Visnu Sahasra Nama

[Paramananda das]

dear devotees
please accept my humble obaisences
All glories to Srila Prabupada

This is the Visnu Sahasranama with commentaries by Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana.While on Padayatra in 1985 in South India ,at so many places we would daily hear
the beautiful chanting of this Visnu Sahasranama, especailly in the early morning some places during Brahma Muhurta, there is a veery nice online chanting with sanskrit in roman letters and translation also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8tJCTgkwQQ&feature=player_embed...!

see also http://www.prabhupada.de/kusakratha.htm about Kusakratha Prabhu and some of the books of the acaryas he translated are there also.

Visnu sahasrana Nama was spoken by Bhismadeva while lying on the bed of arrows and is found in the Mahabharat, it also predicts the apperance of Lord Caitanya

Mahabharata (Vishnu-sahasra-nama-stotra, 127.92.75)

suvarna varna hemango
varangas candanangadi
sannyasa krt-chamah santo
nistha shanti parayanah

In His early activities Lord Caitanya comes as a householder. He has a golden complexion [suvarna varnah]. His limbs are very beautiful [vara-anga] and are smeared with sandalwood pulp [candana-angadi]. He has the appearance of molten gold [hema-anga]. The Supreme Lord Caitanya accepts the renounced order of life [sannyasa-krt]. He is fully sense-controlled or equipoised [sama], and is completely peaceful [santa]. He is completely fixed in the chanting of the Holy Name of Lord Krishna, [nistha]. He is the highest abode of devotion and transcendental peace. He silences the mayavadi impersonalists [nistha santi parayanah].

Lord Caitanya once took on the mood of Lord Narasimha in Navadvipa when he heard the Visnu Sahasranama .

your servant
 Paramananda das

translated by Kusakratha Prabhu
Managlacaranam
(by Baladeva Vidyabhushana)


Text 1
ananta kalyana-gunaika-varidhir
vibhu-cid-ananda-ghano bhajat-priyah
krishnas tri-shaktir bahu-murtir ishvaro
vishvaika-hetuh sa karotu nah shubham


May Lord Krishna, the all-powerful Supreme Personality of Godhead, who appears in many forms, is the original creator of the universe, the master of the three potencies, full of transcendental knowledge and bliss, very dear to the devotees, and an ocean of unlimited auspicious qualities, grant auspiciousness to us.

Text 2

vyasam satyavati-sutam muni-gurum narayanam samstumo
vaishampayanam ucyatahvaya-sudhamodam prapadyamahe
gangeyam sura-mardana-priyatamam sarvartha-samvid-varam
sat-sabhyan api tat-katha-rasa-jhusho bhuyo nanaskurmahe



Let us glorify Shrila Vyasadeva, the spiritual master of the great sages, the literary incarnation of Lord Narayana and the son of Satyavati. Let us surrender to Vaishampayana Muni, the speaker of the Mahabharata who became jubilant by drinking the nectar of Lord Vishnu's thousand names. Let us bow down before Krishna's friend Bhishma, the best of the wise and the son of Ganga-devi, and let us also bown down before the saintly devotees who relish the narrations of Lord Vishnu's glories.


Text 3
nityam nivasatu hridaye
chaitanyatma murarir nah
niravadyo nirvritiman
gajapatir anukampaya yasya


May Lord Murari, who has personally appeared as Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, eternally reside within our hearts. He has mercifully purified, engladdened and liberated His devotees, such as Gajendra and Maharaja Prataparudra.

Text 4

yugapan navyanadan
prakirtayan yati vindate sheshah
kartriny abhishta-purter
jayanti namani tani krishnasya


All glories to the holy names of Lord Krishna, the fulfiller of everyone's desire. Ananta Shesha finds ever-fresh bliss in glorigying Lord Krishna's holy names.


Text 5

yenamaika-pumartha-
hari-bhaktas tan namasyamah
bhashyam yesham kripaya
namartha-sudha bhaved etat


We offer respectful obeisances to those great devotees who are completely devoted to chanting the holy names of Lord Hari. It is by their mercy that I am able to write this Namartha-sudha-bhashya (commentary on the Vishnu-sahasra-nama, entitled "The Nectar of the Meaning of Lord Hari's Holy Names").

Prologue

Text 1

vaishampayana uvaca

shrutva dharman asheshena
pavanani ca sarvashah
yudhishthirah shantanavam
punar evabhyabhashata


After hearing the description of all the rules of religion and all the purifying places of pilgrimage, Yudhishthira gain enquired from Bhishma, the son of Maharaja Shantanu.


Text 2

kim ekam daivatam loke
kim vapy ekam parayanam
stuvantah kam kam arcantah
prapnyuyr manavah shubham


Yudhishthira said: Please tell me who isthe Supreme Personality of Godhead, the ultimate controller of the universe? Who is thye ultimate destination of all living beings? Whom should men glorify and worship in order to attain auspiciousness?

Text 3

ko dharmah sarva-dharmanam
bhavatah paramo matah
kim japan mucyate jantur
janma-samsara-bandhanat


What do you consider the best of all religious processes? What mantra should one chant to become free from the bondage of repeated birth and death?


Text 4

shri-bhishma uvaca

jagat-prabhum deva-devam
anantam purushottamam
stuvan nama-shasrena
purushah satatotthitah


Bhishma said: The Supreme Personality of Godhead is the controller of all moving and non-moving beings within the universe, and He is the worshipable master of all the demigods. His transcendental forms and qualities are all unlimited, and He is the best of persons. One should always enthusiastically glorify Him by chanting the Vishnu-sahasra-nama (Thousand names of Lord Vishnu).

Text 5

tam eva carcayan nityam
bhaktya prursham avyayam
dhyayan stuvan namasyamsh ca
yajamanas tam eva ca


With great faith, the devotee should worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Krishna, whose forms, qualities, opulences and pastimes are all eternal and transcendental. The devotee should glorify Him, continually meditate on His transcendental form, and offer obeisances by bowing down before Him.


Text 6

anadi-nidhanam vishnum
sarva-loka-maheshvaram
lokadhyaksham stuvan nityam
sarva-duhkatigo bhavet


There was never a time when Lord Vishnu first came into existance, and there is no time in the future when He will cease to exist. He is the supreme master of all planets, all living entities, and all the demigods who control the universe. He is the all-pervading, all-knowing witness who sees everything. A person who regularly glorifies Him becomes free from all material miseries, and in that liberated condition becomes full of transcendental bliss.


Note: In his commentary, Shrila Baladeva Vidyabhushana quotes the following verses to describe the immense potency of the glorification of Lord Krishna.


sakrid uccaritam yena
harir ity aksharam dvayam
baddhah parikaras tena
mokshaya gamanam prati


"If one chants the two syllables Ha-ri, even once, he becomes free from all material bondage."

sakrid eva parigitam
shriaddhaya helaya va
bhriguvara nara-matram
tarayet krishna-nama


"O best of the Bhrigu dynasty, if one even once speaks the holy name of Lord Krishna, either with faith, or even casually, or with contempt, the holy name will liberate that chanter from all material bondage."

Text 7

brahmanyam sarva-dharmajnam
lokanam kirti-vardhanam
loka-natham mahad-bhutam
sarva-bhuta-bhavodbhavam


Lord Vishnu is the protector and well-wisher of the brahmanas, aware of all principles of religion, the Lord who expands the glory of His devotees, the supreme monarch of all planetary systems, full of all opulences, and the original father of Brahma, Shiva and all living entities.


Note: Shrila Baladeva Vidyabhushana quotes the following verses from Mahabharata, where Krishna explains that He is the source of all living beings.


prajapatim ca rudram capy
aham eva shrijami vai
tau hi mam na vijanito
mama maya-vimohitau


"The patriarchs, Shiva and others are created by Me, though they do not know that are created by Me, because they are deluded by My illusory energy."*


Text 8

esha me sarva-dharmanam
dharmo 'dhikatamo matah
yad bhaktya pundarikaksham
stavair arcan narah sada


I think that the best of all spiritual activites is tocontinuously and devotedly worship lotus-eyed Lord Krishna by reciting prayers glorifying Him and describing His holy names.


Note: In his commentary, Shrila Baladeva Vidyabhushana quotes the following verses from the Vedic literatures to describe the glories of the chanting of Lord Krishna's holy names.

The Shruti-mantra explains:


asya jananto nama cid-vivaktana-mahas te vishno sumatim bhajamahe om tat sat


"O Lord Vishnu, we worship You, and we are fully conscious of the spiritual nature of Your holy names."

The Padma Purana explains:


nama cintamahih krishnash
chaitanya-rasa-vigrahah
purnah shuddho nitya-mukto
'bhinnatvam mama-maminoh


"The holy name of Krishna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all spiritual benedictions, for it is Krishna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasrue. Krishna's name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than Krishna Himself. Since Krishna's name is not contaminated by the material qualities, there is no question of it being involved with maya. Krishna's name is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of material nature. This is because the name of Krishna and Krishna Himself are identical."*

Text 9

paramam yo mahat-tejah
paramam yo mahat-tapah
paramam yo mahad brahma
paramam yah parayanam


Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He is supremely powerful and splendid, and it is from Him that the sun and other luminaries derive their splendor and heat. He is the ultimate shelter of all living entities. He is partially manifested as the Brahman effulgence.


Note: Shrila Baladeva Vidyabhushana comments that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the demigods are all His order-carriers. In this connection, He quotes the following verse from the smriti-shastra.

yad-bhisha vatah pavate bhishodeti suryah
bhishasmad agnish candrash ca mrityur dhavati


"Out of fear of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the wind blows, and out of fear of Him the sun rises. Out of fear of Him fire, the moon, and death, all perform their respective duties."


Text 10

pavitranam pavitram yo
mangalanam ca mangalam
daivatam devatanam ca
bhutanam yo 'vyayah pita


Lord Krishna is the most purifying of all purifiers, and it is He who gives the power to remove sinful reactions to the Ganges and other places of pilgrimage. He is the most auspicious of all auspicious personalities, and it is He who gives to Ganes

[Paramananda das]

http://nitaaiveda.com/All_Scriptures_By_Acharyas/Baladeva_Vidyabhus...

[Paramananda das]

namnam akari bahudha nija-sarva-shaktis
tatrarpita niyamitah smarane na kalah
etadrishi tava kripa bhagavan mamapi
durdaivam idrisham ihajani nanuragaha

O my Lord, Your holy name alone can render all benediction to living beings, and thus You have hundreds and millions of names, like Krsna and Govinda. In these transcendental names You have invested all Your transcendental energies. There are not even hard and fast rules for chanting these names. O my Lord, out of kindness You enable us to easily approach You by Your holy names, but I am so unfortunate that I have no attraction for them.

[Paramananda das]

Actually the most important things is to chant Hare Krishna
http://nimaipandit.ning.com/profiles/blogs/gbc-proposal-to-chant-64

[Paramananda das]

I sometimes chant one sloka from Visnu Sahasra Nama in between each round of Japa, untill I finished all 64 rounds