itsrameshvenkatraman

[itsrameshvenkatraman]

SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 679 of 1,000

STAVYAḤ (स्तव्यः) Bhīṣma slowly ran his parched tongue over his cracked lips – lips that had dried not only from the loss of fluids caused by countless wounds, but also from the tireless chanting of the divine nāma. Despite the piercing agony, the chanting had not ceased. It rose from him instinctively, involuntarily, like a gurgling river drawn unerringly towards its source. In moments of…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 678 of 1,000

MAHĀHAVIḤ (महाहवि:) Bhīṣma over the course of his life had made two great sacrifices, both had led to cataclysmic consequences – the first when he had renounced his claim to the throne by declaring that he would never marry – it had earned him the sobriquet ‘Bhīṣma‘ but little else. The second was when he dropped his weapons, refusing to fight against a transgender Śikhaṇḍi who he considered a…

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The Magic of Cāturmāsya (Chaturmasya)

Cāturmāsya corresponds to 1/3 of a calendar year and is a gentle reminder that the last 1/3 of one’s life must be ideally spent in quietude, withdrawal, reflection, contemplation, & meditative silence. Does Narayana go to sleep during this period of repose and reset? Of course he does! He is in repose, so that we might recompense…When the soul of the universe goes to sleep in the heart of the…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 677 of 1,000

MAHĀYAJÑAḤ (महायज्ञ:) The Śāstras speak of five yajñas that each person is enjoined to do on a daily basis – the Pañchamahāyajñas – Bhūtayajña, intended to honor the animals and elements (bhūtas) that we come in contact with on a daily basis – the dog on the street, the crow that caws on the rooftop, the sparrow that chirps at your doorstep, the ants that make patterns on the rangoli (kolam)…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 676 of 1,000

MAHĀYAJVĀḤ (महायज्वाः) Bhīṣma thought of this great battle that had been fought over 18 days as a great yajña – the fire that consumed everything, including the souls of these warriors who had come here to test their Dharma and work out their Karma. Can there be a greater offering than that which these warriors had offered? Questions of ‘Right‘ and ‘Wrong‘ are important but they come later,…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 675 of 1,000

MAHĀKRATUḤ (महाक्रतु:) Who receives the offerings made to Agni during a yajña? The Cārvāka steeped in Lokāyata and the pursuit of the material laughs at and mocks those who make offerings to Agni. He says, “why waste good food like this?” “Stop all this nonsense and come lets make merry while we can…” The traditionalist on the other hand sees in that Agni, the very same fire that burns within…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 674 of 1,000

MAHORAGAḤ (महोरग:) The serpent as the symbol of the divine is well established in Dharmic thought – representing coiled-up chaos and potentiality, the serpent is seen as the creative urge of the universe to express itself constantly. As the universal creative energy, lying dormant within each individual, she is Kundalini and Prakṛti, the power of universal creation suppressed by association with…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 673 of 1,000

MAHĀTEJĀḤ (महातेजा:) Radiance and glow are marks of the divine. He saw it in all of the warriors who were straining muscle and sinew in this great battle of Dharma. Everyone, from both sides of the divide seemed to be animated by a little bit of the divine, some less so than the others but all of them, nevertheless… This battle was no simple battle of good versus evil but rather between Dharma…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 672 of 1,000

MAHĀKARMĀḤ (महाकर्मा:) Why do we act? Because we can’t remain idle for any length of time. It is action and work that keeps us going. All of us act, because to not act means death and decay. The question though is, how many of our acts are truly ‘great’? And then again, who decides, what is great and what is not great? Is ability to manage the contradictions of life on a daily basis and survive,…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 671 of 1,000

MAHĀKRAMAḤ (महाक्रम:) The world is a constant effort to attain order in the midst of chaos – this is the equilibrium that every single being aims to strike. In the conception of “THE TRUTH (Satyam)” hidden away in the vastness of “THE COSMOS (Bṛhat)” is connected through the quest for “DIVINE EQUILIBRIUM (Ṛtam)”. Ṛtam is the root word for several English as well as Sanskrit words like Ritual and…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 670 of 1,000

BRĀHMAṆAPRIYAḤ (ब्राह्मणप्रियः) The question who is a Brahmin was dealt with, the question of why a true Brāhmaṇa is held in such high esteem and why he is so dear to Nārāyaṇa was something that Bhīṣma felt needed clarification. This is particularly important at a time when several narratives and assumptions are in vogue that neither tell the full story nor do they clarify nuances that are…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 669 of 1,000

BRAHMAJÑAḤ (ब्रह्मज्ञ:) Knowing is definitely better than no knowing. However, ‘knowing‘ is an insufficient condition on the spiritual path. ‘Knowing‘ is often accompanied by hubris particularly when the ‘knowing‘ is not moistened by the oil of Bhakti. Then there is the aspect of “Being” when the ‘knower‘ not just knows but “becomes“. To “become” is to forget ‘knowing‘ and becoming that which is…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 668 of 1,000

BRAHMĪḤ (ब्रह्मी:) To be a Brāhmaṇa is to possess the ‘Ṛṣitva‘ (Rishitva) – the essence of Brahman. However, this does not happen automatically except in a few who have been on that quest over several lifetimes and have arrived at the doorstep. For them, ‘Ṛṣitva‘ can happen in a flash and the door into the world of Brahman opens to let them in. Observers standing by the wayside often make the…

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ON THE CEASEFIRE & MORE

Note: Written initially as a Facebook post a day after the announcement of the ceasefire following a 5-day war with Pakistan in May 2025. I think that there is just too much needless criticism of what the government and the armed forces achieved over the course of the last 5-6 days. There is no doubt whatsoever that Pakistan was decimated and we know for sure (as do they) that we can take out…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 667 of 1,000

BRĀHMAṆAḤ (ब्राह्मण:) Who is a Brāhmaṇa? This is a question that has intrigued and worried the minds of people across the ages. Bhīṣma had closely seen and engaged with two Brāhmaṇas – Dronācārya and Kripācārya in particular. He held both of them in high regard. Dronācārya in particular had been a boon for the kids of the Kuru dynasty. He had honed and sharpened their fighting skills to such an…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 666 of 1,000

BRAHMAVIT (ब्रह्मवित्) When do you say that a person is a ‘knower‘ of the Veda-Dharma? – when he is able to fulfill the requirement of ‘Ṛṣitva‘ (Rishitva) – the essence of he who is a “seer“. The “Seer” becomes a “Knower” when his ‘inner-eye‘ of divine intuition opens and he sees the ‘ultimate truth‘ as clearly as one sees the day-to-day objects around oneself. Freed from the shackles of Kāla,…

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SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 665 of 1,000

BRAHMAVIVARDHANAḤ (ब्रह्मविवर्द्धन:) As Brahmāḥ (ब्रह्माः) he is the divine principle that has taken the form of the creator who projects the universe as it were and then withdraws at some point in time. As Brahmaḥ he is the all-pervading one whose nature is that of ‘eternality, cognizance and bliss‘, ‘Saccidānanda / sat-cit-ānanda‘. Bhīṣma thought of how this great war had been carefully…