Vishnu Sahasranama 123 - 130

Vishnu Sahasranama 123 - 130

123. Sarvagaḥ सर्वगः

Sarvaga means omnipresent. Brahman alone is omnipresent.

Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad (I.i.6) beautifully explains Brahman thus; “That which is invisible and which can never be grasped, which does now owe its origin to anything else, is formless, without organs of perception and organs of action, indestructible, extensive in every being, the finest and the source of all creation – the wise see this Brahman every where and in every being.”

124. Sarvavid-bhānuḥ सर्वविद्-भानुः

Sarvavid means omniscient and bhānu means light. The nature of the Brahman is being explained. The previous nāma said He is omnipresent. This nāma says He is omniscient, the all knowing. Because of His omnipresent and omniscient nature, He is radiant. Brahman alone is Self-illuminating and other luminaries illuminate only because of His light.

Kaṭha Upaniṣad (II.ii.15) says, “tasya bhāsā sarvamidaṁ vibhāti तस्य भासा सर्वमिदं विभाति”, which means ‘by Its Light, all these are lighted’. Bhagavad Gītā (XIII.17) also says, ‘He is the source of all lights’.

125. Viṣvaksenaḥ विष्वक्सेनः

Viṣvaksena means the power to go everywhere. He is all pervading. By being present everywhere, He ensures that evil doers are eliminated when they cross permissible limits. The purpose of His incarnations is only to eliminate evil, when it reaches unendurable level.

Viṣvaksena is also the chief of Viṣṇu’s army. Some texts of Viṣṇu Sahasranāma pays obeisance to Viṣvaksena before proceeding with the main portion of Sahasranāma. Generally, Viṣvaksena is considered on par with Gaṇeśa.

126. Janārdanaḥ जनार्दनः

Janārdana is the ultimate source, to whom His devotees pray for liberation of their souls. He offers liberation to those who seek Him in the prescribed manner.

Pūrva Bhāg (verse 5) of this Sahasranāma says,

yasya smaraṇa mātreṇa janmasaṁsāra bandhanāt |
vimucyate namstasmai viṣṇave prabhaviṣṇave ||

यस्य स्मरण मात्रेण जन्मसंसार बन्धनात्।
विमुच्यते नम्स्तस्मै विष्णवे प्रभविष्णवे॥

Uttara Bhāg (verse 23) says, “bhaktānā-manuraktānāṁ trātā bhava janārdana | भक्ताना-मनुरक्तानां त्राता भव जनार्दन। This means that He is the ultimate refuge to His devotees. This verse says that mere thought of omnipotent Viṣṇu eradicates pains of transmigration.

127. Vedaḥ वेदः

He is the embodiment of four Vedas. His breath is said to be Vedas. Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad (II.iv.10) says, “…Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sāma Veda, Atharva Veda, history, mythology, arts, Upaniṣad-s, sententious verses, aphorisms, elucidation and explanations are like the breath of this infinite Reality. They are like the breath of Brahman.” There is no differentiation between Vedas and Viṣṇu.

Further reading on Vedas: The Veda-s are the most important treatise to the humanity. They are in classical Sanskrit language that was widely used in ancient Aryan times.  The Vedic verses can be interpreted from various angles like literature, spiritual, religious, grammar, philosophy etc.  Though there are interpretations on Veda-s available today, it is doubtful whether they truly convey the intended meaning.  This is not because of defective interpretations or lack of efficiency of the interpreters, but mainly due to the abilities-s of Veda-s to communicate both gross and subtle renditions.  A careful reading of Vedic verses reveals that they deal with symbolic separation of bodily organs of the performer and offered to higher energy fields for purification. Veda-s never advocated physical slaying of animals. But it is wrongly interpreted that various organs of an animal are offered as oblations. Veda-s originated from divine commune.  For a long time, they were not penned down as the verses and were channelled from a master to his disciples.  The sages have chosen the oral path for communication as these verses relied more on orthoepy to prevent any distortions.   Most of the texts of Veda-s are in the form of verses.  These are called mantra verses and their oral delivery largely depends on phonics and rhythm.   There are portions of prose as well and they are known asBrāhmaṇa (ब्राह्मण) passages.  These passages explain the procedures for rituals and dwell more on the practical side. 

There are four Veda-s, Rig, Yajur, Sāma and Atharva.  The first three are known as trividyā (literal translation – three types of knowledge). Atharva Veda is not included here because of its late origin.  The origin of the other three Vedas is not known.  But the fact remains that they defied Nature’s fury and continued to guide even in this contemporary world.  Vedas are also known as Śruti-s. Veda-s in their original form is too difficult to comprehend as they are considered to have been delivered by God Himself to the ancient sages and saints.  The sages conglomerated the speech of God, by colligating their highest level of cosmic intelligence with the Supreme Consciousness.  They memorized these verses and imparted them to their disciples orally.  If the sages had chosen to contrive the Vedas into manuscripts, they could have been destroyed or modified, unable to stand the vagaries of the Mother Nature.  It is beyond the human power to decrypt the speech of God.  To make it possible to some extent, the study of Vedas were divided into various categories and each category was analyzed by the experts in the respective fields.  This study is known as vedāṅga(वेदाङ्ग) that integrates study of phonetics, ritual injunctions, linguistics, grammar, etymology, lexicography, prosody, astronomy and astrology.

The elaborate study of Veda-s would not have been initiated, had it been easier to understand them. Vedāṅga attempted to corroborate various expert interpretations, thereby making it possible to first understand the gross interpretation and later its subtle conveyance.    It was concluded that Vedas discuss about every act of a human being, from birth to death.  This conclusion was divided into three broad categories known as jñāna, karma and upāsana.  Jñāna means wisdom.  It is not the knowledge of literacy.  This knowledge is known as wisdom.  Knowledge is of mundane type, the psychological result of perception of learning and reasoning.   Wisdom has the ability to apply knowledge gained for the purpose of practical judgment, discrimination and insight.  This is the reason why wisdom is considered superior to knowledge.  The Veda-s both directly and indirectly advocate acquiring of wisdom.  As wisdom can be acquired only through experience, they prescribekarma-s.  Karma-s mean actions.  By repeated actions, experience is gained and by such experience, one is able to discriminate between good and bad.  Next is upāsana which means performance, performance of rituals.  Upāsana differs from karma.  Karma means actions for sustenance.  Upāsana means actions performed to realize God.  The Veda-s give innumerable interpretations to the concept of God.  The basic idea of the Veda-s is to make one realize God, which they call as the Brahman.  To realize the Brahman, the Veda-s insist that one should be proficient in all the three categories.  Therefore, it is made imperative to understand the Veda-s, in their archetypical form, as the verses of Veda-s have deeper implications. 

128. Vedavit वेदवित्

Repetitive nāma is 131.

Vedavittva means knowledge about Vedas. Only the Brahman alone can know the true meaning of Vedas or their true implications as discussed in the previous nāma.

Kṛṣṇa explains this in Bhagavad Gītā (XV.15). He says, “I am seated in the hearts of all beings. From Me alone come memory and knowledge or their absence. Truly, I am the one, who is to be known through Veda-s. I am the author of Vedānta and the knower of Veda-s.”

129. Avyaṅgaḥ अव्यङ्गः

Avyaṅga means perfect. Brahman alone is without blemishes. He is perfect because He is Vedavit, the previous nāma.

130. Vedāṅgaḥ वेदाङ्गः

Vedāṅga is called the limb of Vedas and is of six types. Please refer further reading on Vedas under nāma 127.

The six types are 1. Śikṣā, the science of proper articulation and pronunciation comprising the knowledge of letters, accents, quantity, the use of the organs of pronunciation, and phonetics generally, but especially the laws of euphony peculiar to Vedas 2. Chandas, the meter. 3. Vyākaraṇa, linguistic analysis or grammar 4. Nirukta, explanation of difficult Vedic words. 5. Jyotiṣa, astronomy or the Vedic calendar. 6. Kalpa, ceremonial, represented by a large number of Sūtra works. the first and second of these Vedāṅgas are said to be intended to secure the correct reading or recitation of the Veda, the third and fourth the understanding of it, and the fifth and sixth its proper employment at sacrifices.