Revelation of Vishnu Sahasranaamam

Revelation of Vishnu Sahasranaamam

I read with interest the two pieces of write-up on the above. First by Sree Raju Easwaran on the 12th; followed by the second of Sree Arun Kashyap on the13th Aug.
I was fortunate to be introduced (among many things in life) to these great slokas by my late father who had the knack of explaining them embellished with small stories. We have in our family a special attachment to these slokas too and I thought I could share some of the things I had been told. According to my dad (and as written in one of the issues in ‘Sruthi Vani’ Malayalam magazine), our ancestors (who were Iyengars perhaps followers of Ramanujacharya) after having been driven out by Tippu Sultan (from somewhere near Mysore) migrated to two villages in Palghat viz. Pallipuram and Tirunellayi where we continue to this day to practise Vaishnavaite Sampradayam or padhatis yet call ourselves ‘Smartha Iyers’. If I remember right one of our respected lady members obliquely and interestingly touched upon this subject of Vaishnavite-Smartha-Iyers’!! in one of her postings to the group.
For instance we start off by saying (during Samkalpam that is) “ Sree Bhagavath Aakhyaya Bhagavath Preetthyartham Sreeman narayana Preethyartham etc etc as different from “ Sree Parameswara Preetthyartham etc etc). Of course we put on Tiru Naamam(3 vertical lines) and not the Vibhuthi (3 horizontal lines). We have at home Vishnu Pooja (Saligramam 300 years old). But over a period of time we have accumulated Shiv-lingas too. We perform Vishvaksena Pooja at the start of everything ( I believe it is equivalent to Ganapathi Pooja etc.)
With this background one can imagine how deep rooted the recital of Vishnu Sahsranamam would be in our homes. My dad I remember mentioning something like this which summarizes the quintessence of the Naamaavali
“The Seers discuss three kinds of wealth - material wealth, knowledge, and devotion. The first two can be attained by anyone irrespective of their character etc. Those who have material wealth or knowledge are praised by the people of this world, and as a result get intoxicated with pride. But the third category of wealth is rewarded and praised by BhagavAn, and does not lead to anything except BhagavAn Himself.Lord RAma during His paTTAbhishekam gave away lots of material gifts to the participants, but He did not give any material gift to HanumAn. When SIta asked RAma about this, He told Her that He has already given to HanumAn what nobody else knows, and that She can find out what it is from HanumAn himself. When asked, HanumAn shows Lord RAma and SItA residing in His heart. This is what VishNu's nAma of ‘mahAdhanah’ indicates (in the following sloka); viz. that He gives away the greatest wealth there is, Himself, to His devotees. SrI Satyadevo VAsishTha adds that He is mahAdhanah because He has wealth that leads to absolute bliss, never diminishes, immense, cannot be counted or measured, and is prayed for by everyone else.” SrI vishNu sahasranAmam - Slokam 46. vistArah sthAvara-sthANuh pramANam bIjam-avyayam artho_'nartho mahA-koSo mahA-bhogo mahA-dhanah I Seek the indulgence from all learned members of the group while I attempt to scratch on the surface of the profound philosophy behind the Slokas the regular recitation of which has indeed brought peace and tranquility in our homes.
V V R
17th Aug 2005.