मनन Manana · ReflectStep 9 of /18
Viṣṇu Sahasranāma · Ślokas 51–60
Names 475–566
Listen to the chant, and read the meaning under each verse. A narrated version is on its way.
Śloka 51 · Real and unreal, perishable and not
Śloka 51
धर्मगुब्धर्मकृद्धर्मी सदसत्क्षरमक्षरम् ।
अविज्ञाता सहस्रांशुर्विधाता कृतलक्षणः ॥
dharmagub dharmakṛd dharmī sad asat kṣaram akṣaram |
avijñātā sahasrāṃśur vidhātā kṛtalakṣaṇaḥ ||
Meaning
Dharmagup: the protector of dharma; in every age, he says, I am born to establish it. Dharmakṛt: though beyond right and wrong, he acts only rightly, to guard dharma. Dharmī: the upholder of dharma. Sat: the Real, the supreme Brahman. Asat: also the world of effects, which is only names and forms. Kṣaram: the perishable, for he is all beings. Akṣaram again: the imperishable. Avijñātā: free of the mistaken thought, I am the doer. Sahasrāṃśu: the thousand-rayed; the sun shines only by his light. Vidhātā again: here, he holds up even those who hold up the world, like Ādiśeṣa and the mountains. Kṛtalakṣaṇa: the maker of the scriptures; or the one marked with Śrīvatsa.
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 52 · The great god, lion among beings
Śloka 52
गभस्तिनेमिः सत्त्वस्थः सिंहो भूतमहेश्वरः ।
आदिदेवो महादेवो देवेशो देवभृद्गुरुः ॥
gabhastinemiḥ sattvasthaḥ siṃho bhūtamaheśvaraḥ |
ādidevo mahādevo deveśo devabhṛdguruḥ ||
Meaning
Gabhastinemi: as the sun, he stands at the centre of the wheel of light. Sattvastha: he presides over bright goodness; or he dwells in all beings. Siṃha again: the lion, for his valour; or Narasiṃha, the man-lion. Bhūtamaheśvara: the great Lord of all beings. Ādideva again: the first, from whom every being came. Mahādeva: the great god, for he has left all else behind and shines in the glory of the Self. Deveśa: Lord of the gods. Devabhṛdguru: teacher of Indra, who rules the gods; or the one who nourishes and guides them all.
Word by word
Śloka 53 · The ancient protector, known by wisdom
Śloka 53
उत्तरो गोपतिर्गोप्ता ज्ञानगम्यः पुरातनः ।
शरीरभूतभृद्भोक्ता कपीन्द्रो भूरिदक्षिणः ॥
uttaro gopatir goptā jñānagamyaḥ purātanaḥ |
śarīrabhūtabhṛd bhoktā kapīndro bhūridakṣiṇaḥ ||
Meaning
Uttara: he lifts us across the ocean of worldly life; or the most excellent of all. Gopati: the cowherd; or Lord of the earth. Goptā: the protector of all beings. Jñānagamya: reached not by action, nor by action mixed with knowledge, but by knowledge alone. Purātana: the ancient one, beyond time. Śarīrabhūtabhṛt: as breath, he sustains the elements of the body. Bhoktā again: here, the protector; or the one who enjoys supreme bliss. Kapīndra: Śrī Rāma, lord of the monkeys; or the great boar. Bhūridakṣiṇa: to show what dharma is, he performed many sacrifices and gave great gifts.
Word by word
Śloka 54 · Drinker of nectar, true to his word
Śloka 54
सोमपोऽमृतपः सोमः पुरुजित्पुरुसत्तमः ।
विनयो जयः सत्यसन्धो दाशार्हः सात्वताम्पतिः ॥
somapo 'mṛtapaḥ somaḥ purujit purusattamaḥ |
vinayo jayaḥ satyasandho dāśārhaḥ sātvatāmpatiḥ ||
Meaning
Somapa: in every sacrifice he drinks the soma, as the god honoured and as the one who offers. Amṛtapa: he drinks the nectar of his own self; or he won back the nectar from the demons and shared it with the gods. Soma: as the moon he nourishes the plants; or Śiva, ever with Umā. Purujit: conqueror of many. Purusattama: vast, and the best of all. Vinaya: he disciplines those who do wrong. Jaya: victorious over all. Satyasandha: his resolve is truth. Dāśārha: worthy of every gift; or Kṛṣṇa, born in the Daśārha clan. Sātvatāmpati: Lord and protector of the Sātvata devotees.
Word by word
Śloka 55 · The witness who gives freedom
Śloka 55
जीवो विनयिता साक्षी मुकुन्दोऽमितविक्रमः ।
अम्भोनिधिरनन्तात्मा महोदधिशयोऽन्तकः ॥
jīvo vinayitā sākṣī mukundo 'mitavikramaḥ |
ambhonidhir anantātmā mahodadhiśayo 'ntakaḥ ||
Meaning
Jīva: as the knower in each body, he holds up the breath and the senses. Vinayitā Sākṣī: he witnesses the humility and conduct of every creature; or he sees nothing outside himself. Mukunda: the giver of freedom. Amitavikrama: of boundless might, whose strides as Trivikrama could not be measured. Ambhonidhi: the home of gods, men, ancestors and demons; or the ocean. Anantātmā: the infinite self, unbounded by space, time or anything else. Mahodadhiśaya: when all is dissolved, he lies upon the great waters. Antaka: the one who brings all things to their end.
Word by word
Śloka 56 · Bliss and the three strides
Śloka 56
अजो महार्हः स्वाभाव्यो जितामित्रः प्रमोदनः ।
आनन्दो नन्दनो नन्दः सत्यधर्मा त्रिविक्रमः ॥
ajo mahārhaḥ svābhāvyo jitāmitraḥ pramodanaḥ |
ānando nandano nandaḥ satyadharmā trivikramaḥ ||
Meaning
Aja again: unborn; or born of A, which stands for Viṣṇu. Mahārha: worthy of the highest worship. Svābhāvya: always centred in his own perfect nature. Jitāmitra: he has conquered every enemy, desire and hatred within, Rāvaṇa and Śiśupāla without. Pramodana: ever joyful, drinking the nectar of his own self, and gladdening all who meditate on him. Ānanda: bliss is his very nature. Nandana: the giver of joy. Nanda: full of joy, for, the Upaniṣad says, joy lies in the infinite, never in the small. Satyadharmā: his virtues are true. Trivikrama: with three strides he crossed the three worlds.
Word by word
Śloka 57 · Kapila the seer, and the great fish
Śloka 57
महर्षिः कपिलाचार्यः कृतज्ञो मेदिनीपतिः ।
त्रिपदस्त्रिदशाध्यक्षो महाशृङ्गः कृतान्तकृत् ॥
maharṣiḥ kapilācāryaḥ kṛtajño medinīpatiḥ |
tripadas tridaśādhyakṣo mahāśṛṅgaḥ kṛtāntakṛt ||
Meaning
Maharṣi Kapilācārya: the great ṛṣi Kapila, who saw the whole Veda and taught Sāṅkhya, the knowledge of the pure self; among the perfected, the Lord says in the Gītā, I am Kapila. Kṛtajña again: here, both the created world and the self that knows it. Medinīpati: Lord of the earth. Tripada: the one who took three strides. Tridaśādhyakṣa: overseer of the three states, waking, dream and deep sleep. Mahāśṛṅga: as the great fish, he tied the boat to his great horn and played in the waters of the flood. Kṛtāntakṛt: he ends all that is made; or he ends Death himself.
Word by word
Śloka 58 · Govinda, the hidden one
Śloka 58
महावराहो गोविन्दः सुषेणः कनकाङ्गदी ।
गुह्यो गभीरो गहनो गुप्तश्चक्रगदाधरः ॥
mahāvarāho govindaḥ suṣeṇaḥ kanakāṅgadī |
guhyo gabhīro gahano guptaś cakragadādharaḥ ||
Meaning
Mahāvarāha: the great boar who raised the earth. Govinda again: here, the one known through the words of the Veda. Suṣeṇa: leader of a splendid army. Kanakāṅgadī: wearing golden armlets. Guhya: known through the secret teaching of the Upaniṣads; or hidden in the cave of the heart. Gabhīra: deep beyond measure in wisdom, power and valour. Gahana again: impenetrable, the witness untouched as waking, dream and sleep come and go. Gupta: concealed, beyond the reach of mind and speech. Cakragadādhara: he bears the discus, which stands for the mind, and the mace, which stands for the intellect, to protect the world.
Word by word
Śloka 59 · Kṛṣṇa, the tree of heaven
Śloka 59
वेधाः स्वाङ्गोऽजितः कृष्णो दृढः सङ्कर्षणोऽच्युतः ।
वरुणो वारुणो वृक्षः पुष्कराक्षो महामनाः ॥
vedhāḥ svāṅgo 'jitaḥ kṛṣṇo dṛḍhaḥ saṅkarṣaṇo 'cyutaḥ |
varuṇo vāruṇo vṛkṣaḥ puṣkarākṣo mahāmanāḥ ||
Meaning
Vedhāḥ: the creator. Svāṅga: he is himself the means of all his work. Ajita: in none of his descents was he ever conquered. Kṛṣṇa again: here, Śaṅkara says, Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, for who but Viṣṇu could give us the Mahābhārata? Dṛḍha: firm in nature and power. Saṅkarṣaṇa Acyuta: he draws the whole world into himself at the end, yet never slips from what he is. Varuṇa: like the setting sun, he draws in his rays. Vāruṇa: Varuṇa's son, the sage Vasiṣṭha or Agastya. Vṛkṣa: like a tree, he stands unshaken in the heavens. Puṣkarākṣa again: he shines in the lotus of the heart. Mahāmanāḥ: by mind alone he creates, keeps and dissolves the world.
Word by word
Śloka 60 · Bhagavān with the forest garland
Śloka 60
भगवान् भगहाऽऽनन्दी वनमाली हलायुधः ।
आदित्यो ज्योतिरादित्यः सहिष्णुर्गतिसत्तमः ॥
bhagavān bhagahā ''nandī vanamālī halāyudhaḥ |
ādityo jyotirādityaḥ sahiṣṇur gatisattamaḥ ||
Meaning
Bhagavān: he who has all six glories in full, lordship, dharma, fame, wealth, detachment and freedom, and who knows the coming and going of all beings. Bhagahā: at the dissolution he takes all these glories back. Ānandī: he is bliss, rich in everything. Vanamālī: he wears the forest garland Vaijayantī, which stands for the subtle elements. Halāyudha: as Balarāma, armed with the plough. Āditya again: here, Vāmana, son of Aditi. Jyotirāditya: the light that dwells in the disc of the sun. Sahiṣṇu again: he endures heat and cold and every pair of opposites. Gatisattama: our refuge, and the best of all.
Word by word
Reflection
In these ten verses Viṣṇu keeps stepping into the world in one form after another. He is Trivikrama crossing the three worlds in three strides, the great fish with the boat tied to his horn, the great boar, Balarāma with his plough, Vāmana the son of Aditi. He is Rāma, lord of the monkeys, and even Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa, the ṛṣi who gave us this very stotra in the Mahābhārata; who but Viṣṇu, Śaṅkara asks, could have done that? Beneath all this coming and going, the names hold something still. He is Sat, the Real, and also the passing world of names and forms. He is the witness, watching every creature from within. And again and again he is joy: Pramodana, Ānanda, Nandana, Nanda. On Nanda, Śaṅkara recalls the Upaniṣad: there is no joy in the small; joy is only in the infinite. Sit with that for a moment. Every form he takes is a way of drawing us back to that fullness. So the group ends with Bhagavān, rich in every glory, and Gatisattama, the best refuge of all. Take Nanda home 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.