Vishnu Sahasranāma | Verses 81-90

Text 81

He protected His friends, the cowherd people of Vraja, from Indra's devastating rainfall (tejo-vṛṣa), and as He protected them, He was handsome and splendid (dyuti-dhara).

He killed Jarāsandha, Śālva, and many other demons wielding dangerous weapons (sarva-śāstra-bhṛtām-varaḥ).

Out of friendship He accepted the role of Arjuna's chariot-driver (pragraha). By glancing on Arjuna's enemies He ordained their destruction (nigraha), which was quickly accomplished (vyagra).

He used many strategies to defeat the Pāṇḍava’s enemies (naika-śṛṅgā). He is also the elder brother of Gadā (gadāgraja).

Text 82

Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared as Nara, Nārāyaṇa, Hari, and Kṛṣṇa, who were the four sons of Dharma (catur mūrti). Bhīmā, Arjuna, Sātyaki, and Uddhava were like His four arms (catur bahu).

He is Śrīman Nārāyaṇa described in the four Vedas (catur vyūha).

Four kinds of faithful persons: the distressed, those in need of money, the curious, and those inquisitive to know the absolute truth, surrender unto Kṛṣṇa (catur Gati).

Lord Kṛṣṇa grants economic development, piety, sense-gratification and liberation to the living entities in general (catur ātmā) and the devotees in particular (catur bhāva).

He teaches the actual message of the Vedas to the devotees (catur-veda-vit). The countless material universes are a tiny fragment of His actual opulence and power (eka-pat).

Note:

Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa explains that the name catur-gati may also be interpreted to mean:

1. Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoys pastimes in four transcendental abodes:

Goloka Vṛndāvana, Gokula Vṛndāvana, Mathura, and Navadvīpa, or

2. Lord Kṛṣṇa's walking may be compared to the strides of a lion, tiger, elephant, or bull.

The name eka-pat is described in the Puruṣa-Sūkta prayers:

pado 'sya viśva bhūtāni

"The material world is only a small part
of Śrīman Nārāyaṇa's opulence."

Text 83

Lord Kṛṣṇa repeatedly creates (samāvarta) and destroys (nivṛttātmā) the material universes.

He is invincible and is only defeated by pure devotional service (durjaya). No one can ignore His order (duratikrama). He is attained only by the most difficult to practice pure devotional service (durlabha).

He is understood by the difficult path of studying the Upaniṣads and Vedanta (durgamā), and He is glorified by the hymns of the Sama Veda, which difficult to sing (durgā).

When one follows the difficult path of completely surrendering to Him, He becomes willing to reside in one's heart (durāvāsā). Although to serve Him is difficult, He helps the devotees by crushing their formidable enemies, who have lust as their general (durārihā).

Note:

Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa quotes the explanation of the name nivṛttātmā found in the Smṛti-śāstra:

sva-sṛṣṭam idam āpīya
śayānaṁ saha śaktibhiḥ

"When Śrīman Nārāyaṇa manifests His potencies,
the entire cosmic manifestation enters within His body and becomes unmanifest."

The following description of the name durlabha is found in the Smṛti-śāstra:

janmāntara-sahasreṣu
tapo-dāna-samādibhiḥ
narāṇāṁ kṣīna-pāpānāṁ
kṛṣṇe bhaktiḥ prajāyate

"After performing severe austerities, giving abundant charity,
and engaging in constant meditation for thousands of births,
a living entity may become free from sinful reactions
and eligible to attain pure devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa."

Text 84

Lord Kṛṣṇa grants auspiciousness to and fulfils the desires of the sincere devotees who have firm faith in the instructions of the spiritual master and the scriptures (śubhāṅga).

Lord Kṛṣṇa glorifies the good qualities of the devotees (loka-sāraṅga).

Lord Kṛṣṇa's transcendental attributes and pastimes are like a great net that traps the minds of the devotees (sutantu) and grows larger and more entangling as the Lord appears in innumerable incarnations and displays His transcendental pastimes (tantu-vardhana).

He acts for the protection and well- being of His devotee Indra (indrakarmā),

and after killing the demon Nāraka Āsura, He returned to their rightful owners the earrings of Āditi and other articles stolen by the demon (mahākarmā).

He performed many wonderful pastimes and heroic deeds, such as wedding 16,108 princesses simultaneously, defeating all devas and forcibly taking the Pārijāta tree from the heavenly planets, defeating Śiva in the battle with Bāṇāsura, cutting off Bāṇāsura’s thousand arms, and rescuing Uṣā and Aniruddha (kṛtakarmā).

After manifesting these astonishing pastimes, He returned again to His capital city of Dvārakā (kṛtāgama).

Text 85

Lord Kṛṣṇa became famous for the previously described pastimes (uddhava). All the limbs of Lord Kṛṣṇa's transcendental form are exquisitely handsome (sundara). By showering His causeless mercy on them, He delights the devotees that have taken shelter of Him (sunda).

His reddish, handsome navel is like a glittering ruby (ratnanabha), and His long eyes, reddish at the corners, are handsome (sulocana). All the pure devotees offer prayers glorifying Him (arka).

He provides food for all living entities in the universe (rājasana). In His original form as a cowherd boy He carries a buffalo-horn bugle (śṛṅgī).

He is victorious in the sports of arm wrestling and joking verbal-duels with His cowherd friends (jayanta). In debate He can defeat even the omniscient sages, such as Vasiṣṭha and Vāmadeva (sarva-vijjayī).

Note:

Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa explains that the name Uddhava may also be interpreted to mean "Lord Kṛṣṇa, who married 16,108 princesses and forcibly captured the Pārijāta tree from Indra.

The name rājasana is explained in the Śruti-śāstra:

annado vasudānaḥ

"Śrīman Nārāyaṇa
provides food for all living entities,
and he provides their various opulences and good-fortunes as well."

Lord Kṛṣṇa's buffalo-horn bugle is mentioned in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

prabodhayan śṛṅgā-ravena

"Kṛṣṇa called His friends by sounding the buffalo-horn bugle."

Text 86

Lord Kṛṣṇa's transcendental form is handsome and His forehead is decorated with a golden tilakā marking (suvarṇa-bindu).

He remains unmoved by an artificial show of love by the cold-hearted (Akṣobhya).
He is the most expert knower of the Vedas (sarva-vāk).

He is the master and controller of Brahma, Śiva, and all devas (īśvareśvara), and he is like a great lake that gives relief to they who yearn to be free from the burning sufferings of repeated birth and death (mahā-hrada).

Millions of universes rest in a tiny pore of His transcendental body (mahā-garta), material sound, touch, and the other features of the cosmic manifestation have emanated from Him (mahā-bhūtā).

The devotees consider Him their great and only wealth (mahā-nidhi).

Note:

Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa quotes an explanation of the name Akṣobhya found in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

yasyendriyaṁ vimathitum kuhair na śekuḥ

"Śrīman Nārāyaṇa
is not moved by a false show of devotion
carefully staged by those who are actually materialists at heart."

The name īśvareśvara is described in the Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad (6.6):

tam īśvarāṇāṁ paramam maheśvaram

"The Supreme Lord is the controller of all other controllers,
and He is the greatest of all the diverse planetary leaders."

A further description is found in the Smṛti-śāstra:

svayam tv asāmyātiśayas tryadhīśaḥ

"No one is equal to or greater than Śrīman Nārāyaṇa,
the controller of the three planetary systems."

The name mahā-garta is described by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself in the Bhāgavad-gītā (11.7):

ihaikasthaṃ jagatkṛtsnaṃ paśyādya sacarācaram |
mama dehe guḍākeśa yaccānyad draṣṭumicchasi ||

"O Arjuna, whatever you wish to see,
behold at once in this body of Mine!
This universal form can show you
whatever you now desire to see
and whatever you may want to see in the future.
Everything-moving and non-moving
is here completely, in one place."

The name mahā-nidhi is described in the following verse from the Smṛti-śāstra:

visṛjati hṛdayam na yasya sākṣād
dharir avaśābhihito 'py aghaugha-nāśāḥ
praṇaya-rasanayā dhṛtāṅghri-padmaḥ
sa bhavati bhāgavata-pradhāna uktaḥ

"Hari, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa,
who destroys everything inauspicious for His devotees,
does not leave the hearts of His devotees,
even if they remember Him and chant about Him inattentively.
This is because the rope of love
always binds the Lord within the devotees' hearts.
Such devotees should be accepted as most elevated."

Text 87

Lord Kṛṣṇa wears a lotus garland (Kumudā). He gives the treasures of Kubera to those who hanker after them (kundara). He is decorated with a jasmine garland (kunda).

In the hearts of His pure devotees He rains the nectar of direct perception of His transcendental form (parjanya). He purifies the devotees' hearts of the dirt of previous sinful deeds (pavana). He takes away all those sins (nila).

After killing Kamsa, He gave the entire earth in charity to King Ugrasena (anila).

He brings His devotees to the eternal spiritual world, where existence is like nectar (amṛtāśa). His transcendental form is eternal, and is not destroyed at the time of universal annihilation (amṛta-vapuḥ).

He is aware of everything experienced by His devotees and all other living entities (sarvajñā). His devotees see His smiling face everywhere (sarvatomukha).

Note:

Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa quotes the following verse from Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam to explain the name kunda:

kunda-dāma-kṛta-kaustubha-veśaḥ

"Lord Kṛṣṇa is decorated
with the Kaustubha jewel and a garland of kunda flowers."

The name kunda may also be interpreted:
"He places transcendental knowledge in the hearts of His pure devotees."

This second interpretation is described by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself in Bhāgavad-gītā (10.10):

dadāmi buddhiyogaṃ taṃ
yena māmupayānti te ||

"To those who are constantly devoted to serving Me with love,
I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."

The name pavana is described in the following verse from the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam (11.5.42)

sva-pāda-mūlam bhajataḥ priyasya
tyaktānya-bhāvasya hariḥ pareśaḥ
vikarma yac cotpatitaṁ kathañcid
dhunoti sarvaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭaḥ

"One who has given up everything, and taken full shelter at the lotus feet of Hari, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, is very dear to Kṛṣṇa.

If he is involved in some sinful activity by accident, Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, who is seated within everyone's heart, removes his sins without difficulty."

The name anila may also be interpreted to mean "Thinking of the good qualities of Princess Rukmiṇī, and planning how to kidnap her, Kṛṣṇa could not sleep at night."

This second interpretation of the name anila is mentioned by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:

tathāham api tac-citto
nidrāṁ ca na labhe niśi

"Continually thinking of Princess Rukmiṇī,
I am not able to sleep at night."

The name Sarvajñā, which describes how Kṛṣṇa protects His devotees by being always aware of their condition of life, is described in the following verse:

darśana-dhyāna-saṁsparśair
matsya-kūrma-vihaṅgamāḥ
svāny apatayāni puṣṇanti
tathāham api padmaja

"By vision, by meditation, and by touch only
do the fish, the tortoise and the birds maintain their offspring.
Similarly do I also, O Padmaja."

Text 88

Lord Kṛṣṇa personally visited the homes of both the brāhmaṇa Śrutadeva, and Bahulāśva, the king of Mithilā (Sulabhā).

Controlled by the pure love of Śrutadeva and Bahulāśva, Kṛṣṇa was unable to return to Dvārakā, but stayed in Mithilā to satisfy His devotees (suvrata). Kṛṣṇa did not return to Dvārakā immediately, but stayed and gave His audience to Śrutadeva and Bahulāśva (siddha).

He vanquished lust and the other enemies in Śrutadeva’s heart, (Śatrūjit), and He distressed the political enemies of His devotee King Bahulāśva (śatru-tāpana).

He stops His devotees' enemies and forces them into a hellish condition of life (nyagrodha).

His eternal spiritual abode is far beyond the limited sphere of material existence (udumbara). He is the supreme controller of all universes (aśvattha).

He killed the wrestler Cāṇūra (cāṇūrāndhra-niṣūdana).

Note:

Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa explains that the name suvrata may also be interpreted to mean:

"Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is glorified by the celebration of various festivals and the execution of various vows, such as the observance of Janmāṣṭamī and Kārtika-vrata."

Text 89

Lord Kṛṣṇa is the original source of the sun's effulgence (sahasrārci), and the seven kinds of fire are His tongue (sapta-jihva).

In His form as Lord Śaṇkarśaṇa, He burns the seven planetary systems to ashes at the time of annihilation (saptaidhāḥ), and in His form as Lord Viṣṇu, He maintains and protects the seven planetary systems (sapta-vāhana).

His eternal spiritual form is non-different from His self (amūrti), and He is the supreme purity (anaghā).

He can be understood only by studying the description of Him in the revealed scriptures, and He cannot be known at all by the process of philosophical speculation (acintya).

He curses the atheist and impersonalist speculators to take the forms of jackals in their next births (bhaya-kṛt), and He removes the fearful condition created by such speculators (bhaya-nāśana).

Note:

Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa quotes the description of the name sahasrārci found in the Śruti-śāstra:

yena sūryas tapati tejaseddaḥ

"Empowered by Śrīman Nārāyaṇa,
the sun distributes heat and light."

In Bhāgavad-gītā (15.12), Lord Kṛṣṇa personally explains:

yad āditya-gataṃ tejo jagad bhāsayate'khilam |
yac candramasi yac cāgnau tat tejo viddhi māmakam ||

"The splendour of the sun, which dissipates the darkness of this whole world, comes from Me. And the splendour of the moon and the splendour of fire are also from Me."

The name saptaidhāḥ is described in the Smṛti-śāstra:

pātāla-talam ārabhya
saṅkarṣaṇa-mukhānalaḥ
dahann ūrdhva-śikho visvag
vardhate vāyuneritaḥ

"At the time of annihilation
a great fire emanates from Lord Saṇkarṣaṇa’s mouth
and begins to burn the Pātāla and Tāla planetary systems.
Carried by a great wind, that fire increases
and spreads throughout the entire universe,
reaching even the higher planets."

The name amūrti is described in the Śruti-śāstra:

ātmetyevopasīta

"Śrīman Nārāyaṇa
is not different from His eternal spiritual form.”

The Smṛti-śāstra further explains:

satya-jñānānantaṇanda-
matraika-rasa-mūrtayaḥ

"Śrīman Nārāyaṇa
is not different from His eternal,
omniscient, unlimited, and blissful forms.
He does not possess an external body different from Himself."

The name anaghā is described in the following way in the Vedic literatures:

pavitrāṇāṁ pavitraṁ yaḥ

"Śrīman Nārāyaṇa is the purest of the pure,
and the most effective in purifying the impure."

The name acintya is described in the following way in the Śruti-śāstra:

naiṣā tarkeṇa matir āpaneyā

"No one can understand Śrīman Nārāyaṇa
by the process of philosophical speculation and logic."

The Vedanta-sutra further explains:

tarkāpratiṣṭhānāt

"One cannot understand the Supreme by logic and speculation."

Lord Kṛṣṇa personally explains the name bhaya-kṛt in the following verse from the Vedic literature:

anvīkṣikīṁ tarka-vidyām
anurakto nirārthikām
tasyaiva phala-nirvṛttiḥ
śṛgālatvaṁ vane mama

"They who become enamoured
of the useless game of mental speculation and logic
earn, as the just fruit of their labours,
a new birth as a jackal in the jungle."

Text 90

Appearing as the Super-soul in the hearts of all living entities, Lord Kṛṣṇa is smaller than the smallest (aṇu). He also can became larger than the largest, so that even the universe appears small in comparison to Him (bṛhat).

He can become so tiny that He can enter a stone (kṛśa), and He can become so large that millions of universes can fit within His body (sthūla).

Although the three modes of goodness, passion and ignorance are maintained by Him (guṇa-bhṛt), He remains always all of from them (nirguṇa).

He is the Supreme Person, the proper object of everyone's worship (mahān), and He cannot be captured or grasped by anyone, except His devotees (adhṛta).

He is always situated in His own transcendental glory (sva-dhṛta), and His face is more beautiful than the moon or the lotus flower (svāsya).

The members of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s family, such as Pradyumna and others, are eternally liberated souls, never conditioned by material illusion (prāgvaṁśa).

Lord Kṛṣṇa greatly expanded the glory of the Yadu dynasty (vaṁśa-vardhana).

Note:

Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa quotes the explanation of the name bṛhat found in the Puruṣā-sūkta prayers:

sabhūmiṁ sarvato vṛtvā
atyatiṣṭhad daśāṅgulam

"Expanding to a gigantic form,
Śrīman Nārāyaṇa
exceeded the dimensions of the Universe."

The following description of the name Nirguṇa is fund in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam:

etad īśānam īśasya
prakṛtistho 'pi tad-guṇaiḥ
na yujyate sadātmasthair
yathā buddhis tad-āśrayāḥ

"This is the divinity of the Personality of Godhead:
He is not affected by the qualities of material nature,
even though He is in contact with them.

Similarly, the devotees who have taken shelter of the Lord
do not become influenced by the material qualities."

The name adhṛta is explained by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.4 ):

matsthāni sarvabhūtāni
na cāhaṁ teṣvavasthitaḥ ||

"All beings are in Me, but I am not in them."

The name svadhṛta is described in following quotations from the Śruti-śāstra:

sabhagaḥ kasmin pratiṣṭhitaḥ

"Śrīman Nārāyaṇa is eternal
existing with innumerable transcendental opulences."

sve mahimni

"The Supreme Person is always situated in His own transcendental glory."