VISHNU SAHASRANAMA - PART 18

Sloka 81

  

tejo-vrsho dyut-dharah 
sarva-aastra-bhrtam-varah
pragraho nigraho vyagro
 naika-sr'ngo gadagrajah     

760. tejo-vrshah- a) He Who showers His splendor on His devotees in the form of His protection. b) He Who showers rain through the sun. c) He Who showers His radiance on everything. d) He Who showers His fierce weapons on His enemies in defense of His devotees.

761. dyuti-dharah - He Who possessed a majesty.

762. sarva-Sastra-bhrtam-varah - The Best among those warriors who are armed with all weapons.

763. pragrahah - The Controller.

764. nigrahah - a) The Subduer. b) He Who has a firm control over all creation.

765. vyagrah - a) He Who was very enthusiastic (to destroy the enemies of His devotee during the mahAbhArata war). b) He Who has no end. c) He Who moves around in many different ways. d) (a-vyagrah - He Who is not confused - dvaita patham). e) He Who uses Garuda as His vehicle.

766. naika-sr'ngah - a) He Who adopted diverse tactics for controlling His devotees' enemies. b) He Who can be brought under control (realized) through the four horns in the form of the four veda-s. c) He Who can be controlled (reached) through the Omkara, with its four "horns" - akara, ukara, makara, and nada. d) He Who has the four horns in the form of the four Vedas, to control the world through dharma. e) He Who has many dimensions to His Lordship (prabhutvam). f) He Who has many aspects to His role as a Bestower of His devotees' wishes. g) (eka-sr'ngah - satya sandha yatiraja) - He Who took incarnation as the one-horned Varaha. h) He Who has many rays of effulgence radiating from Him. i) He Who has provided diverse means to the different living beings to cause harm to their enemies, as also to defend themselves from their enemies.

767. gadagrajah - a) The elder brother of gada. b) He Who was born as a result of mantra. c) He Who pervades those who walk and talk (gada + agra + jah). d) The Foremost among those who created sound (in the form of Vedas). e) He Who keeps the brahamana-s healthy (spiritually).

Sloka 82

Catur murtih catur bahuh

 catur vyuhah catur gatih

Catur atma catur bhavah

catur veda vitekapat

768. catur-murtih -  He of Four Forms.

769. catur-bahuh - The Four-armed.

770. catur-vyuhah -  a) He of the form of four Emanations (vyUha forms). b) He Who had four manifestations in His vibhava form (as krshna, balarama, pradyumna, and aniruddha). c) He Who manifests Himself as purusha, chandah purusha, veda purusha, and maha purusha. d) He Whose Supremacy is established by the four-fold Vedas. e) He Who is in the form of four divisions of speech (three veda-s, and ordinary speech). f) He Who has four kinds of greatness (vyuha = mahima).

771. catur-gatih - a) He Who is in the form of the four purushartha-s. b) He Who provides the four goals: indra, brahma, kaivalya, and moksha. c) He Who has the four gaits (vrshabha, gaja, vyaghra, and simha gati). d) He Who is the goal of the four varna-s and the four asramas. e) He Who is the Refuge for the four kinds of bhakata-s (arta, jijnasu, artharthI, and jnanI).

772. catur-atma - a) He Who has four forms in His vyUha incarnation. b) He Who has four manifestations in His vibhava incarnations of Krishna and Rama. c) He Who has a four-fold manifestation in His functions of creation, preservation and destruction. d) He Who is skilled in keeping His atma pure from attachment etc. (catura -caturya atma). e) He Who is behind the functions of manas, citta, buddhi, and ahankAra. f) He Who manifests Himself in four forms to support the jiva in its four states - visva, taijasa, prajna, and turiya. g) He Who is the antaryami of the four types of devotees - Arta, artharthi, etc. h) He Who created the fit being - the four-faced brahma (catura = kusala, fit). i)  He Who manifest Himself in four kinds of Atmas: jiva, antaratma, paramatma, jnanatma.

773. catur-bhavah - a) He Who gives expression to the four vyuha forms through four kinds of actions. b) The Source of the four - varnas, asramas, purursharthas, etc. c) He Who created the four kinds of species.

774. catur-veda-vit - a) He Who is known by those who are learned in the four Vedas. b) He Who is the Knower of the four Vedas. c) He Who makes it possible to know the four Vedas.

775. eka-pat - a) He Who manifests only a part of His mahima when He takes incarnations amongst humans. b) He Whose manifestation in the form of this Universe is only one-fourth of Himself. c) He Who is constantly on the look-out as our Sole Protector (ekapo + at). 

Sloka 83

samavarto nivrttatma dur-jayo dur-atikramah |
dur-labho dur-gamo durgo duravaso durari-ha ||

776. samavartah - a) He Who takes incarnations again and again for the benefit of His devotees. b) He Who performs His function of creation again and again in cycles. c) He Whose true thoughts are always revolving around what He can do to help His devotees.

777. nivrttatma - a) He whose Nature is different from, and superior to, everything else (Trascendental Form). b) He whose mind is turned away from worldly attachments. (nara-narayana incarnation). c) He who is the AtmA of those who practice the nivrtti dharma (Bestower of benefits according to karma). d) He whose nature is that He is free from the bonds of samsara, even when He takes His incarnation amongst us (Krshna incarnation). e) He who does not turn away from anything or anywhere because He is Omnipresent. (a-nivrttatmA - Sankara). f) He Who withdraws the jivas into Him during pralaya. g) He Who has permeated everything completely. h) He Who is Himself un-impacted or withdrawn with respect to the effects of pralaya of srshti. i) He whose mind turns away from any feeling of self-glory over His kirti or fame.

778. dur-jayah - a) He Who cannot be under control except by devotion. b) He Who is Invincible.
c) He Who makes it possible for us to conquer duhkham. d) He Who can be won over by difficult practices such as samadhi etc.

779. dur-atikramah - a) He Who cannot be bypassed by those who seek relief from samsara. b) He Who cannot be transgressed because of fear of the consequences of disobeying Him. c) He for whom all sorrow is bypassed. d) He by transgressing whose orders, sorrow is the result.

780. dur-labhah - He Who is difficult to attain for those who are not single-minded in their devotion to Him.
781. dur-gamah - He Who is difficult to attain because of His Effulgence. b) He Whose True Nature can be known only with difficulty. c) He Who can be known only by the difficult process of enquiry into the Upanishads, etc.

782. dur-gah - He Who is separated from us by our avidyA which acts like a fortress between Him and us. b) Nor easily realized because of unanticipated obstacles during our efforts to seek Him. c) He Whose realization is constrained by our own limitations. d) He Who causes pain and suffering to the evil-minded rAkshasa-s. e) He Who is praised by the sAma gAnam which is difficult to master. 
783. dur-avasah -  He Whose place of residence (SrI vaikunTham) is not easy to attain..

784. durari-ha - a) The Dispeller of the evil-minded enemies. b) The Dispeller of evil thoughts from the minds of the devotees. 

Sloka 84

Subha'ngo loka-sara'ngah su-tantuh tantu-vardanah |
Indra-karma maha-karma krta-karma krtagamah ||

785. Subha'ngah - a) He with a bewitching form that mesmerizes the asura-s and misleads them. b) He with an auspicious form that is meditated upon by His true devotees. c) He Who makes the ashtanga yoga successful for those who follow this path with devotion. d) He Who has beautiful gaits. e) He Who pervades everywhere at all times with His auspicious form. f) He Who makes things functional in this Universal in a beautiful way. g) He Who brings the auspicious aspects such as trust in sastra-s, guru's words, etc., to His devotees. 

786. loka-sara'ngah - a) He Who preached the superficially acceptable goals in the world. b) He Who grasps the essence of the world like a sara'nga or honeybee. c) He Who is reachable through the essence (sara) of the vedas, namely pranava. d) He Who is the object of devotion (loka-sara). e) He Who is attracted by bhakti. f) He Who bestows moksham, and He to whom the jnani-s are attracted. g) He Who has devotees singing His auspicious qualities.
787. su-tantuh - a) He who has a powerful net of threads to capture the asuras and retain them from escaping. b) He Who has expanded this Universe starting from Himself. c) He Who has progeny such as brahmA. d) He Who expanded the yadava race in auspicious way by being born as the son of vasudeva.
788. tantu-vardhanah - a) He Who increases the meshes. b) He Who augments the expansion of Himself into this world, by protecting it. c) He Who withdraws this world into Himself after creating it. d) He Who expanded the Vasudeva family through pradyumna and others.

789. indra-karma - a) He Who did all this for the sake of Indra. b) He Who is responsible for the powers of indra. c) He Who performs acts that reflect His Supreme Lordship.
790. mahA-karma - He of magnanimous actions.
791. krta-karma - a) He Who practiced the acts He preached to the asura-s, in order to convince them. b) One Who has achieved all there is to achieve. c) One Who keeps repeating the processes of creation etc., with perfection. d) One Who has performed acts that no one else can ever perform.
792. krtagamah - a) The Propounder of Agama-s (Spiritual texts) including those dealing with Buddhism, Jainism, etc. b) He Who propounded the Vedas - Rig, Sama, etc. c) He Who is the Originator of the pancaratra Agama. d) He Who made His appearance at Dvaraka after performing His several leelas. e) he Who makes His appearance repeatedly through different incarnations.

Sloka 85

udbhavah sundarah sundo ratna-nabhah su-locanah |
arko vaja-sanih sr'ngI jayantah sarva-vij-jayI ||

793. udbhavah -  a) He Who rose above samsara. b) He Who is of a superior birth, taking birth as He likes, where He likes, when He likes. c) He from Whom everything originated. d) He Who resides in an exalted place ( SrI vaikunTham). e) He Who created the exalted gods and goddesses. f) He Who is born again and again for the protection of dharma.
794. sundarah -  a) He Who is handsome. b) He Who has the beautiful conch - pa'ncajanyam. c) He Who killed sunda through upasunda (sunda-rah). d) He Who is exceedingly well regarded and worshipped. e) He Who has separated or divided the different creatures well in many ways. 

795. sundah -  a) He Who presents Himself as a very soft person to the asura-s in order to convince them to follow His deceitful methods. b) He Who is soft to His devotees. c) He Who bestows joy and happiness on His devotees.
796. ratna-nabhah - a) He with a gem-like navel. b) He Who has the navel from which the gem among men -brahma - originated. c) He Who destroys the asuras (aratna-nAbhah). d) He Who has ratna in His navel - in the form of ratna-s in the oceans.
797. su-locanah -  a) One with bewitching eyes. b) He of superior wisdom. c) One Who has the wisdom and the vision of the Self. d) He Who gives everyone else the ability to see.

798. arkah - a) He Who is praised. b) He Who is in the form of the sun.

799. vaja-sanih - a) He Who advocated eating a lot (a Preacher of mundane pleasures, like eating). b) He Who provides for the nourishment of all His creation.

800. sr'ngi - a) He Who appears like one having a horn (with a bunch of peacock feathers in his hand). b) He Who had a horn in His matsya and varAha incarnations. c) He With the peak of Govardhana mountain on His hand. d) He Who has provided every creature with the means to express its sr'nga or expression of power. e) He Who destroys the fear of birth in His devotees.

801. jayantah - The Conquerer.

802. sarva-vij-jayI - a) The Conqueror of those who had learnt all things. b) He Who is Omniscient and Victorious. c) He Who had won over the hearts of the all-knowing sages.



  Lord Varadharaja, Kanchipuram, Tamilnadu. 
(Most beautiful smile, and the word "MASUCHAH" in palm)

Lord Vardharaja 

760	tejovrisho	One who showers radiance
761	dyutidharah	One who bears an effulgent form
762	sarva-shastra-bhritaam-varah	The best among those who wield weapons
763	pragrahah	Receiver of worship
764	nigrahah	The killer
765	vyagrah	One who is ever engaged in fulfilling the devotee's desires
766	naikashringah	One who has many horns
767	gadaagrajah	One who is invoked through mantra
768	chaturmoortih	Four-formed
769	chaturbaahuh	Four-handed
770	chaturvyoohah	One who expresses Himself as the dynamic centre in the four vyoohas
771	chaturgatih	The ultimate goal of all four varnas and asramas
772	chaturaatmaa	Clear-minded
773	chaturbhaavas	The source of the four
774	chatur-vedavid	Knower of all four vedas
775	ekapaat	One-footed (BG 10.42)
776	samaavartah	The efficient turner
777	nivrittaatmaa	One whose mind is turned away from sense indulgence
778	durjayah	The invincible
779	duratikramah	One who is difficult to be disobeyed
780	durlabhah	One who can be obtained with great efforts
781	durgamah	One who is realised with great effort
782	durgah	Not easy to storm into
783	duraavaasah	Not easy to lodge
784	duraarihaa	Slayer of the asuras
785	shubhaangah	One with enchanting limbs
786	lokasaarangah	One who understands the universe
787	sutantuh	Beautifully expanded
788	tantu-vardhanah	One who sustains the continuity of the drive for the family
789	indrakarmaa	One who always performs gloriously auspicious actions
790	mahaakarmaa	One who accomplishes great acts
791	kritakarmaa	One who has fulfilled his acts
792	kritaagamah	Author of the Vedas
793	udbhavah	The ultimate source
794	sundarah	Of unrivalled beauty
795	sundah	Of great mercy
796	ratna-naabhah	Of beautiful navel
797	sulochanah	One who has the most enchanting eyes
798	arkah	One who is in the form of the sun
799	vaajasanah	The giver of food
800	shringee	The horned one
801	jayantah	The conqueror of all enemies
802	sarvavij-jayee	One who is at once omniscient and victorious

About the temple

The temple is situated in Vishnu Kanchi, also known as the Little Kanchipuram.  The Moolasthana is on a little hillock called Hasthagiri.

Once Brahma is said to have performed a very big Yagna, and during the time of Poornahuthi all the Gods and Devas were present there, when Lord Mahavishnu appeared out of the Yagna Kund.  They requested him to stay there for ever to bless the devotees.  He readily acceded to their wish and made Hastagiri his abode.  He was hailed as the King of boon-givers, Varadaraja.  He resides in Punyakotivimanam by the side of Ananda Pushkarani-the Holy tank.

Ramanuja, the exponent of the Visishtadvaitha philosophy of the Hindu Religion, had his education here.

The great work of Krishna Deva Raya, the Vijayanagar King, for the temple, the services rendered by Lakshmikumar Tatacharya, which is continued today by the Tatacharya family, the Shrine of Perundevi Thayar, the paintings of the 108 Vaishnavite Divya Desas and the exquisite beauty of the 100 pillared mandapam, attract the attention of pilgrims.  It is recorded that King Achyuta Raya of the Vijayanagar dynasty, was weighed against gold (Tulabaram) which was utilized for a grant of houses for the Vedic Pandits who rendered services to the Lord of Hasthagiri.

One of the important temples which is included in the itinerary of pilgrims and tourists throughout the country.  Gardua Sevai-Procession of the Lord mounted on Garudavahana- is a very popular and colourful festival in this temple during the Tamil month of Vaikasi (May-June)
In the temple tank, an idol of Varadaraja, made out of a fig wood (Atthivaradhan) lies immersed.  Once in 40 years, the murthi is taken out and kept on display for 10 days for devotees to have darshan .  Special Pujas are performed during these 10 days.