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Devotional hymn

CHENNAI : The Vishnu Sahasranama is an exceptional hymn in that its origin is associated with all who were sticklers for Dharma and Lord Krishna before whom Bhishma chanted it during his last moments in life. The Vedas state that the divine names are infinite and it is for the sake of facilitating a devotee to sing His glory that this great devotee selected 1000 names and strung them together in the form of a hymn. This devotional hymn can be chanted by one and all without exception. The raison d'être of Vyasa composing the Mahabharata was to make the Vedas accessible to all and the Vishnu Sahasranama like the Bhagavad Gita is a veritable jewel in it.

In his discourse, Sri Goda Venketeswara Sastri said the hymn was in the form of answer to six questions Yudhishthira raised. Yudhisthira asked: "Who is that one Lord spoken of in all the scriptures? Which is the ultimate goal? Knowing and worshipping whom would human beings gain auspiciousness? According to you, which is the highest Dharma among all the Dharmas? Chanting which does a person get freed from the bondage of Samsara, fraught with repeated births?" It was not as if Yudhishthira did not know the answers to these questions for he was the very embodiment of Dharma. It is to hear it from a devotee like Bhishma (as he practised it) that Lord Krishna had directed Yudhishthira to learn the nuances of Dharma from the grandsire instead of expounding it Himself as He had done to Arjuna.

Bhishma was overjoyed and he looked at the Lord with gratitude for it was His singular grace that had afforded him an opportunity to chant His glory before Him as he lay awaiting his end on a bed of arrows. He answered Yudhishthira's last question first beholding Lord Krishna: "Praising by the 1000 names (Him who is) the Lord of the universe, Lord of all the gods, limitless and the supreme person, the human being who is ever committed (goes beyond all sorrow)." Bhishma reiterated that by worshipping the eternal Lord with devotion, meditating on Him, praising Him and bowing down to Him, the worshipper would transcend all sorrows.

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