnusahasranama Stanza 90 anurbrihat krisah sthoolo gunabhrinnirguno mahaan adhritah svadhritah svaasyah praagvamso vamsavardhanah. 835. Anuh –“The Subtlest; the All-pervading.” Sree Narayana is the subtle flame-of-life in our bosom, the Essence from which all life’s activities spring forth. He is called as Anuh because He is in the centre of even the Subtlest. Bhagavan Himself says: “I am seated in the heart of all-as the core or Essence in all.” 836. Brihat -At the same time He is Greater than the Greatest in dimension, He being the All-pervading. These two may seem paradoxical but the apparent contradiction dissolves into an illumining experience for the contemplative mind. The Upanishad daringly combines these two terms to give the students a vague comprehension of the All-pervading Infinitude of the Self. 837. Krisah –“One Who is lean; subtle; delicate.” Again, this description will be opposed by the next following one, for herein is a deliberate use of contradictions. The Rishis made an art of effectively employing terms of contradiction in order to bring the incomprehensible within the cognition of the students of contemplation. 838. Sthoolah –“One Who is the fattest; the grossest; roughest.” These two terms are indicating opposites. Here it is to be understood that the Lord, in His state as Pure Consciousness, is the subtlest, and He is the grossest in the form of the Universe (Viraat). 839. Gunabhrit –“One Who supports”- maintains and expresses through the three Gunas. Through rajas He creates; through Sattva He preserves and through tamas He annihilates. He, as Consciousness, expresses Him- self through these three textures of vaasanaas. 840. Nirgunah-“Without-any-properties.” That which has property is matter-perishable, changeable, finite. The Imperishable, the Changeless, the Infinite is property-less; it is the Consciousness that illumines all properties (Gunas). With the matter equipments, in His Incarnations He manifests as having ‘form’ (Guna-bhrit), and in His Absolute Nature He is ‘form-less’-the Non-dual Self. 841. Mahaan –“The Great; the Glorious; the Mighty.” “One who is not conditioned by the five Elements- nor by Time and Space. Quite on the other hand, it is He Who is the very Existence in everything. 842. Adhritah -None supports Him, but He supports all. Just as the cotton in cloth, gold in ornaments, mud in pots, He is the supporter of the entire universe. To the devotee who feels the Lord is far away from him, to contemplate upon Sree Narayana as his very own support will open his heart to the certainty and plenitude of faith. 843. Svadhritah –“Self-supported.” When from the previous term we hear that the Self is he ultimate support of the Universe, the question automatically rises in a rational intellect: ‘what supports the Self?’ The Lord is “supported” by nothing else other than His own Glory. In the Upanishad, in answer to a question where the Mighty One abides, the teacher declares, “He abides in His own Glory.” 844. Svaasyah –“One Who has an Effulgent Face.” Because He gives to the Vedas their beauty and charm, He is conceived as brilliantly beautiful, enchantingly fascinating, hauntingly charming. 845. Praag-vamsah –“One Who has the most ancient ancestry.” The Infinite, the Cause for the universe and Time itself, is indicated as the ‘Most Ancient’. The term can also mean the accommodation reserved during a Yaaga meeting where the invitees and guests may rest. Generally built on the eastern courtyard of the house~ this accommodation is called ‘Praagvamsah.’ Since everything connected with a Yajna or Yaaga is considered as sacred, the ‘Praag-vamsah’ has been used here as a name to indicate Sree Narayana. 846. Vamsa-vardhanah –“He who multiplies His family of descendents.” The Lord’s family is the whole Universe of things and beings. Or it can also imply just the opposite as the root Vardh means ‘the annihilator.’ Narayana is the sacred factor in us, to Whose Feet we turn in all love and undivided attention, in Whom the world of perceptions, emotions and thoughts merge as a dream merges into the mind of the waker.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 06:11:02 +0000
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