मनन Manana · ReflectStep 3 of /18
Viṣṇu Sahasranāma · Pūrvabhāga 10–19
Bhīṣma's answer
Listen to the chant, and read the meaning under each verse. A narrated version is on its way.
Pūrvabhāga 10 · Praise him with a thousand names
Bhīṣma said
Pūrvabhāga 10
जगत्प्रभुं देवदेवमनन्तं पुरुषोत्तमम् ।
स्तुवन् नामसहस्रेण पुरुषः सततोत्थितः ॥
jagatprabhuṃ devadevam anantaṃ puruṣottamam |
stuvan nāmasahasreṇa puruṣaḥ satatotthitaḥ ||
Meaning
Bhīṣma answers, beginning with the last question. A person who stays devoted, and praises with the thousand names the Lord of the universe, the God of gods, the infinite, the supreme Person, crosses beyond all sorrow.
Word by word
Words joined in recitation are shown split. Where sounds change at the joins, the dictionary form is given under the word.
Pūrvabhāga 11 · Worship, meditate, bow
Pūrvabhāga 11
तमेव चार्चयन्नित्यं भक्त्या पुरुषमव्ययम् ।
ध्यायन् स्तुवन् नमस्यंश्च यजमानस्तमेव च ॥
tam eva cārcayan nityaṃ bhaktyā puruṣam avyayam |
dhyāyan stuvan namasyaṃś ca yajamānas tam eva ca ||
Meaning
So does the one who worships him alone, every day, with devotion, that imperishable Person: meditating on him in the mind, praising him in words, bowing to him with the body.
Word by word
Pūrvabhāga 12 · Beyond all sorrow
Pūrvabhāga 12
अनादिनिधनं विष्णुं सर्वलोकमहेश्वरम् ।
लोकाध्यक्षं स्तुवन्नित्यं सर्वदुःखातिगो भवेत् ॥
anādinidhanaṃ viṣṇuṃ sarvalokamaheśvaram |
lokādhyakṣaṃ stuvan nityaṃ sarvaduḥkhātigo bhavet ||
Meaning
Whoever always praises Viṣṇu, who has no beginning and no end, the great Lord of all the worlds, the one who sees everything, goes beyond all sorrow.
Word by word
Pūrvabhāga 13 · Source of every being
Pūrvabhāga 13
ब्रह्मण्यं सर्वधर्मज्ञं लोकानां कीर्तिवर्धनम् ।
लोकनाथं महद्भूतं सर्वभूतभवोद्भवम् ॥
brahmaṇyaṃ sarvadharmajñaṃ lokānāṃ kīrtivardhanam |
lokanāthaṃ mahadbhūtaṃ sarvabhūtabhavodbhavam ||
Meaning
Praise him who cherishes the Veda and all who keep it, who knows every dharma, who makes the good name of every creature grow: the Lord of the world, the great Being, the source from which all beings come.
Word by word
Pūrvabhāga 14 · The highest dharma
Pūrvabhāga 14
एष मे सर्वधर्माणां धर्मोऽधिकतमो मतः ।
यद्भक्त्या पुण्डरीकाक्षं स्तवैरर्चेन्नरः सदा ॥
eṣa me sarvadharmāṇāṃ dharmo 'dhikatamo mataḥ |
yad bhaktyā puṇḍarīkākṣaṃ stavair arcen naraḥ sadā ||
Meaning
Now the fifth question. Of all dharmas, this is the one I hold highest: that a person should always worship the lotus-eyed Lord with devotion, through hymns of praise.
Word by word
Pūrvabhāga 15 · The supreme goal
Pūrvabhāga 15
परमं यो महत्तेजः परमं यो महत्तपः ।
परमं यो महद्ब्रह्म परमं यः परायणम् ॥
paramaṃ yo mahat tejaḥ paramaṃ yo mahat tapaḥ |
paramaṃ yo mahad brahma paramaṃ yaḥ parāyaṇam ||
Meaning
Then the second. He who is the supreme, great light; he who is the supreme, great power that rules all things; he who is the supreme, great Brahman: he is the supreme goal.
Word by word
Pūrvabhāga 16 · Father of all beings
Pūrvabhāga 16
पवित्राणां पवित्रं यो मङ्गलानां च मङ्गलम् ।
दैवतं देवतानां च भूतानां योऽव्ययः पिता ॥
pavitrāṇāṃ pavitraṃ yo maṅgalānāṃ ca maṅgalam |
daivataṃ devatānāṃ ca bhūtānāṃ yo 'vyayaḥ pitā ||
Meaning
And at last the first question, who is the one God. He is the purest of all that purifies, the most blessed of all blessings, the God of the gods, the undying father of every being.
Word by word
Pūrvabhāga 17 · All arise from him
Pūrvabhāga 17
यतः सर्वाणि भूतानि भवन्त्यादियुगागमे ।
यस्मिंश्च प्रलयं यान्ति पुनरेव युगक्षये ॥
yataḥ sarvāṇi bhūtāni bhavanty ādiyugāgame |
yasmiṃś ca pralayaṃ yānti punar eva yugakṣaye ||
Meaning
From him all beings arise when the first age of the world dawns, and into him they all return when the age comes to its end.
Word by word
Pūrvabhāga 18 · Hear the thousand names
Pūrvabhāga 18
तस्य लोकप्रधानस्य जगन्नाथस्य भूपते ।
विष्णोर्नामसहस्रं मे शृणु पापभयापहम् ॥
tasya lokapradhānasya jagannāthasya bhūpate |
viṣṇor nāmasahasraṃ me śṛṇu pāpabhayāpaham ||
Meaning
O King, hear from me the thousand names of Viṣṇu, the foremost of all, the Lord of the universe: names that take away sin and fear.
Word by word
Pūrvabhāga 19 · Names born of his qualities
Pūrvabhāga 19
यानि नामानि गौणानि विख्यातानि महात्मनः ।
ऋषिभिः परिगीतानि तानि वक्ष्यामि भूतये ॥
yāni nāmāni gauṇāni vikhyātāni mahātmanaḥ |
ṛṣibhiḥ parigītāni tāni vakṣyāmi bhūtaye ||
Meaning
I will tell you those famous names of the great Lord, each one born of one of his qualities, names the ṛṣis have sung everywhere. I tell them for the good of all.
Word by word
Reflection
One small word in this verse opens the whole hymn: gauṇa. The names, Bhīṣma says, come from his qualities. They are not labels stuck on from outside, the way we name a child before we know who the child will be. Each name says something true about the one it names. That is why Śaṅkara does what he does next. He does not simply list the names. He stops at every single one and asks: what does this name tell us? Why is he called Viṣṇu? Because he pervades everything. Why Keśava? Why Govinda? Some names will repeat, and Śaṅkara refuses to treat a repeat as a mistake. He finds a fresh meaning each time, because a name used twice must be pointing at something new. So as you listen, try to hear each name as a small sentence about God. Some will be grand, like the whole universe. Some will be tender, like the friend of all. Some will surprise you. Taken together they make a portrait that no single name could hold. Bhīṣma has finished his preface. Now the names begin.
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.