|| om namo bhagavate vAsudevAya ||
vasudeva sutaM devaM kauMsa chAnura mardanaM |
devakI paramAnandaM KRshNaM vande jagatguruM ||
_/\_
Namaste
Some wonder if the Universe is a giant neural network.
SanAtan Dharma, which is Hindu Dharma, has always said so, and the One behind the whole show can be sought internally, within onself via contemplation and meditation.
The infinite Purusha described in Purusha SUkta , Rg Ved X.
SahasrasheershA Purushah: SahasrAkshah: sahasrapAd
sa bhUmim vishwato vrutvA tvattishTha dashAngulaM
purusha eva idaM sarvaM yadbhUtaM yaccha bhavyaM.....
The 1000 (sahasra) and 10 (dasham) are figurative for infinite and completeness.
The VishNusahastranAma stotra is very special because is not a sectarian VaishNav stotra. The stotra is a beautiful description of the Highest , Supreme Truth, ParaBramha' / Bramhan'. He is called VishNu by definition (see meaning below)
VishNu SahastranAma stotra (technically the 't' exists in sahastra) speaks about the Source, the cause of all causes. Bramhan', ParaBramha'.
[SatyaM jnAnaM anantaM Brahma' - Taittareya Upanishad]
In the end, when Arjun asks for an easier and quicker alternative, Shri KRshNa says He can be glorified with but one shlok and that is equivalent to reciting the entire Sahasranama stotra. The shlok is recited by BramhA :
namostav anatAya sahasramUrtaye sahasra pAdAksha shirorubAhave |
sahasranAmne purushAya shAshwate sahasrakoTi yuga dhAriNe namah: ||
Naman, obeissances, namaskAra to the endless Infinite One Who can be glorified by thousands of Names, Who has many forms, that eternal Being Who manifests and sends forth 1000(infinite) time-cycles.
YudhishThir asks Bheeshma : WHO is the One and only One (kim ekaM ?) who should be worshipped? What is the utmost righteous Dharma of all dharmas to be maintained and followed?
Bheeshma answers: Jagat Prabhum Deva-devam, anantam, purushottamam, anAdi-nidhanaM, VishNuM...
One must worship the Supreme Lord and guardian of the whole existence, the God of gods, the infinite One by way of space, time and substance (anantaM), the Best of all Beings, the One Who has no beginning, no Source, and no end, is Eternal.
This is the Bramha'-param, the Highest, the Purest, the ultimate Source. [I read that the sanskrit word GUdhaM (deep mystery, GUdh) was taken and it got distorted into Gotham, then into Gott and God.]
So let us pick a small subset of the 1000 names for analysis which a wide audience can relate to and cannot say is in any way sectarian towards VaishNav dharma.
1. VishwaM : The world, Universe / multi-verse, all existence , the material creation, manifestation... the vast , vastness, growing -- which is the meaning of "Brahman"
Which also means the Source of this Vishwa, who became all of this.
2. VishNu : The omnipresent One, the all-pervading One. There is no place He is not.
3. bhUta-bhavya-bhavat prabhU : Lord of the Past, Present and Future
4. bhUta-krut : krut can mean to create or destroy, and both are applicable to the Ultimate One.
5. bhUta-bhrut : Sustainer of all beings
6. bhAva : Who is blissfully Himself alone, as well as becomes (bhava) this world, and is the bhAva (expression) that gave rise to this world/appearance.
7. bhUtAmtA : Innermost Self of all beings (BG 10.20 aham AtmA guDAkesha...)
8. bhUta-bhAvanah: : Generator and nourisher of all beings
9. pUtAtmA : Purest Self of everything, the heart and center
10. paramAtmA : The Highest Self, Supreme Self of everything, the heart and center
11. muktAnAm-paramA-gatih: : The Highest goal and destiny of the liberated ones.
12. avyaya : imperishable, eternal, indestructible. Not only is He imperishable immortal as the AtmA , Highest and innermost Self, but His Nature (avyakta prakruti) is also indestructible owing to the law of thermodynamics.
13. Purushah: : The [innermost, Supreme and really the Only] Being (h: visarga on many sahasranama naams is for grammar)
14. sAkshI : Witness - the Sole real authentic Witness , and the innermost witness of everything manifest and unmanifest.
15. kshetradnya (also written as kshetrajn~a) : Knower of the field -- where field = body of living beings, inorganic bodies, cosmos, cosmic entity, universe, multiverse, time... at each level of identification, he is the knower - kshetradnya.
16. akshar : a-kshar. kshar = perishable. a-kshar = imperishable which He obviously is - as the eternal Self (Spirit) as well as the avyakta prakruti - see avyaya (#12) above.
17. yog : The very connector and the connection between the manifest beings and their Source, Himself. He is the very yog itself, yogeshwar (Ishwar of the yogIs Who Himself connects them to Him), yogI, yogIshwar, the cause of Oneness and Oneness itself.
18. yogavidhAm netA : The leader of the knowers of yoga i.e. Leader of the yogis or yog practitioners.
19. pradhAna-purusheshwhara : The Ishwar (Lord, God and controller) of both the pradhAna (mULa avyakta prakruti - primordial nature, also mAyA) as well as the purushas (jivas: individual entities that identify as that specific individual).
20. ShrimAn : OF Shri, WITH Shri, is all the Shri-ness that can possibly exist, Shelter of Shri, protector of Shri. What (philosophically) or Who (theistically) is Shri? The oppulence, aishwarya, all auspicious, good, divine qualities, wealth-with-goodness, prosperity, is Shri (MahaLakshmi)
21. Purushottamah: : The uttam purush - the Supreme, purest, highest Being (happens to be the innermost Being, the most fundamental source of existence. [theistic: Some take it the simple way, viz. the best among men. However, it means more than that, although this second definition can only apply to the pUrNAvtAr and avatArI svayam bhagavAn Shri KRshNa, the Complete VishNu.]
22. sarvah: : The ALL. He is everything, all manifest and unmanifest entities. He is the cognizer of all, at all times (omniscient, omnipresent).
23. sharvah: : In whom all beings get absorbed at pralay , in whom everything gets dismantled and reconstructed.
24. shivah: : Pure. Hari alone is Shiva. The Supreme is Hari. is Shiv.
25. sthANuh: : eternally unchanging, steady, unwavering - He is the Sat, Satya behind the transient, fluctuating and moving.
26. bhUtAdi : the origin, source of all beings , Adi - the primordial One.
27. nidhiravyayah: : the unchanging (avyay) resting place (nidhi) , destiny and eternal final shelter of all beings, into whom beings get absorbed at pralay, and He alone remains.
28. sambhava : Who manifests at will (BG 4.8 yadA yadA hi dharmasya... descends to protect the good and destroy the evil when it crosses limits).
29. bhAvanah: : Distributes the fruits of actions for the beings (jivas).
30. bhartA : Sustainer, shelter and nourisher of all, supplies the needful. Lord
31. prabhava : the Supreme Origin, Source of everything.
32. prabhU : The most powerful, as evident from His actions.
33. Ishwarah: : The One in charge of the whole Universe and at each level of existence.
34. svayambhU : Self-existent, Who does not have any creator i.e. the Original
35. shambhu : pure, Shankar is Him, and also referenced as Milk (Govinda) turning into curds (Shambhu) for the purpose of creation.
36. Aditya: Aditya is Him (He is the one Who takes all these forms). 2. Shruti : "She is Aditi" the boundless, and 3. Sun is metaphor - analogy for AtmA that reflects into each individual [pot of water] to create many reflections
=> how AtmA is One, appears as many (jivas)
37. pushkarAksha: Lotus-Eyed : This also has a deep philosophical meaning : the Lotus eyes : gateway to the infinite existence that He is. NOTE: Eyes are a window to the soul? This famous saying at the individual pinDanDa level is also applicable to the macrocosmic BramhAnDa level - PunDarikAshksha -- The Lotus Eyed One becomes a gateway to His infinite Being thru' those Lotus Eyes.
38. anAdi-nidhana : Having no begining, and eternal
39. dhAtA: Support, shelter, hold everything together
40. VidhAtA: The Supreme supporter (also shelter of Ananta that supports the world), supporter of the pre-requisites to creation, shelter, supplier, nourisher, dispenser of fruits of actions
41. DhAturuttama : Best, purest and the finest of substances i.e. Pure Consciousness. Chit, that supersedes all substances and states.
42. aprameya : Undefinable. We cannot pin down any "pramANa" - material proof or measure, for Him, hence aprameya.
43. HRushikesha : Master of the senses. This name is used very often for Shri KRshNa, and Arjun addresses Him as HRushikesh is the Bhagvad Geeta -- profound, since He also happens to pull the reigns of the extraordinary chariot horses (horses is used as analogy for senses)
44. PadmanAbha : In His center is the transcendental Lotus from which the universes emerge and into which they get absorbed - an eternal process.
45. Amara PrabhU : 1. The Lord of the immortals 2. The Eternal immortal Lord, The Supreme (PrabhU) who remains whereas everything else perishes at some point - or - is a derivative of Him and not the primordial. He alone is primordial.
46. MahAsvana : OF Supreme auspicious/holy Sound or Shabda-Brahman. The Veda. Shruti. The apaurusheya shruti (that is not man-made) came from Him - as if it is a treatise or law of the natural and spiritual. "The Word"
BruhadAraNyak Upanishad 4.4.10 "Thus O Maitreyi! has been breathed forth by the Great Being what we have as Rg Veda, Yajurveda..."
...
vasudeva sutaM devaM kauMsa chAnura mardanaM |
devakI paramAnandaM KRshNaM vande jagatguruM ||
_/\_
Namaste
Some wonder if the Universe is a giant neural network.
SanAtan Dharma, which is Hindu Dharma, has always said so, and the One behind the whole show can be sought internally, within onself via contemplation and meditation.
The infinite Purusha described in Purusha SUkta , Rg Ved X.
SahasrasheershA Purushah: SahasrAkshah: sahasrapAd
sa bhUmim vishwato vrutvA tvattishTha dashAngulaM
purusha eva idaM sarvaM yadbhUtaM yaccha bhavyaM.....
The 1000 (sahasra) and 10 (dasham) are figurative for infinite and completeness.
The VishNusahastranAma stotra is very special because is not a sectarian VaishNav stotra. The stotra is a beautiful description of the Highest , Supreme Truth, ParaBramha' / Bramhan'. He is called VishNu by definition (see meaning below)
VishNu SahastranAma stotra (technically the 't' exists in sahastra) speaks about the Source, the cause of all causes. Bramhan', ParaBramha'.
[SatyaM jnAnaM anantaM Brahma' - Taittareya Upanishad]
In the end, when Arjun asks for an easier and quicker alternative, Shri KRshNa says He can be glorified with but one shlok and that is equivalent to reciting the entire Sahasranama stotra. The shlok is recited by BramhA :
namostav anatAya sahasramUrtaye sahasra pAdAksha shirorubAhave |
sahasranAmne purushAya shAshwate sahasrakoTi yuga dhAriNe namah: ||
Naman, obeissances, namaskAra to the endless Infinite One Who can be glorified by thousands of Names, Who has many forms, that eternal Being Who manifests and sends forth 1000(infinite) time-cycles.
YudhishThir asks Bheeshma : WHO is the One and only One (kim ekaM ?) who should be worshipped? What is the utmost righteous Dharma of all dharmas to be maintained and followed?
Bheeshma answers: Jagat Prabhum Deva-devam, anantam, purushottamam, anAdi-nidhanaM, VishNuM...
One must worship the Supreme Lord and guardian of the whole existence, the God of gods, the infinite One by way of space, time and substance (anantaM), the Best of all Beings, the One Who has no beginning, no Source, and no end, is Eternal.
This is the Bramha'-param, the Highest, the Purest, the ultimate Source. [I read that the sanskrit word GUdhaM (deep mystery, GUdh) was taken and it got distorted into Gotham, then into Gott and God.]
So let us pick a small subset of the 1000 names for analysis which a wide audience can relate to and cannot say is in any way sectarian towards VaishNav dharma.
1. VishwaM : The world, Universe / multi-verse, all existence , the material creation, manifestation... the vast , vastness, growing -- which is the meaning of "Brahman"
Which also means the Source of this Vishwa, who became all of this.
2. VishNu : The omnipresent One, the all-pervading One. There is no place He is not.
3. bhUta-bhavya-bhavat prabhU : Lord of the Past, Present and Future
4. bhUta-krut : krut can mean to create or destroy, and both are applicable to the Ultimate One.
5. bhUta-bhrut : Sustainer of all beings
6. bhAva : Who is blissfully Himself alone, as well as becomes (bhava) this world, and is the bhAva (expression) that gave rise to this world/appearance.
7. bhUtAmtA : Innermost Self of all beings (BG 10.20 aham AtmA guDAkesha...)
8. bhUta-bhAvanah: : Generator and nourisher of all beings
9. pUtAtmA : Purest Self of everything, the heart and center
10. paramAtmA : The Highest Self, Supreme Self of everything, the heart and center
11. muktAnAm-paramA-gatih: : The Highest goal and destiny of the liberated ones.
12. avyaya : imperishable, eternal, indestructible. Not only is He imperishable immortal as the AtmA , Highest and innermost Self, but His Nature (avyakta prakruti) is also indestructible owing to the law of thermodynamics.
13. Purushah: : The [innermost, Supreme and really the Only] Being (h: visarga on many sahasranama naams is for grammar)
14. sAkshI : Witness - the Sole real authentic Witness , and the innermost witness of everything manifest and unmanifest.
15. kshetradnya (also written as kshetrajn~a) : Knower of the field -- where field = body of living beings, inorganic bodies, cosmos, cosmic entity, universe, multiverse, time... at each level of identification, he is the knower - kshetradnya.
16. akshar : a-kshar. kshar = perishable. a-kshar = imperishable which He obviously is - as the eternal Self (Spirit) as well as the avyakta prakruti - see avyaya (#12) above.
17. yog : The very connector and the connection between the manifest beings and their Source, Himself. He is the very yog itself, yogeshwar (Ishwar of the yogIs Who Himself connects them to Him), yogI, yogIshwar, the cause of Oneness and Oneness itself.
18. yogavidhAm netA : The leader of the knowers of yoga i.e. Leader of the yogis or yog practitioners.
19. pradhAna-purusheshwhara : The Ishwar (Lord, God and controller) of both the pradhAna (mULa avyakta prakruti - primordial nature, also mAyA) as well as the purushas (jivas: individual entities that identify as that specific individual).
20. ShrimAn : OF Shri, WITH Shri, is all the Shri-ness that can possibly exist, Shelter of Shri, protector of Shri. What (philosophically) or Who (theistically) is Shri? The oppulence, aishwarya, all auspicious, good, divine qualities, wealth-with-goodness, prosperity, is Shri (MahaLakshmi)
21. Purushottamah: : The uttam purush - the Supreme, purest, highest Being (happens to be the innermost Being, the most fundamental source of existence. [theistic: Some take it the simple way, viz. the best among men. However, it means more than that, although this second definition can only apply to the pUrNAvtAr and avatArI svayam bhagavAn Shri KRshNa, the Complete VishNu.]
22. sarvah: : The ALL. He is everything, all manifest and unmanifest entities. He is the cognizer of all, at all times (omniscient, omnipresent).
23. sharvah: : In whom all beings get absorbed at pralay , in whom everything gets dismantled and reconstructed.
24. shivah: : Pure. Hari alone is Shiva. The Supreme is Hari. is Shiv.
25. sthANuh: : eternally unchanging, steady, unwavering - He is the Sat, Satya behind the transient, fluctuating and moving.
26. bhUtAdi : the origin, source of all beings , Adi - the primordial One.
27. nidhiravyayah: : the unchanging (avyay) resting place (nidhi) , destiny and eternal final shelter of all beings, into whom beings get absorbed at pralay, and He alone remains.
28. sambhava : Who manifests at will (BG 4.8 yadA yadA hi dharmasya... descends to protect the good and destroy the evil when it crosses limits).
29. bhAvanah: : Distributes the fruits of actions for the beings (jivas).
30. bhartA : Sustainer, shelter and nourisher of all, supplies the needful. Lord
31. prabhava : the Supreme Origin, Source of everything.
32. prabhU : The most powerful, as evident from His actions.
33. Ishwarah: : The One in charge of the whole Universe and at each level of existence.
34. svayambhU : Self-existent, Who does not have any creator i.e. the Original
35. shambhu : pure, Shankar is Him, and also referenced as Milk (Govinda) turning into curds (Shambhu) for the purpose of creation.
36. Aditya: Aditya is Him (He is the one Who takes all these forms). 2. Shruti : "She is Aditi" the boundless, and 3. Sun is metaphor - analogy for AtmA that reflects into each individual [pot of water] to create many reflections
=> how AtmA is One, appears as many (jivas)
37. pushkarAksha: Lotus-Eyed : This also has a deep philosophical meaning : the Lotus eyes : gateway to the infinite existence that He is. NOTE: Eyes are a window to the soul? This famous saying at the individual pinDanDa level is also applicable to the macrocosmic BramhAnDa level - PunDarikAshksha -- The Lotus Eyed One becomes a gateway to His infinite Being thru' those Lotus Eyes.
38. anAdi-nidhana : Having no begining, and eternal
39. dhAtA: Support, shelter, hold everything together
40. VidhAtA: The Supreme supporter (also shelter of Ananta that supports the world), supporter of the pre-requisites to creation, shelter, supplier, nourisher, dispenser of fruits of actions
41. DhAturuttama : Best, purest and the finest of substances i.e. Pure Consciousness. Chit, that supersedes all substances and states.
42. aprameya : Undefinable. We cannot pin down any "pramANa" - material proof or measure, for Him, hence aprameya.
43. HRushikesha : Master of the senses. This name is used very often for Shri KRshNa, and Arjun addresses Him as HRushikesh is the Bhagvad Geeta -- profound, since He also happens to pull the reigns of the extraordinary chariot horses (horses is used as analogy for senses)
44. PadmanAbha : In His center is the transcendental Lotus from which the universes emerge and into which they get absorbed - an eternal process.
45. Amara PrabhU : 1. The Lord of the immortals 2. The Eternal immortal Lord, The Supreme (PrabhU) who remains whereas everything else perishes at some point - or - is a derivative of Him and not the primordial. He alone is primordial.
46. MahAsvana : OF Supreme auspicious/holy Sound or Shabda-Brahman. The Veda. Shruti. The apaurusheya shruti (that is not man-made) came from Him - as if it is a treatise or law of the natural and spiritual. "The Word"
BruhadAraNyak Upanishad 4.4.10 "Thus O Maitreyi! has been breathed forth by the Great Being what we have as Rg Veda, Yajurveda..."
...
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