The Mahima of Vishnu Sahasranama – Part III

The Mahima of Vishnu Sahasranama – Part III

Our Bharatha Desa is birth place of the Vedas…it is the home of Puranas and Ithihaasa. We are all aware that The Ramayana and The Mahabharatha are the two ithihaasas. The Mahabahratha consists of about one lakh and twenty five thousand  slokas.It provides us with knowledge of  the four Purushaarthas(goal or end or  our aim of human existence)They being Dharma, Artha, Kaama, Moksha (அறம் பொருள் இன்பம் வீடு)  .

Sifting and sieving through The Mahabaharata ,what we are left with are the two great Gems : the first Gem  being The Bhagawad Gita. we all know that The Gita   was enunciated by Lord Krishna at the start of the Kurukshetra war to draw out Arjuna from the delusion he had gotten into.

On the tenth day of that war, as Pitamah Bheesmacharya lay on the saradalpamசரதல்பம் (bed of arrows) in response to the supplication of Dharmaputhra, not only he but we were also blessed with the second gem- The Vishnu Sahasranaama. The Vishnu Sahasranaama forms a part of the Anushashanika parva ( 13^th of the 18 parvas of Mahabharatha.)

What will reciting Vishnu Sahasranama help me attain??

This is a rather  rhetorical question because it blesses you with whatever your sankalpa is, that is, gives all that you ask . But then asking for a better house, a hefty  pay packet, better position of power and administration ,the latest car or jewelry etc… is rather  self indulgent and ephemeral .In my personal view, chanting the sloka for such trivial  gains, only belittles the lofty  heights of human attainment that we may achieve by the ceaseless chanting of the Lord’s name. Our striving , as we recite the Vishnu Shasaranaama should then be , to seek the eternal  Paramaatma, at whose Lotus feet alone we are bound to find untainted bliss. That is the sole purpose of Human existence which ironically all of us have seem to have forgotten as we have  been drawn into the endless  vortex of Samsaara Saagara!!!

Over the three yugas and now the fourth ,the path to attain Moksha has been encapsulated in this sloka

த்யாயன் கருத்தே யஜன் யஞ்கைஹி த்ரேதாயாம்

த்வாபரே அர்ச்சயன்னு யதாப்நோதி ததாப்நோதி

கலௌ சங்கீர்த்ய கேசவம்.

First Yuga: KRUTHA YUGA : During this yuga  the predominant guna was Satva  guna. This guna  nurtured Gnana or  the intellect and thus  facilitated single minded Dhayna (meditation) on the Omni potent which  granted Liberation or mukthi.

Second Yuga: THRETHA YUGA :  The predominant guna in this yuga was Rajas. Rajo guna is characterized by anger, passion, moha, excitable nature. Thus it became increasingly difficult for a person to sit in padmaasana and meditate upon the Supreme Lord. Hence performing yaagas and yagnyas  were given to us enable us to reach the Paramaatma .

Third Yuga:  DWAAPARA YUGA : A combination of  The Rajasic and Taamasic  gunas held sway over man. While rajasic guna translated to passion ,anger moha, The taamasic guna was marked by ignorance, darkness, inertia and lethargy. Yet the Paramaatma did not want to let go of us. Instead He gave us performing archana as a means to salvation.

Fourth yuga: KALI YUGA:, Taamasic guna rules the roost in all of us in the  current yuga in which we are living. Yet in all His benevolent mercy, the Lord has made it all the more easier for us to attain moksha by embracing  naama snakeerthana….கலௌ சங்க்கீத்ய கேசவம்... what more then but to chant the Sahasranaama of that Supreme Lord ..ONE WHO IS NOT LIMITED  BY SPACE…BY TIME… BY BOUNDRIES…. This is the only way to Moksha.

நான் கேட்டதில், புரிந்து கொண்டதின் ஒருபகிர்தல்...i am only sharing what I have listened to and understood with my limited knowledge and understanding…please pardon my mistake ,errors..whatever they may be..i humbly reiterate I am tool in the hands of That Supreme Lord..Sarvam  Krishanrpanam..by the grace of god ..this sharing will continue!!!