Viṣṇu means all pervading. Viṣṇu is the
administrator of the universe. He puts in place, the laws of the universe and
administers the universe strictly according to the law. He is a strict disciplinarian, yet highly
compassionate in nature. He presides over
all the seven planes of the universe. The abode of Viṣṇu is supposed to be the
Supreme one. He has prescribed various paths through which one has to travel to
reach His abode, the point of no return for a soul, known as liberation. He has been referred to in Vedas. Without
Viṣṇu, no fire ritual is complete. He is quite often referred to as Puruṣa, the
Supreme Soul. His famous sleeping
posture on Ananta, the snake, who floats on the ocean of milk, is very well known. This posture is not merely a gross
description, but has got subtle meaning. Ananta means infinite and the milk of
ocean refers to the eternal bliss. He lies in the ocean of eternal bliss. Those
who seek Him also enter the state of bliss at some point of time. He incarnates in different forms to destroy
evil doers. His avatars occur whenever
there is imbalance between morality and immorality. When immorality begins to
dominate over morality He incarnates.
His notable incarnations are Lord Rāma and Lord Kṛṣṇa.
The scene of
unfolding this great Sahasranāma happened in the great epic Mahābhārata
authored by sage, Veda Vyāsa. Bhīṣma was lying on a bed made of arrows awaiting
his death. At that time, he was
meditating on Kṛṣṇa. Knowing this, Kṛṣṇa asked Yudhiṣṭhira (eldest
among Pāṇḍava brothers and known for his righteousness) to seek spiritual
initiation from Bhīṣma
and also told Bhīṣma to initiate Yudhiṣṭhira. Yudhiṣṭhira asks Bhīṣma kimekaṁ daivataṁ loke meaning who is the Supreme
Lord of the world. Bhīṣma replies by saying, that the purest, the most
auspicious, the chief among the gods and the father of all the beings is the
One who is Supreme, referring to Lord Viṣṇu. This conversation appears in the pūrvabhāg of this Sahasranāma. The
spiritual initiation of Yudhiṣṭhira by Bhīṣma is Viṣṇu Sahasranāma. Kṛṣṇa was also present when this happened and this Sahasranāma was
blessed by the Lord Himself.
Viṣṇu is also known as Nārāyaṇa. Garuḍa Purāṇa
(III.24.54, 55) explains the etymological meaning of Nārāyaṇa. “As He is the
resort of merits and demerits and as He abides in the waters of ocean, He is
called Nārāyaṇa. Water is also called nāra (probably meaning cosmic water); as
His Abode is water, He is called Nārāyaṇa.” Viṣṇu is the most auspicious form
of the Brahman. He is not only invoked
during auspicious occasions, but also while performing funeral rites. At the time of conclusion of all rituals, the
effect of the rituals are surrendered to Viṣṇu.
Viṣṇu Sahasranāma consists of three parts – pūrvabhāg or the first part; stotrabhāg or the main
part from which one thousand names or nāma-s are composed; and uttarabhāg or
the concluding part. The main part consists of 108 couplets from which all the
1000 nāma-s are derived. Apart from these three parts, this Sahasranāma has seven dhyāna verses by which one can meditate
upon His auspicious form.
All the one thousand nāma-s have been interpreted based on ancient Scriptures like
Upaniṣad-s. Wherever possible, quotation from Upaniṣad-s
and other Scriptures have been used. Many of the nāma-s are interpreted from the point of view of attaining
Him to get liberation. Wherever needed, Sanskrit verses have been used along
with IAST, for the sake of proper pronunciation.