4. MAIN VISHNU SAHASRANAMA STOTRAM

4.1.1 Mukkur Lakshmi Narasimha Acharyar had given very detailed discourse running to several weeks on the meaning of the thousand names of Vishnu. In fact, he contends that the entire content of the Vishnu Sahasranama is summarized in the first three slokas themselves.

 Max 1000 names – significance of first three slokas.
 Essence of Upanishads, Purushasooktam, Gayatri, Ashtakshari and Narashimha Mantra.
 Eight reasons to call this as Vishnu Sahasranama.

4.1.2 The first eight letters of the first sloka, Viswam, Vishnu and Vashat kaarah are known as Ashtaakshari, preached by Nara Naaraayanaa in the holy Badrikasramam in the Himalayas and is credited to contain the whole essence of the upanishads.

4.1.3 Together with the next eight letters of Bhuta, Bhavya and Bhavat prabhuh, the 16 letters point to the 16 Riks of Purushasuktam, one of the most respected and chanted Suktas.

4.1.4 Together with the next eight letters of Bhutakrit, Bhutabrit, Bhavah, the 24 letters are credited to contain the significance of Gaayatri Mahamantra, the 24 letters of which are said to represent extracts of the three Vedas.

4.1.5 The last eight letters, of the first sloka, namely Bhutaatmaa, Bhuta Bhavanah, together with the 24 already mentioned is said to be the Narasimha Mantra.

4.1.6 The nine names mentioned in the first sloka, 8 in the second and 7 in the third, together 24, is again said to represent the secrets of Gaayatri Mantra.

4.1.7 Thus, taking the very first sloka itself, it apparently contains nine names of the Sahasranama. But, viewed deeply, these very nine names represent the Ashtakshari ( Om Namo Naarayanaaya), Purushasuktam, Gaayatri and Narasimha Mantram. That is why, perhaps, many commentators have all devoted great attention and importance to Vishnu Sahasranama

4.1.8 Mukkur Lakshmi Narasimha Acharyar talks of the word ‘’Rama’ occurring as 394th Naama (43rd sloka), in its concealed meaning, gets chanted 16 times in Vishnu Sahasranamam. They constitute the Mritha Sanjeevani Mantram, the Mantra which can bring the dead back alive, and known only to Sukracharya, the preceptor of the Asuras (those with demoniac qualities) .

4.2 WHY CALLED ‘VISHNU SAHASRANAAMA’.
4.3 Before getting to the significance of each Naama, let us see why this Sahasranaama is called Vishnu Sahasranaama and not by any one of the other 999 names. The great seers have attributed eight reasons for this (again reminds us of the atomic number of oxygen)

 Vishnu is Jagat Kaarana, present in every thing from sub-atomic particles to the Milky way.

 Vishnu is Sarvarakhshaka - Protects every thing and nurtures.
 Vishnu is Sarva Vyaapi, spread every where.
 Vishnu is Sarva Seshi, everything belongs to him.
 Vishnu is Sarvaantar Yaami - there is a difference between Sarva Vyaapi and Sarvaantar yaami. While Sarvavyaapi signifies external presence, Sarvaantaryaami means presence internally. He is present both inside and outside (Antar Bahir Chatat Sarvam Vyaapya Naarayana Stitah).
 Vishnu is Veda Vedyah - He has to be understood only by the knowledge of the Vedas. You can experience him only through the Vedas.
 Vishnu is Vedanta Vedyah – Vedanta literally means culmination of knowledge, a Philosophy which enunciates the eternal principles of life. The world may be roughly divided into two categories of people, one who are active without peace of mind and the other peaceful but without any action. Vedanta provides the answer of combining dynamic action with mental peace and this answer is provided through the various Upanishads part of the Vedas.
 Vishnu shows us the Sriyah Patitwam – Constantly present with Sri that is Lakshmi – the extraordinary electrical charges that are required to take the hydrogen and combine it with oxygen by a process of rearrangement, to create water. Vishnu is reclining with Lakshmi in this ocean and is called ‘Naarayana’. Thus, He becomes ‘Vashat Karah’, one who makes things happen, like Vajrayudah, an euphemism for the great electrical charges required for the combination of Hydrogen and Oxygen to form water. The great seers have all considered this “Sriyahpatitvam” as the greatest attribute of the eight, merited to Vishnu and is, therefore, mentioned as the last.

4.2.2 It is said that one should try to understand the meanings of the different names sequentially in the context of their appearance and not literally individually. Let us try now to understand some of the names in the first three slokas.

4.3 Viswam (Viswasmai) and Vishnu Larger than the largest (Viswam) and smaller than the smallest conceivable (Vishnu). According to the Cause and Effect concept, He, the Lord, created His manifestation, the Universe as the Effect. The root “Visati” of the word Viswam means “ enter or interpenetrate”. Having projected the Universe, He entered into it. Similarly, the term “Vishnu” is derived from the root “Vis”,( indicating presence everywhere), combined with the suffix “nuk”. Let us try to understand in the light of some of the modern scientific concepts.
And, before that , a few words about ancient science in India. The Indian philosophers, during the Upanishadic period, who argued for the existence of soul, developed the principles of deductive and inductive logic. Between 1000 BCE and 4th Century AD, called the period of rationalists, treatises in astronomy, mathematics, logic, medicine and grammar were produced. The philosophers of the Samkhya school, the Vaiseshika school, the Nyaya and related schools of thought and early Jain and Buddhist scholars made substantial contributions to the growth of science. Advances in the applied sciences like metallurgy, textiles, dyeing etc were also achieved. In particular, the rational period produced a fascinating series of debates on sensory perceptions, dreams and hallucinations, when does an observation of reality get accepted as fact, and as a scientific truth, etc.
4.3.a For example, Sage Gautama, who was called ‘the absent minded professor’ because of his constant thinking, is credited as the author of Nyaya Sutra. Sage Kanaada wrote ‘Vaiseshika sutra’ in the Nyaya school of thought. Kanaada spent the entire daytime in thinking and research and used to attend to his personal requirements only during the night, almost like a nocturnal animal. Because of this, the Vaiseshika was also called “Aulukya Darsanam”, the ‘Revelations of an owl’. The vaiseshika school is credited with the earlier knowledge and expression that all matter was made up of tiny indestructible particles, i.e. atoms, that aggregated in different ways to form molecules and compounds that formed the variety of matter existing on earth. (Kanaada is believed to have been born in Prabhas Kshetra, near Dwaraka in Saurashtra. His statement ushered in the atomic theory for the first time in the world, 2500 years before Dalton. The eminent historian, T.N. Colebrook has said “compared to the scientists of Europe, Kanaada and other Indian scientists were global masters of this field” ) Their philosophy was described through the enumeration of the following concepts :
- Dravya, substance, combination of atoms in an unique way.
- Guna, quality that resided in the Dravya – 24 different qualities were described.
- Karma, action, unlike quality which was passive, Karma was dynamic – 5 types of action were noted.
- Samanya, Generality, as a mental construct to create common classes or substances.
- Visheshata , particularity, to identify and separate individual specialized items from the general class.
- Samavaya , Inherence, a relationship that existed in such things created that could not be separated without destroying them (chemical compounds), and
- Abhava, non-existence, or negation, four categories of abhava were listed :
o Pragabhava – or prior non-existence – absence of an object prior to its creation
o Dhvamsabhava – absence of an object after it has been destroyed
o Anyanyabhava – mutual non-existence, referring to an object being distinct and different from the other
o Atyantabhava – absolute non existence, indicating non existence in the past, present and future – eg pure air has no smell or pure water has no taste.

Another important contribution of the Vaiseshika school was a careful study of the time relation in a chain of causes and effects which paved the way for time – calculus and space – calculus.

4.3 b The cause and effect study had led to further specialisation in causality and recognized that effects may have more than one cause and may require a conjunction of causes to occur. For example, for a plant to grow, it requires not only the seed which has the potential but also the soil, fertilizer, sunlight and water all of the right type. It was also realized that a potential for the desired effect must also be present in the causal agent. For example, a mango tree can grow only from a mango seed, or conversely, a mango seed could produce only a mango tree and not any other tree.

4.3 c The Nyaya school also recognized that a series of antecedents could cause a series of effects, either successive and staggered in time, or near simultaneous. Nyaya texts indicate that there was an awareness that light travelled at a very high speed, but the transmission of light was not instantaneous (source – website – tripod – south asian history – pages for the listing of Indian sub continent, rational and secular philosophy, logic and epistemology).

4.3 d Thus, while rapid progress was being made in scientific thinking by the rationalistic schools of thought, a large section of population in different parts of the world, including India, grew more and more conservative and the clergy resisted all attempts at change. In an extreme view, it was felt that the real world was more an illusion and any effort to change it was unimportant. Such was the period of charuvakas, purvamimamsakas, kapalikas etc when Adi Sankara appeared on the scene to the rescue of humanity. It was unfortunate that India did not fully encash the opportunity and allowed resistance for the transfer of theoretical knowledge to practical application, grow in strength. The diversion of studies from astronomy and vedic mathematics to fixations on astrology and on its superstitious aspects only led to neglect of most of what was known till then and made it so much easier for the industrialized nations to colonise India. India has now to reinvent the wheel or take off from the progress made by other scientifically advanced nations. Hence the reference to modern scientific facts.

4.3.1 Viswam In 1905, considered as the miracle year of Physics, a young swiss technical examiner in the National patent office in Bern, ‘perceived’, (much the same way as our ancient sages were ‘revealed’ the Vedas and Upanishads) and published five papers in the German journal ‘Annalen der physik”. His name is Albert Einstein and three of these papers are considered among the greatest ever in the history of physics. They were as mentioned below.

4.3.2 One examining the photo electric effect by using Max Planck’s, Quantum theory. Quantum theory posited that energy is not a continuous thing like flowing water but comes in individualized packets, called Quanta. This demonstrated that light, need not be a wave, after all. This led later to the discovery of television. Light can be converted from one form of energy to another and transmitted and again reconverted for video observation. This is what yogasastra says that if the inner space and outer space could be unified to synchronise by focused concentration, then, one would be able to see what all transpires in the outer space . This is what is known as ‘revealed’ to the ancient Rishies, attained by their concentration. Each one of them were their own transmitting and receiving stations.

 Viswam – Larger than the largest.
 Einstein, three great publications and their significance to Viswam.
 Quantum theory – light need not travel as a wave only. Truth revealed – inner space and outer space could be unified.
 Brownian Motion – Vibration observed in holy places of sanctity.
 Theory of Relativity and enormous energy in individuals.
 These theories make us aware of the realities beyond day-to-day action.


4.3.3 The second on the behaviour of small particles in suspension known as Brownian Motion. Brownian Motion, first observed in 1827 by an English botanist Robert Brown, is the ceaseless but small motion of small particles of matter (Pollen, dust etc.), say in a glass of water, even when the water appears to be absolutely still. Some years later, after the atomic hypothesis was accepted, it was shown that the small motion is due to the bombardment of the piece of matter by molecules of water, moving about randomly, even though, at the level of our observation, the molecules and their motions are invisible. These are indeed the ‘Vibrations’ that one often feels in presence of great men or in places of worship, before the deity even when the mind is apparently calm. These vibrations establish a Superhuman link between the devotee and the Lord, by a power of concentration and make individuals achieve certain things, otherwise humanly impossible.

4.3.4 Einstein’s third paper outlined a Special Theory of Relativity. His famous equation E=MC2 did not appear as a part of his paper but as a supplement to it, a few months later. E stands for energy, M for mass and c2 for the speed of light squared. In simplest terms, the equation says that mass and energy have an equivalence. Energy is liberated matter. Matter is energy waiting to be liberated. Since the square of the speed of light is a huge number, the equation says that there is really a very huge amount of energy bound in every material thing. In concrete terms, an average sized adult will contain 7x1018 Joules of potential energy, enough to explode with the force of thirty Hydrogen bombs, provided one knew how to liberate it. Even the deadly uranium bomb releases only less than 1 % of the energy it could release! The theory explained how stars could burn for billions of years without racing through their fuel !!

4.3.5 What was special about the special theory of relativity was that it dealt with things moving in an essentially unimpeded state. But, what happens when a thing fast in motion, say light, is impeded by an obstacle like gravity? This led to the publication of a paper in 1917 entitled “Cosmological Consideration in the General Theory of Relativity”. In essence, what Relativity says is that space and time are not absolute, but relative both to the observer and to the thing being observed, As Bertrand Russell put it to a layman, a super fast train would appear to be shorter than it really is for a man standing on the platform and watching it and everything would look distorted but, people on the train would themselves have no such sense of distortions. To them, every thing would appear normal. On the other hand, the people standing on the platform would look to them as weirdly compressed and distorted. It is all to do, with one’s position relative to the object in motion. The effects of relativity are real and have been measured but are too small to make any difference to us. But, for other things in the universe, light, gravity and the universe itself, these are matters of consequence, even as in the case of sound, the well known ‘Doppler effect’ is perceptible to us and is of consequence, merely because of the lower speed of sound. Everything is therefore relative. (Hubble subsequently discovered that this is an expanding universe, in the form of Nebulae from a centre and, therefore, what had a beginning should also have an end). The theory of Relativity brings out not only the enormous store house of energy in each one of us but also both the myth and the reality of ‘Maya’ or ‘illusion’ that the world is. These three theories make us ‘aware’ of the enormous ‘Reality’ beyond the day to day action (Viswam).

4.4 Vishnu Let us now pause for a moment and change from macrocosmic to micro-the structure of the atom (Vishnu).

4.4.1 Every atom is made from three elementary particles:-

- Protons, which have a positive electrical charge.
- Electrons, which have a negative electrical charge and
- Neutrons, which have no charge.

 Vishnu, smaller than smallest.
 Atoms, Electrons, Protons and Neutrons and sub atomic particles.
 Things on small scale do not behave the same way as things on a large scale.
 Electrons are at once every where and no where; so is Vishnu.
 As isotopes are helpful, so is Vishnu.
 Nama Vishnu represented three times as 2nd, 258th and 657th names in slokas 1, 28 and 70. The additions of these numbers have their own significance.

4.4.2 Protons and Neutrons are packed into the Nucleus, while Electrons spin around, outside. The number of protons give an atom its chemical identity. An atom with one proton is Hydrogen and so on. The nucleus of an atom is tiny, only one millionth of a billionth of the full volume of the atom, but fantastically dense. Physicists soon realized that electrons are not like orbiting planets but more like the blades of a spinning fan filling every bit of space in their orbit simultaneously. What it means in practice is that you can never predict where an electron will be at a given moment. In other words, until it is observed, an electron must be regarded as being at once everywhere and no where. It was soon realized that things on a small scale behave nothing like things on a large scale.

4.4.3 When we talk about ‘large scale’ nobody knows how many stars there are in the Milky way and how many such galaxies exist, how many of the stars have planetary system and how many of them support life. Some estimates predict that the advanced civilizations just in the Milky way alone could be millions. Lord Krishna required to bestow Arjuna with ‘special eyes’ to see his Viswarupa and unless we are also bestowed with similar favour, we may not know the truth for a long time still.

4.4.4 On the other hand, on a small scale, the number of neutrons in an atom are generally the same as the number of protons, but they can vary in some cases, upward or downward slightly. We, then, have the isotopes. The isotopes can be extremely helpful as in the case of the pharmaceutical field for curing deadly diseases and can also be helpful by their radioactivity in imaging like X-ray, MRI scan etc. That is Vishnu. But, they can also be deadly as in case of uranium isotopes, when an atom is spilt. That is what symbolically happened when Prahlada prayed in the Narasimha Avatar. The entire branch of science, known as Nanotechnology, which is expected to lead to path-breaking discoveries and technologies in 21st century, is based on the realization that things on a nanoscale never behaves the same way as things on a large scale and are much stronger and more powerful.

4.4.5 The name Vishnu is also repeated as Nama 258 (Sloka 28) and also Nama 657 (Sloka 70). Nama 258 is commented upon by the seers as one who has measured the three worlds in His ‘Vamana Avatar’ and Nama 657 as one who’s spread all over the universe. There are also certain interesting observations. If the number of the slokas where the name Vishnu gets repeated namely 1, 28 and 70 are added, the total is 99. If we read the sloka 99, it speaks of His great Qualities! (given below).
Uttaaranah: Liberates one from the mortal world
DushKritihaa : exterminates all sins.
Punya : bestows all Punya, goodness.
Durs Swapna Naasanah : saves one from bad dreams. Lifts one from the dream state of existence.
Veeragna: Gives liberation (Mukti) to all who are revolving in the material world.
Rakshana: Protects.
Satbyah: Very incarnation of all those who are good.
Jeevanaayah: The life in every creature.
Paryavastitah: Omniscient and omnipresent.
What more do we require?
Similarly, if one adds the numbers of the Namas namely 2, 258 and 657, the total is 917.
The 917th Nama is ‘Dskshaya’ means one who is full grown, strong, does everything very quickly and is “very clever”. If one is not clever, can we exist in this world?

3. Modern Science Equivalents

3.1 Hydrogen as A: Our universe begins from nothing. In a single blinding pulse from a dot of singularity, in less than a minute, the universe is a million billion Kilometers across, has ten billion degrees of heat, enough to begin nuclear reaction, that create lighter elements, essentially hydrogen and helium. And, what an extraordinary form it had been! Had the gravity been a trifle stronger the universe might have collapsed. Had it been a trifle weaker, nothing would have coalesced. For the universe to exist, it requires that hydrogen be converted by burning to helium in a way that converts precisely 7/1000 th of its mass to energy. If the value is lowered from 0.07% to 0.06% no transformation could take place; the universe would consist only of hydrogen and nothing else. If the value is slightly increased to 0.08%, the bonding would have been so prolific, the hydrogen would have been long before exhausted and the universe, formed by a concept of ‘Big Bang’ would have collapsed by the concept of ‘Supernova’ a burning star, and perhaps, nothing would have been left behind. That brings out the importance of Hydrogen, the Abja Vaayu in the universe for the creation, preservation and destruction of this universe. Hydrogen is the only element which has one electron and one proton and no neutron and is the smallest of all elements. With rapid depletion of hydrocarbons, Hydrogen will be the pivot of future energy. Technology for use of hydrogen as fuel is already known but the economy of scale and cost has still to be attained to make it a commercial green fuel. Hence the, akaara ‘of’ ‘Aum’ could be a tribute to this marvel of Hydrogen (as fuel for energy creation)






à Modern Science equivalents of AUM.

à Hydrogen the most prolific element of the universe as Akaara – Creation of the universe and energy released while converting Hydrogen to Helium.

à Oxygen as U - Oukaara, - most prolific element on earth, combines with Hydrogen to form water to start life on earth, even as Lakshmi joins Vishnu.

à Carbon as M - Makaara – this party animal in our body, in the forms of amino acids, protein, cells and represents the Jeevaatma.

à Of every 200 atoms in our body, 126 are hydrogen, 51 are oxygen and 19 are carbon.

à Some of the Names in Vishnu Sahasranama could indeed be a tribute to these elements, as explained later.

à













3.2 Oxygen as U: Even as Hydrogen is the most prolific element in universe, and even as sun burns its Hydrogen, converting it to Helium and releases enormous energy to the rest of the Solar system, the earth’s crust is most prolific in Oxygen. Apart from sustaining the life of living beings dependent on Oxygen (not all living beings are Oxygen dependent), Oxygen and Hydrogen combine together to form the compound, water. 80% of the earth is covered with water and life started in water. That then explains the ‘oukaara’ of ‘Aum’, where Lakhsmi belongs to Him and lives with Him. Oxygen indeed belongs to Hydrogen and they live together in the form of water (and other compounds constituting the earth’s crust). Is that why Vishnu is called ‘Narayana’ one ‘Lying in Water’? We shall deal more with Oxygen while trying to understand the different names of Vishnu, while dealing with the main text of Vishnusahasranamam.

3.3 Carbon as M: Carbon is the 15th most common element accounting to only 0.048% of this earth’s crust but we would be lost without it. Carbon is the third most common element in our body. Carbon is a party animal of the atomic world, latching on to many other atoms, forming molecules of heavy robustness, the very trick of nature to build proteins, amino acids and DNA. As Paul Daves writes, “If it was not for carbon, life as we know it would be impossible”. And most of the human body is composed of amino-acids and proteins. This would, therefore, explain the sustenance of Jeevaatma or the significance of ‘Makaara’. The cleverness of this element will be discussed more elaborately, while discussing the main text of Vishnusahasranamam.

3.4 Aum and Science: Of every 200 atoms in our body, 126 are hydrogen, 51 are oxygen and though only 19, yet vital, are carbon. This may, then, give a little scientific explanation of “Aum” being at once a single letter and three letters and what we are really worshipping and praying, when we say “Aum”. Depending upon our level of intellect to understand this as one single inseparable (Advaita), or partially apparently separable (because each of these elements have separate unique functions but group together to achieve the common end, (Vishishtaa dwaita) or the role of carbon as distinct from that of Hydrogen and oxygen (two distinct, Dwaita), the three principal Philosophies of Sanaatana Dharma, and advocated by the three great savants of the Hindu Religion, namely Adisankara, Raamaanuja and Madhwacharya, may have evolved.

3.5 Turiya And Plasma :

3.5.1 ‘Pranava’ in Sanskrit means ‘humming’. Pranava, as ‘Aum’ is known, denotes God as primal sound. The pronunciation of the word ‘Aum’ symbolizes the totality of all sounds. The idea of totality with ‘Om’ exists in English language also in words like omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient, all of which have the concept of totality in their meanings. The most widely used of Buddhist mantras, ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’ has ‘Om’ as its root and hence, perhaps, is the close link between Buddhist and Hindu philosophies in explaining the ‘Aum’ and writing auxiliary notes in ‘Mandukya Upanishad’ by sages with Buddhist leanings. The constant chanting of this word is credited to generate such energy level that one reaches the fourth state of ‘silence’ beyond A, U and M. How powerful is the sound of silence?
3.5.2 In a large cloud in the sky, the rubbing of ice crystals against each other librates electrons. For some reason not yet understood, the negative crystals go to the bottom and the positive ones to the top and this produces an electrical field. This electrical field causes free electrons to accelerate and these ionize the air molecules. Thus we have the positive and negative charges, creating a PLASMA. (Plasma is an electrically neutral, highly ionized gas, composed of ions, electrons and neutral particles. It is a phase of matter different from solids, liquids and gases and is called the fourth state of matter).
3.5.3 Now, things go very fast in the cloud. As the current increases, the plasma becomes hotter, increasing ionization and the size of the plasma, reaching a temperature of about 25000 K. When you add so much energy to the atom, the electrons circling it move faster and faster, pushing themselves away from the nucleus. At a critical point, they break away, thus leaving the nucleus all by itself. If this happens to a lot of atoms, there would be many free electrons, and naked nuclei floating. In this dissociated state, matter is known as plasma.
Hot electrons in a free state can excite atoms and molecules, causing them to emit light. This is the visible lightning we see in the sky. Lightning is a beautiful manifestation of the power of nature, a symbol of power and speed.

3.5.4 Thus, when the energy level is manifested beyond the phenomenal world, the excitement of life ends and one reaches a dissociated state like Plasma, but with all that latent quality of power and speed stored in, to strike again when required.
3.5.5 Plasma Physics is an important subject for the last about six decades and have many useful applications. For example, plasma based rocket engine technology is under development.

OM OR AUM

2.1 The Vishnu Sahasranaama Stotra is compiled in Anushtup Chandas, a metre comprising of eight letters sixteen in a line and thirty two letters in a sloka. In fact, the Gayatri Mahamantra is also composed in ‘Anushtup Chandas’. The entire Raamayana by Valmiki has been composed in ‘Anushtup Chandas’. In music the ‘Adithal’, the most common of the Thalas, consists of eight letters. Is this number eight then, only accidental ? Or, is it deliberate to remind us of the atomic number of oxygen (8) and its atomic weight (16), an element so vital for our existence? Oxygen is the most abundant element of the earth’s crust, accounting for a little less than 50% of the total elements present, most of it as compounds.

2.2 ‘Om’ or ‘Aum’ is considered as single lettered and at the same time, three lettered, (Akaara, oukaara and Makaara) Pranava Mantra. All worships and Naamaavalis commence with the chanting of “ Aum”, which indeed transcends from Mantra to yoga by the way and intonation with which it is chanted. Volumes have been written about this Mantra and its efficacies by various commentators and in Upanishads.

2.3 Taittiriya Upanishad and Maitraayana Upanishad deal with Aum. The central theme of Maandukya Upanishad is the syllable ‘Aum’taking us through the three different states of “Jagrat, Swapna and Sushupti”, (the waking, dreaming and deep sleep states) to the ‘Turiya’ or ‘fourth’ state, taking one beyond the Upanishad doctrines. The same principle finds a mention in the fourth gospel of the New Testament. “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God”.

à Om as a monosyllable letter or Aum as a three lettered word, known as Pranava is the Supreme of all Mantras.

à Pranava, the three Vyahrities and three eight lettered sentences each extracted as the essence of Rig, Yajur and Sama Vedas, together constitute the Gayatri Maha Mantra.

2.4 “All the gates of the body closed, the mind confined with in the heart, having fixed his life energy in the head, engaged in firm yoga, uttering the one syllabled Om Brahman, thinking of Me, he who departs, leaving the body, attains the supreme goal” says the Lord in Bhagwat Geeta (8.12 and 13).

2.5 There are definite instructions in the Vedas that Aum has to be chanted in 2 ½ or 3 Maatraas depending upon the results/benefits one wants to obtain, and neither too long nor too short. It is believed that Sage Viswaamitra contemplated on the three Vedas, Rig, Yajur and Sama, and extracted eight letters from each of them, which constitutes the Saavitri Mantra (Part of Gaayatri). He further medidated upon them and observed that the three ‘Mahavyahritis’, Bhuh, Bhuvah, and Suvah’ contain the essence of ‘Tat Sa Vitur Vareniyam’, ‘Bhargo Devasya Deemahi’ and ‘Diyoyonah Prachodayat’, which, in turn contained in each one of these eight letters, the essence of the three Rig, Yajur and Sama Vedas. When he further contemplated on the Vyaahriti Mantra, the letter/word ‘Aum’ was perceived by him as representing the essence of all the Vedas. Thus, the word Aum, the three Vyaahriti Mantra and the Savitri Mantra, together constitute the unparalleled Gayatri Mantra.

2.6 A: In the Mantra ‘Aum’, the ‘Akaara’ is said to represent character of the God who creates, protects and destroys the world, the letter ‘ah’ means ‘to protect’. Therefore, the letter

à Akaara of Aum addresses the
protector, Vishnu.

à
Oukaara of Aum means Mahalakshmi, who resides with
Vishnu.

à Makaara of Aum
is interpreted as intellect which belongs to him and whose sustenance He takes
care of.

is said to address the ‘protector’, Vishnu.

2.7 U: The next letter ‘oukaara’ is interpreted to mean Goddess Mahalakshmi, who is always with him. It is also interpreted to mean that the letter belongs to him.

2.8 M: Who belongs to Him? The third letter ‘Makaaram’ explains this. The letter is interpreted as ‘Intellect’ or “ Jeevaatma”, Which belongs to Him and whose sustenance, He takes care of and ultimately, by negating each one of the ‘Vasanas’, the foot prints of the past thoughts and actions, the Jeevan identifies itself as ‘Brahman’, one of the three Mahaavaakyaas of the Vedas, ‘Tat Twam Asi’. (Thou Art That)

2.9 Prakriti Tatwa. It may be worth while to deal with this a little more in detail. The five great elements, Ether, Air, fire, Water and earth are described as first created in their subtle form and then through a process of combination among themselves, by which they became gross elements which we physically perceive. This process in Sanskrit is known as Panchikaranam’, a Pentamerous self duplication and mutual combination. This process is explained in Vedanta as taking place in four distinct stages of self division and mutual combination. From the ‘Mahat Tatwa’, the first one to appear was ‘Ether’ or ‘Aakaasa, which had the Tanmatra of only sound. But, it could not create any sound until it had a combination in certain proportion with Air (sound does not pass through vacuum). Thus the element Air has two qualities –Sound and Touch (Sparsh), but Touch as a Tanmatra only. Similarly, the third element Fire has three qualities namely Sound, Touch and Roopa or visual presence. Water has four Qualities namely Sound, Touch, Roopam and Taste. The fifth, the Earth, has five Qualities namely Sound, Touch, Roopam, Taste and Smell. All these are only because of the pentamerous self division and recombination of each of these five rudimentary Tanmaatras. Tanmaatra is the unit of each of the element by itself. Each of the five elements, by themselves, are considered as intransient, but in combination, become transient and perishable. This combination is in specific units of one with the other, in different stages, in much the same way, different number of atoms of different elements join together to form molecules.

à Prakriti Tatwa explained.
à Pentamerous self division and recombination in certain proportion of the five basic elements. Ether, Air, Fire, Water and Earth.
à 20 External organs of perception (Bahrikarana) and four internal organs of perception, (Antah karana) together constitute Prakriti.

à Role of Jeevatma and Brahman

2.10 The effect of the five Tanmaatraas in the five elements, lead the five organs of perception (ear, skin, eye, nose and tongue) to gain knowledge which in turn, lead the five organs of action (the organs of speech, hands, legs, anus and the genital) to act and do their duty. But, it is obvious that these external organs of perception and action do not function for themselves but for certain subtler inner equipment, whose command they obey. These four inner organs are called, according to their functions, as Mind, Intellect, Ego and Chitta, Mind from its doubts and hesitations, Intellect from its function of determining the truth, the Ego with which the vanity of the individual arrogates to itself both the doubts and the decisions as its own. The awareness of the inter play of the above three and the process of constant illumination of the personality to identify objects of interest is called ‘Chitta’.

2.11 Thus, the five elements, five tanmaatraas, five organs of perception, five organs of action, Mind, Intellect, Ego and Chitta, totalling 24, are called ‘Prakriti Tatwa’ (or Bahir Karana and Antah Karana). The jeevaatma, which is outside the 24, is the 25th Tatwa. It cannot be just a coincidence that the ‘Makaaram’ of ‘Aum’ (Jeevaatma) (more of it later) is the 25th letter among the consonants in Sanskrit! And, for those who have not reached that high level of intellect of Adwaita Philosophy, to see that Jeevatma and Brahman are indeed the same, ‘Brahman’ stands as the 26th Tatwa. Can we then again say that the 26 alphabets in English are just not coincidence?
2.12 We have just seen that the ‘akaara’ of ‘Aum’ represents the creation, preservation and destruction of the universe, the ‘Oukaara’ lives with it and ‘Makaara’ is the sum and substance of Jeevvatma. Let us look at it a little from the modern scientific facts.

1. Prologue

1. 1 Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram is credited to have been composed by Sanaka and other Rishies. Later, when Bhishma, the grand sire of the Pandavas and Kauravas, was in his last stage, on a bed of arrows, Lord Krishna adviced Yudishtira to seek upadesa, the words of wisdom from the senior most of the Kuru dynasty, Bhishma. Lord Krishna further added that, at this stage of his life, whatever words come from Bhisma, they will stay in the world like nectar extracted from the Vedas. Bhishma agreed.

1.2 After hearing Bhishma on various Dharmas, the ethical codes of conduct and duties, Yudishtra asked him six questions, in an order as occurred in his mind:-

(a) Who is the Supreme Almighty?

(b) What should be one’s goal, according to scriptures?

(c) Whom should the people worship to attain that goal?

(d) Chanting and praying whose name, will people attain exalted places?

(e) What is the best path of Dharma to follow, according to you?

(f) Which hymn should one chant to attain liberation from worldly life of bondage of birth, death and this cycle?

Yudishtira asks six questions regarding the supreme almighty and what hymn one should chant to attain liberation.

Bhishma replies that THAT CHANGELESS BEING IS to be constantly worshipped by chanting His thousand namas.

He also promises to tell of the origin of all that is created and where everything goes to rest at the end of each yuga.

1.3 The Anusasanika Parva of Mahabharata is considered as the heart for a deterministic statement of all the ethical codes and duties (Dharma) and their secrets and these questions, their answers by Bhishma and the subsequent compilation of the thousand names (Sahasranama) by Sage Vyasa through the words of Bhishma find the most important place in Anusasanika Parva of Mahabharata towards the end.

1.4 Bhishma answered the six questions in the order he thought necessary to be addressed. Yudishtra raised, “Kim Japan Muchyate Jantu Janma Samsara Bhandanat” as the sixth question. Bhishma hastened to answer that first. “ The Lord of the universe, the God among Gods, the infinite, that grandest of personage, is to be praised on his thousand names ceaselessly”. Then, he answers the fourth question. He reiterates his previous answer. “Chanting, meditating and worshipping that changeless being with devotion, is the only answer”. “ It will be relevant here to see that Bhishma straight away hits the nail on the head by referring to that “ Changeless being” (Avyayam). Management Gurus are familiar with the famous saying that “ the only permanent thing in the world is “CHANGE”. Therefore, Bhishma directly refers to that CHANGELESS BEING, which is beyond all the perceptible and perishable which the Upanishads reveal as “Atma”, the indestructible.

1.5 Then he answers the third question. “The one without beginning or end, the first among all, the one who overviews the entire world, by praying constantly to that Vishnu, one conquers all suffering. The sufferings are classified as three types:-

(a) Adhyatmikam-bodily suffering.

(b) Adhidaivikam-Natural Calamities.

(c) Adhibhowdikam- inflicted by animals, insects etc.

1.6 He then responds to the fifth question. “Yesha me Sarvadharmaanaam Dharmodhikathamo matah”- If a person worships by meditation and chanting constantly the names of the lotus-eyed God, that is the surest way for liberation from the cycle of birth and death. (This is further strengthened by a quotation from Vishnu Puranam, which states that the same results as obtained by meditation in Kruta yuga or by yoga/sacrifice in Tretaa yuga, and by Archana/prayers in Dwaapara yuga, are obtained by mere nama sankeertanam, repetetive chanting of the names of Lord in Kaliyuga (A yuga is equivalent to a geological era, at the end of which major geological changes including major extinctions of animals and species have been observed like Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. Comparatively smaller changes have been observed at the end of different ages within these eras, like Cambrian age or Ordovician age of the Paleozoic era, Triassic age of the Mesozoic era etc. In scriptures, it is defined as Pralaya or Deluge).

1.7 Bhishma then addresses the second question in the next five verses from “Paramam yo Mahat tejaha………….. to yaani naamani Gaunaani ……………”. Bhishma tells “ I will tell you about the origin of all that is created at the beginning of every yuga and where every thing goes to rest at the end of every yuga, Listen to this thousand names of Lord Vishnu, describing his wonderful attributes ………”.

1.8 The answer to the first question “Who is the Supreme Almighty, is obvious and explained in the previous five responses themselves. It is significant that Bhishma did not respond to the first question directly. It is clear that, if one has understood the answer to the remaining five questions, one would have come to one’s own conclusion about the answer to the first question.

1.9 It will also be worth while to dwelve a little into the history of that period. The Samkhya Philosophy was the prevalent religion of the Mahabharata period. There are extensive references to the Samkhya philosophy in Bhagwat Geeta. The Samkhya Philosophy and the name of the principal sage who wrote the Sutra (code & conduct) for it, namely Sage Kapila, find a mention in the Vishnu Sahasranamam itself. Sage Kapila is believed to have been born around 3000 BCE to the illustrious sage Kardama and his wife Devahuti. His concept on transformation of Energy and profound commentaries on Atma, Non-Atma and the subtle elements of the Cosmos places him in a class, to be recognized as the father of Cosmology. The Samkhya Philosophy explains the 24 Prakriti Tatwas (Dealt with a little later in the article) and also about the Purusha (Atma) as distinct from them but does not talk about Saguna Brahman or Eswara as the unifying factor between Prakriti (Primal matter) and Purusha (Ultimate Soul). It does not talk about the methods of activating the Purusha or intellect to interact with the otherwise inert Prakriti, to produce outstanding results by procedures like Karma (action), Bhakti (devotion), surrender, intellectual search etc. Perhaps, Bhishma was aware of the gap, even while following the Samkhya Philosophy and that is why he did not answer the first question of Yudishtra directly. He may have thought that a person, doing Atma Vichara (self-search) should be able to identify that unifying force between the Purusha and Prakriti, as the Supreme.

Samkhya Philosophy, the prevalent religion of the Mahabharata period.

Principal gap in Samkhya Philosophy which does not talk about Saguna Brahman or Iswara as the unifying factor between Purusha and Prakriti and how this inter action produces astounding results.

All six attributes of a prayer are addressed and satisfied in Vishnu Sahasranama.

1.10 It is a folk lore that Adishankara, before he wrote his commentary on “ Brahma Sutra” wanted to write first on some other scriptures. Asked to bring the Bhoja-Patra book-let of any scripture, his disciple repeatedly brought only Vishnu Sahasranama. He was probably interested in Lalita Sahasranama and was therefore, exasperated. He was then ordered by Goddess Saraswati to write his first commentary on Vishnu Sahasranama. It is likely that, in a world dominated by the Samkhya Philosophy, supplemented by Nyaya and Meemamsa sastras and tribes of Charuvaakaas and Kaapalikaas ruling the roost, Goddess Saraswati wanted Shankara to establish the single unifying factor between Purusha and Prakriti and thus the Adwaita Philosophy and sanaatana dharma. There is perhaps no single, simpler and greater scripture than Vishnu Sahasranama to achieve this target. Adisankara understook the responsibility.
This response of Bhishma would at once make it clear that Vishnu sahasranaamam, while chanting the thousand names of Lord Vishnu, many of them apparently repetitive or apparently with similar meaning, imports verily the creation of this universe from the largest of the large to the smallest of the small bodies, their sustenance, self generation and self destruction and interdependence of and independence from each other. Science suffers because of its unforgiving nature of belief that a fact is not a fact until the scientists have tried and failed repeatedly to disprove it, over a long period of time. It is because of this belief that many Nobel Prizes and recognitions have been awarded many decades after a discovery. On the other hand, Scriptures believe that “ Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”. Scriptures believe that Vedic Universe passes through repeated time cycles of Creation, Preservation and Destruction. During the annihilation of the Universe, Energy is conserved to manifest again in the new creation ( Sri Aurobindo). Problems came up when the Greeks and Christianity converted this cyclic phenomenon to a linearity from Point A to Point B, never returning again. Thus, the philosophic revelations of an earlier period, which were lost temporarily, had to be proved again by scientific discoveries much later, during the last two centuries. It is the endeavour of this article to see some of these hidden meanings and perceptions (and certainly not all) and the wedding of the religious thoughts to the later day scientific revelations.

1.11 There are six attributes given to a Stotra or prayer, namely:

(a) Namaskaaram or obeisance

(b) Convey blessing.

(c) Explain the philosophy/ facts/conviction.

(d) Praise the glory.

(e) Mention the strengths of the Supreme, and

(f) Prayer.

1.12 The Purva Bhaaga and Uttara Bhaaga, (the prologue and epilogue) of Shri Vishnu Sahasranaama contain ample proof of (b) and (f) above, while the Archana, by adding Aum and Namaha to every name or naamaavali, takes care of (a) above. The main body of the Vishnu Sahasranaama Stotram composed of 108 Slokas or verses embellishes the Philosophy, fact, conviction, glory and strength, of the Supreme Lord in the 1000 names and many scientific facts (known to-day) revealed already to the saints of lore.

1.13. Great commentaries have been written of Vishnu Sahasranaama by Adi Sankara, Madhvaacharya and Paraasara Bhattar. More recently, Late Mukkur Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Acharyar has created a Magnum opus by his series of lectures, and has seen Lakshmi Narasimha Avatar being praised by the succinct meanings of the Vishnu Sahasranaama. “ Anna” on behalf of Raama Krishna Mutt, Chennai, has compiled in 1959, an exhaustive commentary, by giving additional references to Bhagwat Geeta, Viveka Choodamani, different Upanishads, Bhaagavatam and Vishnu Puraanam.

1.14 This book-let is merely a small supplement to these excellent spiritual commentaries, by adding a few scientific facts known subsequent to the period of Mahabharata revealed by subsequent scientific studies, as has been admirably summed up by Bill Bryson (A short history of nearly everything), Matt Ridley (Genome) and a few others. This article quotes extensively from Bill Bryson, Matt Ridley, V S Ramachandran, Anna’s, commentary, “Bhagwat Geeta” commentary by Swami Chidbhavaananda, “Vivekachoodamani” commentary by Swami Chinmayananda, “Deivathin Kural” collated lectures of Sri Chandrsekarendra Swami of Kaanchi Mutt, “Kurai onrumillai” talks by Mukkur Lashmi Narasimha Acharyar, Brihadaaranyaka Upanishad,Pancheekaranam of Adisankara and the Vartika on it by Sureswaracharya, commentary on Mandukya Upanishad by Swami Lokeswarananda and Swami Gambhirananda with Gaudapada’s Karika, innumerable cross references in the imternet, besides other references. Therefore, separate references are not made for each of these quotes. Whenever the number of the naamaavali is mentioned, Adisankara’s classification of the naamaavali, as mentioned by Anna and Swami Tapasyananda in Ramakrishna Mutt publication is followed. The allusions of the Naamas to scientific correlations are my own and I am alone responsible for any mistakes in understanding or even stupidity. Different spellings are used for the same Sanskrit words at different places, partly to cater to the correct pronounciation to a nonsanskrit knowing reader and also to follow the more accepted spellings for a Sanskrit knowing individual.