मनन Manana · ReflectStep 14 of /18
Viṣṇu Sahasranāma · Ślokas 101–108
Names 941–1000
Listen to the chant, and read the meaning under each verse. A narrated version is on its way.
Śloka 101 · Beginningless source of all birth
Śloka 101
अनादिर्भूर्भुवो लक्ष्मीः सुवीरो रुचिराङ्गदः ।
जननो जनजन्मादिर्भीमो भीमपराक्रमः ॥
anādir bhūrbhuvo lakṣmīḥ suvīro rucirāṅgadaḥ |
janano janajanmādir bhīmo bhīmaparākramaḥ ||
Meaning
Anādi: he has no beginning, for nothing comes before him. Bhūrbhuva: the earth supports everything, and he supports even the earth. Lakṣmī: he is the splendour of the earth and the sky; or, Śaṅkara says, the knowledge of the Self. Suvīra: he moves in many splendid ways. Rucirāṅgada: he wears beautiful armlets. Janana: he brings all beings to birth. Janajanmādi: he is the first cause of every birth. Bhīma again: awesome, like a raised thunderbolt, says the Kaṭha Upaniṣad. Bhīmaparākrama: in his descents his valour strikes fear into the demons.
Word by word
Words joined in recitation are shown split. Where sounds change at the joins, the dictionary form is given under the word.
Śloka 102 · The ever-awake blossoming Lord
Śloka 102
आधारनिलयोऽधाता पुष्पहासः प्रजागरः ।
ऊर्ध्वगः सत्पथाचारः प्राणदः प्रणवः पणः ॥
ādhāranilayo 'dhātā puṣpahāsaḥ prajāgaraḥ |
ūrdhvagaḥ satpathācāraḥ prāṇadaḥ praṇavaḥ paṇaḥ ||
Meaning
Ādhāranilaya: earth and the elements hold up all things, and they in turn rest on him. Adhātā: nothing holds him up; he rests on himself alone. Puṣpahāsa: as a bud bursts into flower, he has blossomed forth as the universe. Prajāgara: ever awake, ever knowing. Ūrdhvaga: he stands above all beings. Satpathācāra: he walks the path of the good. Prāṇada again: he gave life back to Parīkṣit and others who had died. Praṇava: he is Om itself, for the word and the Lord are one. Paṇa: he gives every form its name, and pays each one the reward of good deeds.
Word by word
Śloka 103 · Life of all life, the one Self
Śloka 103
प्रमाणं प्राणनिलयः प्राणभृत्प्राणजीवनः ।
तत्त्वं तत्त्वविदेकात्मा जन्ममृत्युजरातिगः ॥
pramāṇaṃ prāṇanilayaḥ prāṇabhṛt prāṇajīvanaḥ |
tattvaṃ tattvavid ekātmā janmamṛtyujarātigaḥ ||
Meaning
Pramāṇa again: here, Śaṅkara says, he is pure knowing that shines by itself; knowing is Brahman, says the Upaniṣad. Prāṇanilaya: the home in which the life-breaths and all souls come to rest. Prāṇabhṛt: he nourishes the breath through food. Prāṇajīvana: no one lives by breath alone, says the Kaṭha Upaniṣad, but by the one on whom breath depends. Tattva: he is the reality, the truth itself. Tattvavit: he knows that truth just as it is. Ekātmā: the one Self; in the beginning this was the Self alone. Janmamṛtyujarātiga: he passes beyond birth, growth, decay and death.
Word by word
Śloka 104 · The Lord who is sacrifice
Śloka 104
भूर्भुवःस्वस्तरुस्तारः सविता प्रपितामहः ।
यज्ञो यज्ञपतिर्यज्वा यज्ञाङ्गो यज्ञवाहनः ॥
bhūrbhuvaḥsvastarus tāraḥ savitā prapitāmahaḥ |
yajño yajñapatir yajvā yajñāṅgo yajñavāhanaḥ ||
Meaning
Bhūrbhuvaḥsvastaru: through the three sacred words Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ, the essence of the Vedas, offered into the fire, people cross the three worlds; or he is the tree spreading through them. Tāra again: he carries us across; or he is Om. Savitā again: the father of all. Prapitāmaha: great-grandfather even of Brahmā the grandsire. Yajña again: he is sacrifice itself. Yajñapati: I am the lord of all sacrifices, says the Gītā. Yajvā: he also performs it. Yajñāṅga: as the cosmic boar, his limbs are the parts of the sacrifice. Yajñavāhana: he carries every sacrifice to its fruit.
Word by word
Śloka 105 · Sacrifice, food and eater
Śloka 105
यज्ञभृद् यज्ञकृद् यज्ञी यज्ञभुग् यज्ञसाधनः ।
यज्ञान्तकृद् यज्ञगुह्यमन्नमन्नाद एव च ॥
yajñabhṛd yajñakṛd yajñī yajñabhug yajñasādhanaḥ |
yajñāntakṛd yajñaguhyam annam annāda eva ca ||
Meaning
Yajñabhṛt: he upholds and protects sacrifice. Yajñakṛt: he creates sacrifice at the beginning of the world and ends it at the close. Yajñī: he is the whole, and every sacrifice is a part of his worship. Yajñabhuk: he enjoys every offering. Yajñasādhana: sacrifice is a path that leads to him. Yajñāntakṛt: he gives the fruit of sacrifice. Yajñaguhya: the secret of sacrifice, the sacrifice of knowledge, or work done without desire. Anna: he is food. Annāda: and he is the eater; indeed, Śaṅkara says, the whole universe is food and eater, and all these names belong to one Lord.
Word by word
Śloka 106 · Self-born son of Devakī
Śloka 106
आत्मयोनिः स्वयञ्जातो वैखानः सामगायनः ।
देवकीनन्दनः स्रष्टा क्षितीशः पापनाशनः ॥
ātmayoniḥ svayañjāto vaikhānaḥ sāmagāyanaḥ |
devakīnandanaḥ sraṣṭā kṣitīśaḥ pāpanāśanaḥ ||
Meaning
Ātmayoni: the world is made from him alone, as a pot from clay. Svayañjāta: self-born, he is also the maker who shapes it, so he is both stuff and maker. Vaikhāna: the digger; as the boar he dug deep, killed the demon Hiraṇyākṣa and raised the earth. Sāmagāyana: the singer of the Sāma chants. Devakīnandana: the son of Devakī; all the lights of heaven, the worlds, the Vedas and the gods are that son of Devakī, says the Mahābhārata. Sraṣṭā: creator of all the worlds. Kṣitīśa: lord of the earth. Pāpanāśana: praised, worshipped or simply remembered, he destroys every kind of sin.
Word by word
Śloka 107 · The Lord and his weapons
Śloka 107
शङ्खभृन्नन्दकी चक्री शार्ङ्गधन्वा गदाधरः ।
रथाङ्गपाणिरक्षोभ्यः सर्वप्रहरणायुधः ॥
śaṅkhabhṛn nandakī cakrī śārṅgadhanvā gadādharaḥ |
rathāṅgapāṇir akṣobhyaḥ sarvapraharaṇāyudhaḥ ||
Meaning
Śaṅkhabhṛt: he holds the conch Pāñcajanya, which stands for the sense of I, the seed of the elements. Nandakī: he wields the sword Nandaka, which is knowledge. Cakrī again: his discus Sudarśana is the mind; or at his command the wheel of the world turns. Śārṅgadhanvā: his bow Śārṅga stands for the senses. Gadādhara: his mace Kaumodakī is the intellect. Rathāṅgapāṇi: a chariot wheel in his hand. Akṣobhya again: nothing can shake him. Sarvapraharaṇāyudha: every weapon is his, even his nails; the thousandth name shows he is truly Lord of all.
Word by word
Śloka 108 · Closing prayer for protection
Śloka 108
वनमाली गदी शार्ङ्गी शङ्खी चक्री च नन्दकी ।
श्रीमान् नारायणो विष्णुर्वासुदेवोऽभिरक्षतु ॥
vanamālī gadī śārṅgī śaṅkhī cakrī ca nandakī |
śrīmān nārāyaṇo viṣṇur vāsudevo 'bhirakṣatu ||
Meaning
This last śloka is a prayer. He wears the forest garland, the Vaijayantī, woven from the subtle elements of the world. He holds the mace Kaumodakī, the intellect; the bow Śārṅga, the senses; the conch Pāñcajanya, the sense of I; the discus Sudarśana, the swift mind; and the sword Nandaka, knowledge. May that glorious Nārāyaṇa, the refuge of all beings, Viṣṇu who pervades everything, Vāsudeva who dwells in all, protect us on every side.
Word by word
Reflection
A thousand names have now been sung, and the last ones place weapons in the Lord's hands: conch, sword, discus, bow and mace. It may seem a strange way to end a hymn of praise, until you hear what Śaṅkara sees in them. The conch is our sense of I, the bow is our senses, the discus is our restless mind, the mace is our intellect, the sword is knowledge. Everything inside us that pulls us this way and that is held, quiet and obedient, in his hands. Then comes the thousandth name, armed with every weapon, and Śaṅkara says it means simply that he is Lord of all, whose every wish comes true. He closes his commentary with Om and a bow, reminding us that the wise salute the Lord at the beginning and at the end of every work, and that even one heartfelt bow to Kṛṣṇa outweighs ten great horse sacrifices. So as the chant ends, let this closing prayer be your own. You have walked through a thousand windows onto one face. Bow once, with your whole heart, and ask Nārāyaṇa, Viṣṇu, Vāsudeva to guard you on every side.
Your reflection
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The audio plays each verse chanted; its meaning is written under it, and a narrated version is on its way. Tap a word for its meaning. Space plays and pauses.