मनन Manana · ReflectStep 7 of /18
Viṣṇu Sahasranāma · Ślokas 31–40
Names 283–372
Listen to the chant, and read the meaning under each verse. A narrated version is on its way.
Śloka 31 · Moon, medicine and bridge
Śloka 31
अमृतांशूद्भवो भानुः शशबिन्दुः सुरेश्वरः ।
औषधं जगतः सेतुः सत्यधर्मपराक्रमः ॥
amṛtāṃśūdbhavo bhānuḥ śaśabinduḥ sureśvaraḥ |
auṣadhaṃ jagataḥ setuḥ satyadharmaparākramaḥ ||
Meaning
Amṛtāṃśūdbhava: the source of the moon, which rose from the ocean of milk when it was churned. Bhānu, heard before: the radiant one; when he shines, the Upaniṣad says, everything shines after him. Śaśabindu: like the moon, he nourishes every living thing. Sureśvara: lord of the gods and of all who do good. Auṣadham: the medicine that cures the sickness of birth and death. Jagataḥ Setu: the bridge of the world, carrying beings to freedom and keeping its order from falling into ruin. Satyadharmaparākrama: his goodness and his valour never fail.
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 32 · Lord of desire and its ending
Śloka 32
भूतभव्यभवन्नाथः पवनः पावनोऽनलः ।
कामहा कामकृत्कान्तः कामः कामप्रदः प्रभुः ॥
bhūtabhavyabhavannāthaḥ pavanaḥ pāvano 'nalaḥ |
kāmahā kāmakṛt kāntaḥ kāmaḥ kāmapradaḥ prabhuḥ ||
Meaning
Bhūtabhavyabhavannātha: lord of all beings, past, future and present, the one they all seek. Pavana: the purifier; of purifiers, he says in the Gītā, I am the wind. Pāvana: he makes the wind blow, for it moves out of fear of him. Anala: the soul that holds the life-breaths; or the one to whom no limit can be set. Kāmahā: he ends desire in those who long for freedom. Kāmakṛt: he fulfils the wishes of the good. Kānta: beautiful beyond all. Kāma: the one everyone longs for. Kāmaprada: giver of what his devotees desire. Prabhu again: here, the one who exists most supremely of all.
Word by word
Śloka 33 · Turner of the ages
Śloka 33
युगादिकृद्युगावर्तो नैकमायो महाशनः ।
अदृश्यो व्यक्तरूपश्च सहस्रजिदनन्तजित् ॥
yugādikṛd yugāvarto naikamāyo mahāśanaḥ |
adṛśyo vyaktarūpaś ca sahasrajid anantajit ||
Meaning
Yugādikṛt: he who begins the ages. Yugāvarta: being Time himself, he turns the wheel of the ages, Kṛta and the rest, round and round. Naikamāya: the one of countless wondrous powers. Mahāśana: the great eater, who swallows everything at the end of the world. Adṛśya: no eye and no mind can grasp him. Vyaktarūpa: yet his form is manifest, in the visible world, and as shining light to the yogis. Sahasrajit: conqueror of demons by the thousand. Anantajit: with boundless power he excels every being, in battle and in play.
Word by word
Śloka 34 · The beloved, with arms everywhere
Śloka 34
इष्टोऽविशिष्टः शिष्टेष्टः शिखण्डी नहुषो वृषः ।
क्रोधहा क्रोधकृत्कर्ता विश्वबाहुर्महीधरः ॥
iṣṭo 'viśiṣṭaḥ śiṣṭeṣṭaḥ śikhaṇḍī nahuṣo vṛṣaḥ |
krodhahā krodhakṛt kartā viśvabāhur mahīdharaḥ ||
Meaning
Iṣṭa: the beloved, for he is the highest bliss; or the one worshipped in sacrifices. Aviśiṣṭa: the same in everyone, as the inner ruler of all. Śiṣṭeṣṭa: dear to the wise; the Gītā says the wise one is dear to him, and he to the wise. Śikhaṇḍī: wearing a peacock feather, as Kṛṣṇa the cowherd boy. Nahuṣa: he binds beings with his māyā. Vṛṣa: Dharma itself, showering every blessing. Krodhahā: he removes anger from good people. Krodhakṛt Kartā: he rouses anger against the wicked, and he is the maker of this whole universe. Viśvabāhu: his arms reach everywhere. Mahīdhara: he holds up the earth.
Word by word
Śloka 35 · The unfailing ground of all
Śloka 35
अच्युतः प्रथितः प्राणः प्राणदो वासवानुजः ।
अपांनिधिरधिष्ठानमप्रमत्तः प्रतिष्ठितः ॥
acyutaḥ prathitaḥ prāṇaḥ prāṇado vāsavānujaḥ |
apāṃnidhir adhiṣṭhānam apramattaḥ pratiṣṭhitaḥ ||
Meaning
Acyuta, heard before: he never slips from what he is, free from birth, decay and every change. Prathita: famous for making and sustaining the world. Prāṇa again: here, the life-breath of every being. Prāṇada again: he gives life to the gods and takes it from the demons. Vāsavānuja: Indra's younger brother, born to Kaśyapa and Aditi. Apāṃnidhi: the ocean; of waters, he says in the Gītā, I am the sea. Adhiṣṭhānam: the ground in which all beings rest. Apramatta: never careless in giving each one the fruit of their deeds. Pratiṣṭhita: established in his own glory, resting on nothing else.
Word by word
Śloka 36 · Vāsudeva, dweller in all
Śloka 36
स्कन्दः स्कन्दधरो धुर्यो वरदो वायुवाहनः ।
वासुदेवो बृहद्भानुरादिदेवः पुरन्दरः ॥
skandaḥ skandadharo dhuryo varado vāyuvāhanaḥ |
vāsudevo bṛhadbhānur ādidevaḥ purandaraḥ ||
Meaning
Skanda: he flows as nectar; or, as the wind, he dries everything up. Skandadhara: he upholds the path of righteousness. Dhurya: he carries the yoke of creating and sustaining all beings. Varada: giver of boons. Vāyuvāhana: he drives the seven winds. Vāsudeva: like the sun with its rays he covers the whole universe, and he dwells in every being; so the Mahābhārata explains this name. Bṛhadbhānu: his great rays shine in the sun and moon and light the world. Ādideva: the first god, the source of all. Purandara: destroyer of the cities of the gods' enemies.
Word by word
Śloka 37 · The friend who ferries us across
Śloka 37
अशोकस्तारणस्तारः शूरः शौरिर्जनेश्वरः ।
अनुकूलः शतावर्तः पद्मी पद्मनिभेक्षणः ॥
aśokas tāraṇas tāraḥ śūraḥ śaurir janeśvaraḥ |
anukūlaḥ śatāvartaḥ padmī padmanibhekṣaṇaḥ ||
Meaning
Aśoka: untouched by sorrow or any affliction. Tāraṇa: he carries us across the ocean of worldly life. Tāra: he saves us from the fears of birth, old age and death. Śūra: the valiant one. Śauri: Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva in the family of Śūra. Janeśvara: lord of all beings. Anukūla: always on our side, for he is the self of all, and no one works against his own self. Śatāvarta: he comes again and again to protect dharma; or, as breath, he moves through the hundred channels of the body. Padmī: holding a lotus in his hand. Padmanibhekṣaṇa: his eyes are like lotuses.
Word by word
Śloka 38 · Lotus-eyed, with Garuḍa's banner
Śloka 38
पद्मनाभोऽरविन्दाक्षः पद्मगर्भः शरीरभृत् ।
महर्द्धिरृद्धो वृद्धात्मा महाक्षो गरुडध्वजः ॥
padmanābho 'ravindākṣaḥ padmagarbhaḥ śarīrabhṛt |
maharddhir ṛddho vṛddhātmā mahākṣo garuḍadhvajaḥ ||
Meaning
Padmanābha, a name heard twice before: here, Śaṅkara says, the one seated at the very centre of the lotus. Aravindākṣa: lotus-eyed. Padmagarbha: the one meditated upon within the lotus of the heart. Śarīrabhṛt: he sustains every body with food and breath. Maharddhi: of boundless splendour. Ṛddha again: here, the one who has grown into the whole universe. Vṛddhātmā: the ancient self, older than all. Mahākṣa: the great-eyed one. Garuḍadhvaja: the Lord whose banner bears Garuḍa.
Word by word
Śloka 39 · The incomparable, known by every proof
Śloka 39
अतुलः शरभो भीमः समयज्ञो हविर्हरिः ।
सर्वलक्षणलक्षण्यो लक्ष्मीवान् समितिञ्जयः ॥
atulaḥ śarabho bhīmaḥ samayajño havirhariḥ |
sarvalakṣaṇalakṣaṇyo lakṣmīvān samitiñjayaḥ ||
Meaning
Atula: beyond compare; the Gītā says none in the three worlds equals him. Śarabha: he shines within these perishable bodies as their inner self. Bhīma: all creation stands in awe of him; yet to those on the right path he brings no fear. Samayajña: he knows the right time to create, sustain and dissolve; and his true worship, Prahlāda says, is to see all beings as equal. Havirhari: he receives the oblations, and as Hari he takes away the sins of all who simply think of him. Sarvalakṣaṇalakṣaṇya: every way of knowing leads to him alone. Lakṣmīvān: Lakṣmī ever dwells upon his chest. Samitiñjaya: victorious in battle.
Word by word
Śloka 40 · Dāmodara, the path and the cause
Śloka 40
विक्षरो रोहितो मार्गो हेतुर्दामोदरः सहः ।
महीधरो महाभागो वेगवानमिताशनः ॥
vikṣaro rohito mārgo hetur dāmodaraḥ sahaḥ |
mahīdharo mahābhāgo vegavān amitāśanaḥ ||
Meaning
Vikṣara: he never wastes away. Rohita: the red-hued, as in forms he takes at will, like the great fish. Mārga: the path, sought by all who long for freedom. Hetu: the cause of the world, both its substance and its maker. Dāmodara: the one known by a mind made pure through self-control; or little Kṛṣṇa, tied by Yaśodā with a cord round his waist. Saha: he bears everything and overcomes all. Mahīdhara again: now he holds up the earth as the mountains. Mahābhāga: greatly blessed in every birth he takes. Vegavān: swift; the Upaniṣad says he is faster than the mind. Amitāśana: his hunger is boundless, for at the end he swallows the universe.
Word by word
Reflection
Listen to how this group begins: the source of the moon, the radiant one, the moon that feeds the plants. Śaṅkara keeps finding Viṣṇu in whatever gives light and life, and then, almost at once, in whatever heals. He is Auṣadham, the medicine for the sickness of birth and death, and Setu, the bridge that carries us across. Then the picture widens. He is Time turning the wheel of the ages, the great eater who swallows the worlds at the end, the one whose arms reach everywhere. Yet the same verses keep coming back to the lotus: lotus eyes, a lotus in his hand, and the lotus of your own heart, where he is meditated upon. Vast enough to hold the cosmos, near enough to sit within you. The group closes on the name that holds both together, Dāmodara. Śaṅkara gives two readings side by side: the one known by a mind made pure through self-control, and the little boy whom Yaśodā tied with a cord round his waist. The Lord who swallows the universe let a mother's love hold him still. Carry that name with you.
Your reflection
How well do you know these verses?
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.