Miscellaneous - Religion   

Devotional hymn

CHENNAI : The Krishna incarnation of the Supreme Being is unique as He donned the role of the preceptor by teaching the ultimate truth in the Bhagavad Gita, which is in the Mahabharata. This epic also enshrines other texts, which have attained independent status — the Sanatsujatiya and the Vishnu Sahasranama.

There are many Sahasranama hymns but the Vishnu Sahasranama is exceptional. This is due to the reason that unlike the other hymns, which were composed by Rishis, Vyasa who is revered as a manifestation of Vishnu indited the Vishnu Sahasranama. Besides, Bhishma sang this hymn before Lord Krishna, while he lay on a bed of arrows, in reply to the questions raised by Yudhishthira.

In his discourse, Sri Krishnamoorthy Sastrigal said Sankara's invocatory verse in his commentary on the Vishnu Sahasranama identified Lord Krishna as the Supreme Being. Sankara says, "Obeisance unto Krishna, the embodiment of pure existence, consciousness and bliss, whose work (of creation) is accomplished without any effort and who is the spiritual witness and preceptor (par excellence), comprehensible in Upanishadic wisdom." The next verse is in praise of Sage Vyasa who codified the Vedas for the sake of humanity whom Sankara eulogises as "the shining sun for the blossoming Veda-lotus."

The benefit of chanting this hymn (according to the Palasruti) is the attainment of all the four goals (Purushartha) of human life: Dharma (good conduct), Artha (material prosperity), Kama (sensory gratification) and Moksha (liberation). Adi Sankara notes at the end of his commentary that Bhishma has indicated that Vyasa, who was Narayana Himself, wrote this hymn and hence it must be recited with faith to realise all these ends.

An interesting aside is related in tradition about how Sankara came to write his commentary on this hymn. Before embarking on his commentary on the Brahmasutra, he wanted to compose one on the Lalita Sahasranama. When he instructed his disciple to fetch a copy of the hymn, he repeatedly brought the Vishnu Sahasranama and also explained that a divine lady had given this hymn to him and told him to give it to his Guru. Sankara intuited this as the Divine Mother's direction to write a commentary on this hymn first.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Cartoonscape
The Hindu Crossword No. 8601 Solution to Puzzle 8600
Solution to Puzzle 8600
Devotional hymn
dated May 12, 1956: Elections as scheduled
dated May 12, 1956: Churchill's suggestion
dated May 12, 1956: Award for Pather Panchali
Weather

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu