Preface to Śrī Viṣṇusahasranāma

by David Bruce Hughes

This temporary material existence is full of suffering. Everyone in this world is suffering from the problems of material life. There is no exception. The root cause of the suffering of material existence is constant transmigration of the soul from one body to another.

Even if one does not accept the truth of reincarnation, still it is a fact that we take birth in an infant body, then transmigrate from a baby body to the body of a child, to an adolescent body, then to an adult body, to a middle-aged body, and at last to the body of an old man or woman. Finally the present body is subjected to death. Yet through all these transformations or transmigrations, the identity of the living entity remains the same. So transmigration of the soul to different bodies happens even within this life. Everyone experiences that these changes of body are causes of suffering to the embodied living entity.

We do not want to suffer, nor do we want to transmigrate to different material bodies. We do not want our consciousness or activities to change, our relationships to end or our bodies to die. By nature we are free, eternal, blissful spiritual beings. We naturally desire to have an eternal identity and immortal existence in a perfect body full of knowledge and pleasure. We want to expand our activities and enjoyment unlimitedly in an atmosphere of freedom, understanding and love. This is our real spiritual nature.

But at present our eternal spiritual nature is covered by a temporary material body. By the laws of nature we are not free, for the type of body we inhabit and its stage of bodily existence condition our experience in every way. In material existence, our bodily condition totally determines our range of action, thought and consciousness.

Like every material phenomenon, the body goes through the stages of creation, gestation, birth, growth, production of byproducts, deterioration and death. One may have performed good works and consequently find oneself in a relatively comfortable material condition, or one may be in an unfortunate condition due to his previous impious activities. But no matter what kind of karma one may have created for oneself, the universal sufferings of birth, old age, disease and death are as inevitable as they are abominable.

This conditional life of suffering in material existence—the involuntary repetition of birth, old age, disease and death—is called samsara. Samsara is uncontrollable, like a blazing forest fire. A forest fire ignites automatically by lightning, and to extinguish it is beyond human power. The raging forest fire can be extinguished only by another natural force, when there is an ample downpour of rainwater. We are helpless before the powerful manifestations of material nature like forest fires and rainstorms. No one can stop them.

Similarly we are helpless to stop the suffering of samsara, unless we are fortunate enough to receive the mercy of God in the form of His Holy Names. Samsara-davanala-lidha-loka-tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam. Like the cooling downpour of rain from a storm cloud, hearing the Holy Names of the Lord from the self-realized spiritual master and chanting them offenselessly extinguishes the blazing fire of samsara by eliminating the root cause of material suffering.

This book and companion CD of Sri Visnusahasranama contain these Holy Names, which are the remedy for the suffering of materially conditioned existence. Sri means beautiful on account of being full of spiritual qualities; Visnu is the Sanskrit Name of God, the omnipotent, omnipresent Creator and Master of the universe; and sahasra-nama means a thousand Names. So Sri Visnusahasranama means "A thousand spiritually beautiful Names of God." Actually God is unlimited, and therefore He has an infinite number of Holy Names. These thousand Names are just the most prominent and beneficial of His Holy Names. They are so powerful that anyone who simply hears or chants them regularly, with faith, becomes relieved of all material suffering.

How is this possible? By the power of transcendental sound. Any terminology indicating God or the Supreme is not an ordinary sound vibration of this material world. Visnu or God is the Supreme Absolute Truth. The unique quality of the Absolute is that everything connected to Him, such as His Names, forms, abode, pastimes, associates, and the narration of His glories, is also on the same absolute platform.

om purnam adah purnam idam purnat purnam udacyate
purnasya purnam adaya purnam evavasisyate

"May we invoke auspiciousness by offering our respectful obeisance unto the Supreme Lord. The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance." [Sri Isopanisad, Invocation]

Since He is absolute, His Holy Names are also absolute. Therefore the Holy Names of Visnu or Kṛṣṇa are identical in spiritual quality and potency with Kṛṣṇa (God) Himself. Like Him, they are complete and perfect. Since Kṛṣṇa and His Holy Names are identical in properties and power, His Holy Names are eternally pure and immune to all material contamination. More than that, they embody the purifying and enlightening power of Godhead in the form of transcendental sound. The Lord is personally present in the transcendental sound of His Holy Names. The association of the Supreme Lord is indescribably blissful; it bestows spiritual opulence and causeless knowledge of the Absolute Truth. Therefore we can be relieved of all material difficulties simply by chanting these beautiful Holy Names of the Lord.

Unfortunately, otherwise intelligent people who are bewildered by the complex combination of anxieties and suffering in material existence often find it difficult to appreciate the simple process of chanting the Holy Names, which is free from all anxiety. They cannot comprehend that there can be a class of absolute nomenclature beyond limited, relative knowledge and temporary conditional existence.

Any name that represents a temporary object of this material world may be subjected to critical arguments, inductive speculation and experimental verification. Thus all relative conclusions created by material mental speculation are subject to uncertainty. But in the absolute world a person and his name, the fame and the famous, the actor and the act are identical. Similarly the qualities, pastimes, abode, associates, names and everything else pertaining to the Absolute Supreme Personality of Godhead are also spiritual and absolute in quality. This is transcendental knowledge beyond all uncertain processes of inductive speculation. And since this absolute knowledge is received through the descending process of parampara, or disciplic succession from the Lord Himself, there is no uncertainty or speculation. This is the eternal, unchanging Absolute Truth.

Actually, the Holy Name is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, manifesting as a transcendental vibration. The Holy Name is completely different from material sound: golokera prema-dhana, hari-nama-sankirtana. "The transcendental vibration of chanting the Holy Names descends from the spiritual abode of Kṛṣṇa." Materialists who are addicted to experimental knowledge and so-called 'scientific method' have difficulty placing their faith in the chanting of the Holy Names. Nevertheless it is a fact that one can be freed from all material suffering simply by chanting the Holy Names without offense. Let anyone who doubts this assertion subject it to their experimental verification by chanting regularly according to the prescribed process and carefully observing the result.

The spiritual world is called Vaikuntha, which means "without anxiety." In material consciousness everything is uncertain and temporary, and therefore everyone is full of anxiety (sa-kuntha). In the spiritual world Vaikuntha, everything is known and certain by the causeless mercy of the Lord. Birth, old age, disease and death are nonexistent there, and therefore everyone there is free from all anxiety. Chanting the Holy Names gives us the opportunity to transfer our existence to the Vaikuntha world, where we can exist eternally without any suffering. This occurs as soon as we change from the material conditioned platform of consciousness to blissful Vaikuntha consciousness through chanting the Holy Names.

Unfortunate people in material consciousness are not very enthusiastic to chant the Holy Names of the Lord, just as a patient suffering from jaundice does not relish the taste of sugar candy, even though sugar candy is the specific medicine for jaundice. Nevertheless, chanting the Holy Name of the Lord is the only effective remedy for ending the material suffering of the conditioned soul. Although chanting the Holy Name of the Lord may not be very palatable for people suffering from the disease of material existence, anyone who wants to be cured of the material disease must do it with great care and attention.

Even among people who accept the spiritual path, there are many who are frustrated by pursuing processes of self-realization that are impractical in this fallen, contaminated age. In the present age the vibration of the Holy Names of the Lord is the only yoga process that can actually help one attain a transcendental position, beyond all material contamination.

harer nama harer nama harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nastyeva nastyeva nastyeva gatir anyatha

"Chant the Holy Name [in the neophyte stage], chant the Holy Name [in the clearing stage], certainly you must chant the Holy Name [in the liberated stage of life] constantly. In the Age of Kali there is no other way [by the austere yoga practices recommended for the Satya-yuga], no other way [by the elaborate Vedic sacrifices recommended for the Treta-yuga], no other way [by the opulent Deity worship recommended for the Dvarapa-yuga] to attain the ultimate destination [of the personal association of the Lord]." [Brhan-naradaya Purana]

For progress in spiritual life, the Vedic scriptures recommend austerity and meditation in Satya-yuga, sacrifice for the satisfaction of Lord Visnu in Treta-yuga and gorgeous worship of the Lord in the temple in Dvapara-yuga, but in the Age of Kali one can achieve spiritual progress only by chanting the Holy Name of the Lord. This is confirmed in many scriptures. For example, in Srimad-Bhagavatam (12.3.51) it is said,

kaler dosa-nidhe rajann asti hy eko mahan gunah
kirtanad eva Kṛṣṇasya mukta-sangah param vrajet

"In the Age of Kali there are many faults, for people are subjected to many miserable conditions, yet in this age there is one great benediction: simply by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra one can be freed from all material contamination and thus be elevated to the spiritual world."

The Narada-pancaratra also praises the Hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra as follows:

trayo vedah sad-angani chandamsi vividhah surah
sarvam astaksarantahstham yac canyad api van-mayam
sarva-vedanta-sararthah samsararnava-taranah

"The essence of all Vedic knowledge—comprehending the three kinds of Vedic activity [karma-kanda, jnana-kanda and upasana-kanda], the chandas, or Vedic hymns, and the processes for satisfying the demigods—is included in the eight syllables Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa. This is the reality of all Vedanta. The chanting of the Holy Name is the only means to cross the ocean of nescience."

Similarly, the Kali-santarana Upanisad states,

hare Kṛṣṇa hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa hare hare
hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

iti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa-nasanam
natah parataropayah sarva-vedesu drsyate

"Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare; Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare—these sixteen names composed of thirty-two syllables are the only means to counteract the evil effects of Kali-yuga. In all the Vedas it is seen that to cross the ocean of nescience there is no alternative to the chanting of the Holy Name."

Sri Madhvacarya, in his commentary upon the Mundaka Upanisad, quotes the following sloka from the Narayana Samhita:

dvapariyair janair visnuh pancaratrais tu kevalaih
kalau tu nama-matrena pujyate bhagavan harih

"In the Dvapara-yuga one could satisfy Kṛṣṇa or Visnu only by worshiping Him gorgeously according to the pancaratrika [Deity worship] system, but in the Age of Kali one can worship and satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead Hari only by chanting His Holy Name."

Since the Holy Name can deliver the conditioned soul from all material suffering, it is called sarva-mantra-sara, the essence of all Vedic hymns. However, one should receive the Holy Name from the pure devotee who is fully engaged in the loving devotional service of the Lord. One who has a merely academic interest in religion, or who poses as a great spiritual teacher merely for the sake of transient name, fame, profit and cheap adoration from the innocent public, cannot impart the real thing.

The Holy Name is most effective when heard from a self-realized teacher situated in the parampara(disciplic succession) from Kṛṣṇa Himself:

evam parampara-praptam imam rajarsayo viduh

"This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way." [Bhagavad-gita 4.2]

A self-realized spiritual master is not an ordinary human being, but is fully qualified to act as the representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How to approach such a spiritual master is also described:

tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya
upadeksyanti te jnanan jnaninas tattva-darsinah

"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth." [Bhagavad-gita 4.34]

One should fully accept all these merciful scriptural instructions of the Lord as one's purpose in life to quickly perfect one's self-realization and put an end to all misery.

Hearing and chanting the Holy Names of the Lord is the only effective medicine for the disease of material suffering. Anyone in material conditioned existence can cleanse their consciousness from all material contamination and find relief from all misconceptions by this simple process (ceto-darpana-marjanam). Avidya or ignorance is simply a misconception about one's actual spiritual identity. This misconception provides the foundation for ahankara, or false ego within the heart.

The real cause of all our suffering is the contamination of material identification within the heart. If we cleanse our heart, if we cleanse our consciousness of this false identification with temporary material designations, the material disease can no longer affect us. This is actual self-realization. The chanting of the Holy Names of the Lord quickly cleanses the consciousness and heart from all misconceptions, and the ever-fresh taste of transcendental nectar arises spontaneously within the mind. It is both easy and beneficial. By chanting the nectarean Holy Names, one is immediately freed from the blazing fire of material existence by the blissful personal association of the Lord.

For those who are already Vaiṣṇavas

This edition and companion CD are designed both for new practitioners, and for those who are already devotees of Kṛṣṇa and want to add chanting Sri Visnusahasranama to their personal spiritual practice. Why would anyone who is an initiated disciple of a Vaiṣṇava spiritual master and already chanting the hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra also want to chant Sri Visnusahasranama? The answer is that although Sri Visnusahasranama is also composed entirely of the Holy Names of the Lord, the result of chanting it is different from the result of chanting the hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra.

It is well known among Vaiṣṇavas that chanting the hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra provides no material result whatsoever, but leads to the awakening of pure love of Godhead. This is wonderful and provides the highest benediction to the entire world. However, while developing spiritual qualifications during the neophyte stage of devotional service, devotees often experience material difficulty. Sri Visnusahasranama provides an authorized Vedic spiritual method for relieving such impediments.

Anyone who is chanting the Holy Name with offenses will certainly encounter obstacles in their devotional service. These compose one class of hindrances on the path of spiritual enlightenment. The scriptures say that the cure for this class of obstacles is simply to continue the chanting process according to the instructions of one's spiritual master and rely on the purifying power of the Holy Name.

But we often find that Kṛṣṇa-bhaktas have material difficulties in their lives from unfinished material karma, unrelated to offenses in their spiritual practices. These problems are difficult to address without descending to the material platform, which is distasteful to devotees whose self-realization practice has given them a taste for the purity of spiritual energy. Sri Visnusahasranama provides a unique spiritual remedy for this class of material obstacles. Consider this passage from the phala sruti, the section of Sri Visnusahasranama that narrates the results of chanting it:

Anyone who hears and chants these thousand Holy Names of Lord Visnu will not suffer in an inauspicious condition of life, either in this life or in the next. By chanting these thousand Holy Names of Lord Visnu a brahmana will become learned in all Vedic scriptures, a ksatriya will become victorious over all his enemies, a vaisya will become wealthy, and a sudra will become happy. By chanting these thousand Holy Names of Lord Visnu, one who desires religious merit will attain great pious credit, one who desires wealth will become wealthy, one who desires opulent arrangements for sense gratification will attain them, and one who desires to father a great dynasty will also attain his aim.

. One who chants the thousand Holy Names of Lord Visnu very nicely will attain unlimited fame and become the most prominent of all his kinsmen. He will attain everlasting opulence, and he will also attain the supreme auspiciousness. He will become courageous and free from fear, and he will become a leader, controlling others. He will become healthy, handsome and majestic in appearance, physically strong, and full of all good qualities. One who is sick will become free from his disease, and one who is in prison or some other bondage will become free. One who is frightened because of a wicked enemy will become free from his fear, and one who is suffering from a calamity will become free from calamity.

Anyone who regularly glorifies the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Visnu with devotion by chanting these thousand Holy Names will quickly become free from the horrible karmic effects of many sins. He takes shelter of Lord Vasudeva and becomes very attached to Him. He becomes purified of all sins, and he attains the association of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. No actually inauspicious condition is ever imposed on the devotees of Lord Vasudeva, and therefore they do not fear having to take birth in this world to again suffer the miserable conditions of old age, disease and death.

One who carefully studies these prayers with great faith and devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa becomes full of the happiness attained by spiritual realization. He becomes tolerant of the temporary happiness and distress of material existence. He attains the opulence of renunciation, patient control of the senses, and constant meditation on Kṛṣṇa. Because of this spiritual opulence he attains great fame. The devotees of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Kṛṣṇa who perform the devotional service of chanting these one thousand Holy Names of the Lord become free from anger, envy, greed, and all wicked thoughts. One who desires to attain actual happiness and auspiciousness should regularly hear and chant this prayer glorifying the Supreme Personality of Godhead, composed by the sage Vyasa.

It is my personal observation that chanting Sri Visnusahasranama actually does provide the benefits indicated above. In my practice and experience of over twenty years, this potent mantra has helped me overcome debilitating physical illness, mental agitation, political problems, betrayal, poverty and many other material difficulties. Reciting and studying this divine narration, composed entirely of the Holy Names of the Lord, also contributes to knowledge of Lord Sri Kṛṣṇa's opulence and transcendental qualities, guards against spiritual falldown due to material difficulty, and provides a subtle kind of mental satisfaction and confidence.

This does not indicate any incompleteness or insufficiency in the hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra, but it does underscore the scientific truth, verifiable by experience, that each Vedic mantra has a specific purpose and is best employed for that result alone. For one who is completely self-realized and has transcended all connection to material consciousness, the elevated love of Godhead provided by chanting the hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra will certainly supply all his needs. But for those of us still in the neophyte stage of karma-misra bhakti who maintain some dependence upon the material energy, the benedictions obtained by chanting Sri Visnusahasranama are a necessary and desirable help in building a strong foundation to prepare for the higher stages of realization.

There is a precedent for chanting Visnu-mantras that supplement the hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra in the pastimes of Lord Caitanya. When Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu returned from Gaya after Sri Isvara Puri initiated him, He was completely transformed into a God-intoxicated personality. His students of grammar were very confused. Instead of teaching grammar in the ordinary way, Lord Caitanya explained that every Sanskrit word and letter indicates Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Caitanya Mahaprabhu's direct disciple Srila Jiva Gosvami later developed this form of grammar in a book called Hari-namamrta-vyakarana, "The Grammar of the Nectar and Name of Sri Hari." This book is still used in Vaiṣṇava schools and temples to teach Sanskrit grammar.

But Lord Caitanya's students thought that their teacher had become mad, so they rubbed His head with Visnu oil to cool His brain. This did not affect Lord Caitanya's ecstasy. Finally they asked Him, "You say that everything means Kṛṣṇa and we should ultimately always be chanting the Names of Kṛṣṇa. Just how should we do this?" Then Lord Caitanya began to sing the Names of Kṛṣṇa and clap His hands, and in this way He commenced His harinama-sankirtana movement. The Holy Names He sang were:

hari haraye namah Kṛṣṇa yadavaya namah
yadavaya madhavaya kesavaya namah

Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana's version of Sri Visnusahasranama follows in the same spirit, for every Name of Visnu is interpreted to indicate Kṛṣṇa. The point is that ultimately there is no difference in quality between Sri Visnusahasranama and the hare Kṛṣṇa maha-mantra. They are both on the transcendental platform because they address Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. I therefore encourage all devotees of God everywhere to take advantage of the benedictions available by chanting Sri Visnusahasranama to end all material difficulties and make their lives perfect. It is a fact that the spiritual power of the Holy Name of the Lord resolves all problems. Please use this maha-mantra to immerse yourself in nama-bhajan (worship of the Holy Name of the Lord) and experience this powerful benediction for yourself.