Sunday, 4 August 2019

Vishnu Sahasranamam: Sloka 5: Avikaaraaya Shuddhaaya Nityaaya

Sloka 5: Text

avikārāya śuddhāya nityāya paramātmane |
sadaikarūparūpāya viṣṇave sarvajiṣṇave || 5 ||

Meaning

Bow I before Vishnu
Who is pure,
Who is not affected,
Who is permanent,
Who is the ultimate truth.
And He who wins over,
All the mortals in this world.

(Swami Krishnanda)

Poetic Meaning

Salutation to Lord Vishnu who is immutable (unchangeable, not subject to any variation), who is inherently pure and eternal, the Supreme soul who has a consistent undiversified form in all times and ages and is the conqueror of one and all. 

(link)

Comment

The fifth and the sixth slokas of the Purva Bhagham (of the Vishnu Sahasranamam) are salutations to Vishnu. Each word of the sloka is significant and is explained below:

avikārāya: one who does not undergo material transformation or unchangeable. 

The word avikārāya is also used in Canto 10 of Srimad Bhagavadam, Verse 16:40 which reads:

jñāna-vijñāna-nīdhaye
brahmaṇe ’nanta-śaktaye
aguṇāyāvikārāya
namas te prākṛtāya ca 

(emphasis supplied)

The above Sloka translates as follows:

"Obeisances unto You, the Absolute Truth, who are the reservoir of all transcendental consciousness and potency and the possessor of unlimited energies. Although completely free of material qualities and transformations, You are the prime mover of material nature." (link).

śuddhāya: pure/ unadulterated.

Again, this word has several references in Srimad Bhagavadam. For instance, verse 49.13 of the 10th Canto, which reads:

namaḥ kṛṣṇāya śuddhāya
 brahmaṇe paramātmane
yogeśvarāya yogāya

 tvām ahaṁ śaraṇaṁ gatā 
(emphasis supplied)

The verse translated reads as below:

"I offer my obeisances unto You, Kṛṣṇa, the supreme pure, the Absolute Truth and the Supersoul, the Lord of pure devotional service and the source of all knowledge. I have come to You for shelter." (link)

nityāya: permanent/ eternal
paramātmane: one who is the supreme person (paramātma)
sadaikarūparūpāya: one who is consistent
viṣṇave: the all-pervading Vishnu
sarvajiṣṇave: jiṣṇu is the root of this compound word whose meaning is all conquering.

Thus, Sloka five of the Vishnu Sahasranamam explains in brief the qualities of Lord Vishnu: The Lord  is eternal, pure, consistent, without end, all conquering and supreme. An English and a Tamil translation of this sloka in the form of a video is available here

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