मनन Manana · ReflectStep 10 of /18
Viṣṇu Sahasranāma · Ślokas 61–70
Names 567–660
Listen to the chant, and read the meaning under each verse. A narrated version is on its way.
Śloka 61 · The archer, the axe and Vyāsa
Śloka 61
सुधन्वा खण्डपरशुर्दारुणो द्रविणप्रदः ।
दिवस्पृक् सर्वदृग्व्यासो वाचस्पतिरयोनिजः ॥
sudhanvā khaṇḍaparaśur dāruṇo draviṇapradaḥ |
divaspṛk sarvadṛgvyāso vācaspatir ayonijaḥ ||
Meaning
Sudhanvā: he holds the fine bow Śārṅga, which Śaṅkara says stands for the senses. Khaṇḍaparaśu: as Paraśurāma, son of Jamadagni, he struck down the wicked with his axe. Dāruṇa: he is stern and merciless towards those who do evil. Draviṇaprada: he gives his devotees the wealth they long for. Divaspṛk: he reaches up and touches the heavens. Sarvadṛg-vyāsa: he is the eye that sees all, and he is Vyāsa, the ṛṣi who divided the one Veda into four and into its many branches. Vācaspatir-ayonija: he is the lord of all learning, and he was never born from any mother's womb.
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 62 · The healer and the peace
Śloka 62
त्रिसामा सामगः साम निर्वाणं भेषजं भिषक् ।
संन्यासकृच्छमः शान्तो निष्ठा शान्तिः परायणम् ॥
trisāmā sāmagaḥ sāma nirvāṇaṃ bheṣajaṃ bhiṣak |
saṃnyāsakṛc chamaḥ śānto niṣṭhā śāntiḥ parāyaṇam ||
Meaning
Trisāmā: he is praised by the singers of three Sāman chants. Sāmaga: he is the singer of the Sāman. Sāma: he is the Sāmaveda itself, for in the Gītā he says, of the Vedas I am the Sāma. Nirvāṇa: he is the bliss where no sorrow remains. Bheṣaja: he is the medicine for the long disease of birth and death. Bhiṣak: he is the physician who gave the knowledge that roots that disease out. Saṃnyāsakṛt: he founded the path of renunciation as a step to freedom. Śama: he teaches calm, and calms all beings. Śānta: he is tranquil, untouched by pleasures. Niṣṭhā: all beings rest in him at the end of time. Śānti: he is peace itself. Parāyaṇa: he is the highest goal, from which no one returns.
Word by word
Śloka 63 · Friend of the cows and earth
Śloka 63
शुभाङ्गः शान्तिदः स्रष्टा कुमुदः कुवलेशयः ।
गोहितो गोपतिर्गोप्ता वृषभाक्षो वृषप्रियः ॥
śubhāṅgaḥ śāntidaḥ sraṣṭā kumudaḥ kuvaleśayaḥ |
gohito gopatir goptā vṛṣabhākṣo vṛṣapriyaḥ ||
Meaning
Śubhāṅga: his form is beautiful. Śāntida: he gives the peace that comes when love and hate fall away. Sraṣṭā: he created all beings in the beginning. Kumuda: he rejoices in the earth. Kuvaleśaya: he lies upon the waters that surround the earth, or on the serpent Śeṣa. Gohita: he is the friend of the cows, for he lifted the hill Govardhana to shelter them. Gopati again: here he is the lord of the earth. Goptā: he protects the universe, and hides his own nature behind māyā. Vṛṣabhākṣa: his eyes shower down every blessing. Vṛṣapriya: he delights in dharma, and is dear to all.
Word by word
Śloka 64 · The lord of Śrī
Śloka 64
अनिवर्ती निवृत्तात्मा सङ्क्षेप्ता क्षेमकृच्छिवः ।
श्रीवत्सवक्षाः श्रीवासः श्रीपतिः श्रीमतांवरः ॥
anivartī nivṛttātmā saṅkṣeptā kṣemakṛc chivaḥ |
śrīvatsavakṣāḥ śrīvāsaḥ śrīpatiḥ śrīmatāṃ varaḥ ||
Meaning
Anivartī: he never retreated in the war of the devas and asuras, and never turns away from dharma. Nivṛttātmā again: his mind turns away from pleasures by its very nature. Saṅkṣeptā: at the end of time he draws the vast universe back into himself. Kṣemakṛt: he keeps safe what his devotees have gained. Śiva: he purifies even those who only call his name. Śrīvatsavakṣāḥ: he bears the mark Śrīvatsa on his chest. Śrīvāsa: Lakṣmī dwells there always. Śrīpati: at the churning of the ocean Lakṣmī chose him over all the devas and asuras. Śrīmatāṃvara: he is the chief of those whose wealth is the Veda, Brahmā and the rest.
Word by word
Śloka 65 · Giver and home of Śrī
Śloka 65
श्रीदः श्रीशः श्रीनिवासः श्रीनिधिः श्रीविभावनः ।
श्रीधरः श्रीकरः श्रेयः श्रीमाँल्लोकत्रयाश्रयः ॥
śrīdaḥ śrīśaḥ śrīnivāsaḥ śrīnidhiḥ śrīvibhāvanaḥ |
śrīdharaḥ śrīkaraḥ śreyaḥ śrīmām̐l lokatrayāśrayaḥ ||
Meaning
Śrīda: he gives prosperity to his devotees. Śrīśa: he is the lord of Śrī. Śrīnivāsa: he makes his home in those who are blessed with Śrī. Śrīnidhi: he is the treasure-house in whom every power is gathered. Śrīvibhāvana: he shares out fortune to every being according to its deeds. Śrīdhara: he holds on his chest Lakṣmī, the mother of all. Śrīkara: he makes rich those who remember, praise and worship him. Śreyaḥ: he is the highest good, the bliss that never ends. Śrīmān again: he is full of Śrī. Lokatrayāśraya: he is the refuge of the three worlds.
Word by word
Śloka 66 · Bliss and the lord of lights
Śloka 66
स्वक्षः स्वङ्गः शतानन्दो नन्दिर्ज्योतिर्गणेश्वरः ।
विजितात्माऽविधेयात्मा सत्कीर्तिश्छिन्नसंशयः ॥
svakṣaḥ svaṅgaḥ śatānando nandir jyotirgaṇeśvaraḥ |
vijitātmā 'vidheyātmā satkīrtiś chinnasaṃśayaḥ ||
Meaning
Svakṣa: his eyes are beautiful, like the lotus. Svaṅga: his limbs are beautiful. Śatānanda: the one bliss becomes many through many forms, and all other beings, says the Upaniṣad, enjoy only a drop of it. Nandi: he is supreme bliss itself. Jyotirgaṇeśvara: he is the lord of all the lights, for when he shines, the Kaṭha Upaniṣad says, everything shines after him. Vijitātmā: he has mastered the mind. Avidheyātmā: no one can command his nature. Satkīrti: his fame is pure and true. Chinnasaṃśaya: he sees everything as clearly as a fruit in the palm, so no doubt remains in him.
Word by word
Śloka 67 · The one who ends grief
Śloka 67
उदीर्णः सर्वतश्चक्षुरनीशः शाश्वतस्थिरः ।
भूशयो भूषणो भूतिर्विशोकः शोकनाशनः ॥
udīrṇaḥ sarvataścakṣur anīśaḥ śāśvatasthiraḥ |
bhūśayo bhūṣaṇo bhūtir viśokaḥ śokanāśanaḥ ||
Meaning
Udīrṇa: he has risen above all things. Sarvataścakṣu: he has eyes everywhere, seeing all through his own awareness. Anīśa: there is no lord over him. Śāśvatasthira: he is eternal and never changes. Bhūśaya: as Rāma, he lay on the bare ground by the seashore on the way to Laṅkā. Bhūṣaṇa: he adorns the world through the forms he takes at will. Bhūti: he is being itself, and the source of all glory. Viśoka: he knows no grief, being pure bliss. Śokanāśana: he destroys the grief of his devotees the moment they remember him.
Word by word
Śloka 68 · Radiant, pure and unrivalled
Śloka 68
अर्चिष्मानर्चितः कुम्भो विशुद्धात्मा विशोधनः ।
अनिरुद्धोऽप्रतिरथः प्रद्युम्नोऽमितविक्रमः ॥
arciṣmān arcitaḥ kumbho viśuddhātmā viśodhanaḥ |
aniruddho 'pratirathaḥ pradyumno 'mitavikramaḥ ||
Meaning
Arciṣmān: he is radiant, and by his light the sun and the stars shine. Arcita: he is worshipped even by Brahmā and the gods whom the world worships. Kumbha: everything rests in him, as things rest in a pot. Viśuddhātmā: he is pure, beyond the three qualities of nature. Viśodhana: he washes away sin when he is remembered. Aniruddha again: here he is the fourth of his four great forms, the vyūhas. Apratiratha: no rival can stand against him. Pradyumna: he is rich in wealth, and another of the vyūhas. Amitavikrama again: his might has no measure.
Word by word
Śloka 69 · Keśava, slayer of demons
Śloka 69
कालनेमिनिहा वीरः शौरिः शूरजनेश्वरः ।
त्रिलोकात्मा त्रिलोकेशः केशवः केशिहा हरिः ॥
kālaneminihā vīraḥ śauriḥ śūrajaneśvaraḥ |
trilokātmā trilokeśaḥ keśavaḥ keśihā hariḥ ||
Meaning
Kālaneminihā: he slew the asura Kālanemi. Vīra again: he is the valiant one. Śauri: he was born in the clan of Śūra. Śūrajaneśvara: he is lord of heroes such as Indra. Trilokātmā: he is the inner self of the three worlds, which do not exist apart from him. Trilokeśa: at his command the three worlds do their work. Keśava again: the rays that shine in the sun are his hair, the Mahābhārata says; or, as Śiva says in the Harivaṃśa, Ka is Brahmā and Īśa is Śiva, and both spring from him. Keśihā: he slew the demon Keśī. Hari: he takes away saṃsāra, root and all.
Word by word
Śloka 70 · The desired and the endless
Śloka 70
कामदेवः कामपालः कामी कान्तः कृतागमः ।
अनिर्देश्यवपुर्विष्णुर्वीरोऽनन्तो धनञ्जयः ॥
kāmadevaḥ kāmapālaḥ kāmī kāntaḥ kṛtāgamaḥ |
anirdeśyavapur viṣṇur vīro 'nanto dhanañjayaḥ ||
Meaning
Kāmadeva: he is the god longed for by all who seek the four aims of life. Kāmapāla: he guards and fulfils their wishes. Kāmī: every wish of his own is already fulfilled. Kānta again: he takes the loveliest forms. Kṛtāgama: he gave the śruti and smṛti, which he calls his own commands. Anirdeśyavapu: his form is beyond all description. Viṣṇu again: here, his radiance fills the sky and passes beyond it. Vīra again: now Śaṅkara reads it as the one who moves, creates and shines. Ananta: no one, not even the gandharvas and siddhas, finds the end of his qualities. Dhanañjaya: he is Arjuna, winner of wealth.
Word by word
Reflection
Think of a doctor who is also the cure. In this group of ślokas Viṣṇu is called Bhiṣak, the physician, and Bheṣaja, the medicine, and Śaṅkara tells us that the illness he treats is saṃsāra itself, the restless round of birth and death. Around that healer the names gather like a household: Vyāsa who arranged the Veda, the founder of renunciation, the giver of calm, and then a shower of names of Śrī, for the one who heals is also the one in whom all fortune lives, with Lakṣmī resting on his chest. Then come Keśava and Hari, the Kṛṣṇa who slew Keśī and Kālanemi, and at last Viṣṇu himself, whose radiance fills the sky and spills beyond it. Śaṅkara keeps reminding us that his gifts are more than outward wealth. Śreyaḥ, the highest good, is bliss that never ends, and Śānti, peace, is Brahman free of all ignorance. If you carry one name away, carry Śokanāśana, the destroyer of grief, who lifts sorrow at the very moment he is remembered.
Your reflection
How well do you know these verses?
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