Sloka 8 & 9: Vishnu Sahasranamam

In the previous post, we saw the questions raised by Yudhishtra in the eighth sloka on the Supreme Being. Yudhishtra asks: "Who is the One Supreme Being which the Scriptures declare? What is the one Supreme Goal which should be sought ? By the recitation of what mantra is a person released from the bonds of repeated birth and death? Which in your opinion is the highest form of religion?" (translation by Pandit U.Ve. Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari). In the ninth sloka, Yudhishtra continues with his questions. As we stated in the previous post, the 8th and the 9th slokas represent the fundamental questions on the purpose of life for every Hindu. Hence, the previous post and the present post are combined in the form of a single post so that the meaning of both the slokas become clear.

Slokas 8 and 9: Text 

Transliteration

śrī yudhiṣṭhira uvāca 

kimekaṁ daivataṁ lōke kiṁ vāpyekaṁ parāyaṇaṁ | 

stuvaṁtaḥ kaṁ kamarcaṁtaḥ prāpnuyurmānavāḥ śubham || 8 ||

kō dharmaḥ sarvadharmāṇāṁ bhavataḥ paramō mataḥ |

kiṁ japanmucyate jaṁturjanmasaṁsārabaṁdhanāt || 9 ||

Meaning:

Yudhishthira asked:

In this wide world, Oh Grandpa,

Which is that one God,

Who is the only shelter?

Who is He whom,

Beings worship and pray,

And get salvation great?

Who is He who should oft,

Be worshipped with love?

Which Dharma is so great,

There is none greater?

And which is to be oft chanted,

To get free.

From these bondage of life, cruel? (Swami Krishnananda)

Another Meaning

Yudhisthira said:— Who is the One Supreme Being which the Scriptures declare? What is the one Supreme Goal which should be sought ? By the recitation of what mantra is a person released from the bonds of repeated birth and death? Which in your opinion is the highest form of religion?

What spiritual path is that, which according to thy judgment is the foremost of all paths? What are those mantras by reciting which a being becomes freed from the bonds of birth and death? (Pandit U.Ve. Sri Rama Ramanuja Achari)

Commentary

(from the previous post on the 8th sloka): In the 8th and the 9th Slokas, Yudhishtra ask certain questions, which the Hindus regard as the fundamental questions regarding the purpose of life and how to pursue it. Since Vishnu Sahasranamam, through Bhishma, answers these questions, the Sahasranama is one of the most important works for a Hindu. You would hear the Sahasranamam being played in the morning in every Hindu home. The purpose of this is to be reminded of the answers to these fundamental questions.

Yudhishtra first starts of with THE question: "Who is the One Supreme Being which the Scriptures declare?". Thereafter, he asks what should the ultimate purpose of life or goal of a person be? "What is the one Supreme Goal which should be sought?" He then asks: "By the recitation of what mantra is a person released from the bonds of repeated birth and death?". Yudhishtra, knowing the multitude of paths towards gods, through different religions, sects, practices, etc., and the consequent confusions that ensue, asks: "Which in your opinion is the highest form of religion?".

He asks Bhishma's advice on what spiritual path is that which is the foremost of all paths. He also asks what mantras free a person from the bonds of birth and death.

These questions constitute the fundamental purpose of the Hindu philosophies and are the gateway to a spiritual life.