Vishnu Sahasranama 149 - 154

149. Viśvayoniḥ विश्वयोनिः

Repetitive nāma at 117.

He is the cause of the universe. Taittirīya Upaniṣad (III.1) explains this, “yato vā imāni bhūtāni jāyante यतो वा इमानि भूतानि जायन्ते”. It says, ‘from That these beings are born’.

Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad Gītā (VII.6), “aham kṛtsnasya jagataḥ prabhavaḥ अहम् कृत्स्नस्य जगतः प्रभवः” which means ‘I am the source of entire creation’.

The cause of creation is the Brahman and the effect is the universe.

150. Punarvasuḥ पुनर्वसुः

This nāma refers to transmigration of a soul. An individual soul is nothing but Brahman Himself. When Brahman is bound by māyā, It forgets that It is Brahman. Punar means repeated and vasubhūti means various beings. In this nāma bhūti is hidden.

Punarvasu is the birth star of Śrī Rāma. Ruling deity of this asterism is goddess Aditi.

151. Upendraḥ उपेन्द्रः

The Lord has incarnated as the younger brother of Indra during His Vāmana avatāra. Upa means younger to and indra refers to Indra, the chief of all gods.

This is further explained in Nārāyaṇīyaṁ (30). It says that the Lord was born to Aditi, the mother of all gods and sage Kāśyapa. Gods faced defeat in the hands of Bali. Then gods approached sage Kāśyapa for his help. Kāśyapa advised his wife Aditi to observe ‘payovrata’ for twelve days. Payovrata is a type of vow to live only on milk. When this fasting is observed, one is supposed to get anything that is desired. The period of fasting is one day, three days or twelve days. Aditi observed this vow rigorously for twelve days and the Lord appeared before Her and told Her that He would incarnate. This incarnation is Vāmana avatāra, His famous dwarf form and His three steps.

Since Aditi is the mother of all gods, Lord having born to Aditi is said to be younger brother of Indra. This nāma praises the Lord by referring to His Vāmana avatāra.

152. Vāmanaḥ वामनः

This is an extension of the previous nāma.

Kaṭha Upaniṣad (II.ii.3) explains this in a different perspective. It says that Self is worshipped in the centre of the heart, between prāṇa and apāna and the object of worship is Vāmanam, the Self. Therefore, this nāma affirms that Viṣṇu is the Brahman. Brahman can be realised only through affirmations and negations.

153. Prāṁśuḥ प्रांशुः

Prāṁśu means tall. This again is an extension of nāma 151. This refers to Vāmana’s transformation from a dwarf into a tall person, touching the Satyaloka, the abode of Brahmā. Nārāyaṇīyaṁ (31.6) explains this by saying, “As the worlds looked on, Your form grew up higher and higher to cosmic dimensions.”

154. Amoghaḥ अमोघः

Repetitive nāma at 110.

His actions are always fruitful. Nāma 110 talked about His devotees. This nāma talks about the Lord Himself. All His actions are always fruitful. For example, all His incarnations are aimed at destroying demons. Purāṇic demons refer to manifestation evils beyond acceptable proportion. Acceptable proportion can be explained as the force that can tilt the balance between good and evil in favour of evil.

Uttara bhāg of this Sahasranāma (verse 31) says,

paritrāṇāya sadhunāṁ vinaśāya ca duṣkṛtām |
dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya saṁbhavāmi yuge yuge ||

परित्राणाय सधुनां विनशाय च दुष्कृताम्।
धर्म-संस्थापनार्थाय संभवामि युगे युगे॥

“In order to protect noble men and to uphold virtues and to destroy evil doers, I incarnate in every yuga.” Yuga means the age of the world.

There are four yuga-s, 1. Kṛita or Satya, 2. Tretā, 3. Dvāpara, 4. Kali, of which the first three have already elapsed, while the Kali, which began at midnight between the 17th and 18th of Feb. 3102 BC. The duration of each yuga is said to be respectively 1,728,000, 1,296,000, 864,000, and 432,000 years of humanity, the descending numbers representing a similar physical and moral deterioration of men in each age.