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CHAPTER; I

“SHABDA-BRAHMA” to “NADA-BRAHMA”

NAME IS POWER.

Name assumes significance in the context of human existence. Name usually follows a

human entity like a shadow. It remains attached to it at least as long as it stays in this

world. However, in cases of persons of remarkable action or contribution to the welfare

and well being of the human kind, name stays even beyond their physical existence. It

rather outlives their physical entity in the sense even after they die and pass away from

this world their names stay behind in this physical world through their noble actions or

contributions and speaks for him. They build up their reputation or fame in the world. We

remember a person usually by his name. Histories are written with names of those who

did something significant in the past. Records are maintained by names. Documents are

prepared with names. And a heritage is passed over generations in a name of an heir. One

would not imagine a world in which name is totally absent. Shakespeare might say,

“What’s in a name?” A hermit who preaches detachment would decline, however, name

as a human folly of developing attachment to worldly objects to cause impediments in the

path of one’s evolution. But the reality cannot be denied that name ascribes the real form

or existence to a person or a thing. It helps to relate persons, things and activities. It

builds up contacts and contexts in social and cultural sense. In philosophy and spiritual

practices too, name has a vital role to play. It is in a sense that uttering god’s name

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acquires lot of significance in spiritual practices. It helps to build up links between a

worshipper and the worshipped, God and helps concentration. Even places and products

do need names for recognition and survival. In the modem context of sales and

marketing, each product in a market stands by its name. In course of time, it becomes its

brand name that earns it popularity, appreciation and public acclaim on various grounds

like quality or performance, and its relevance or utility to consumers - customers. Name

ascribes to a product power position and eventually such a product reigns over human

psychology. Modem markets operate mostly on brand names that overpower marketing

minds and capture consumers’ fancy. Eventually, name in a way becomes a gateway to

prosperity, both material and spiritual.

Name ascribes to a person his identity and, as a result, one assumes a status in a society.

A physical entity is labeled by a name and then after it is recognized for ever by that

name. It may be said that name signifies a physical entity where a name is a ‘signifier’

and a person or thing is a ‘signified’. One may gain or lose significance with a name and

if there is no name it may cause utter confusion. Further, name ascribes specificity to a

person or a thing in general and then it serves as reference to form a context. Among so

many persons or things in the world where similar types of individuals or things exist, an

individual needs to be recognized as separate from others. Name facilitates recognition to

a person or a thing in this overcrowded world. This may be the logic that seems to be

working behind a ritual called “Naming”. It becomes an inevitable ritual in almost all

religious conventions that needs to be performed. A new bom child in almost all cultures

and communities it put through it in its early stage. To ascribe it significance, it is given a

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form of religious rites. By it, a child assumes a name and name becomes his identity

almost on a permanent ground. All cultures value the naming ceremony. Hindu culture

calls it “Namakaransamskara” included among the “Shodashasamskaras’ prescribed in

the Hindu way of living. Each Hindu person needs to be put though them during his life,

as they .relate to different phases of life. The “namasamskara” is performed in an early

stage of life within first few months after a child’s birth. The Christianity calls it

“Baptism” that is performed by a priest at a church in front of the altar of Jesus Christ and

the Lord and a name is given to a child. Naming is inevitable in all cultures. Without a

name, one would not feel comfortable. Name rather facilitates normal working of this

world and also some special and specific purposes.

There is another point that may be mentioned in relation to name. In a Hindu convention,

a name is decided on a star sign. Any letter that falls on a star sign is considered to

determine a name of a person. What is a star sign then? A star sign may be explained as

astronomical positions of the stars in the sky when a child is bom. A star sign then

remains a determining factor throughout a person’s life to focus on his future and fortune.

What do star signs signify? Wouldn’t you call them to mark a continuity of samskaras or

genetic impressions that human soul carries over lives? Genetic impressions, that we call

in the Hindu context ‘Samskaras’, play a vital role in human growth. Samskaras become

man’s real identity. In a Hindu context, one is known by his samskaras or family traits.

We may say that man’s samskaras are revealed through his character, quality, attitude,

behaviour that he displays and actions he perform to others or in public. All these are

reflective of man’s basic samskaras. Man’s samskaras get him real name and fame and

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status and reputation in a society and a world. In this context, can’t we say that name is a

kind of mirror of a person’s character, quality, attitude and behaviour? And therefore,

when we determine a name for a child we take all cares on the ground of assumptions

that a name indicates for child strength of good fortune and prosperous future. The

assumption, however, may not be true about all cases. Yet it still fascinates human mind

so strongly that astrology, palmistry, fortune tellers, tarot cards, numerologists and the

like still capture the public fancy and do a good business. Newspapers, magazines, the

media and television programs are still packed with fortune telling and forecasts and

discussions and debates in that relation.

Name happens to be the most potent among all allurements that motivate or mar man’s

attention on a higher goal. Even with ample wealth and possession and with high

knowledge and capabilities, man yearns for a name in this world. It is name that can earn

him real identity and recognition in the world and real satisfaction of achieving

something. He knows that people are going to recognize him by his name only. We,

therefore, find that a man ever runs after name, or rather, he is crazy about name. He

knows that name will make a history for him and his story will outlive him even if his

mortal being will cease to be physically. A writer survives by words that he writes. An

artist survives by his art and performance. An affluent person struggles to survive by

throwing money as donation. A man of knowledge and research survives by his ideas and

innovations. A politician strives to survive by his claims of reforms and improvements in

public life of a state under his regime. A woman aspires to survive by her beauty and

glamour and a scholar expects to survive by brilliant performances. In cases of these

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kinds, name plays as allurement on one hand and on the other it serves as inspiration or

factor to motivate human efforts.

In religious and spiritual life too, name assumes significance. The Divinity that man

prays to and worships is timeless, formless, shapeless, non-concrete and invisible.

Therefore, it is incomprehensible for a normal human mind. There is then a question of

concentration that would help one’s focus on the Divinity during meditation so that a

worshipper attains tuning and harmony with the Divinity. A worshipper is aware that the

Divinity pervades in each atom and object in this universe. The Divinity is the

Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent and it is visible in multiple forms. Though

God is one and ONE only, he can be realized or felt as multiple manifestations that fill

this world. It is worth to remember what Lord Krishna says to Arjuna in the

Bhagavadgita as regards his Cosmic Vision, the “Vishvarupadarshana” (Gita, Adh. XI).

Now the question is how to know the Divinity in all these different manifestations, if not

in full, at least in parts. Here a worshipper puts his imagination to work. He imagines

multiple forms, attributes and performances of the Divinity that he has come across in his

life and describes them all by names that stand for the Divinity. He calls a particular form

of the Divinity by a name that signifies one of its traits. This way more than one name

came in to existence. These names get to a worshipper some knowledge about the

Divinity in the manner that six blind persons struggle to know an elephant. Although

these names refer to just a tiny part of the Divinity they may also serve a facility of

concentration and meditation to a worshipper to help his evolution and the final union

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with God. The writing of “Sahasranama literature” seems to bear originally logic, of this

kind.

Name exists for a man or a thing usually in one to one equation. It may signify capability

that a person bears. It may indicate an extent of power that he possesses in normal case. It

may be for such reason that a person or a thing usually bears only one name. If another

name is mentioned for a person or a thing it may stand for something extra in him. It

means that he possesses extra power, or extra strength, or extra caliber, or knowledge, or

wealth, and the like. Power is assessed in a person or a thing with a name used for him or

it. One name means normal power and caliber. Two names mean double the power and

caliber. Likewise it goes on. Many persons of high caliber and capability are recognized

in public by more then one names. People put high expectations and faith in such

persons. Royal personalities, leaders, social workers, men of letters and the like fall under

a category of such persons. Histories or stories are written on such persons. As a result,

histories abound in names of men of power and caliber. Names, in a way, point at a

person’s significance that may be realized by his power and caliber.

>

If such is true about human existence it may farther be extended in the context of the

Divinity. Although God is one it is incomprehensible for its abstractness that stays

beyond man’s imagination. Man’s imagination does not have power to comprehend the

Divinity in its total. The power and strength of the Divinity stays much beyond human

capacity, power and strength. Hence, the one-to-one equation may not work so well to

impart true or complete recognition of the Divinity as it works fair enough to know a

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human being or an object in this world. As mentioned earlier, it may appear like an

exercise of six blind persons struggling to know an elephant. A worshipper takes one of

the traits or performances that refers to the Divinity'and devises a name that would

signify it. He uses that name to call or to know the Divinity. One evolves one name for

the Divinity, another person evolved two, four, forty, hundred, two hundred, three

hundred or even a thousand names for the Divinity depending on the potentiality and

richness of his imagination. He ascribes all these names to one particular form of the

Divinity in a way it suits his imagination most. In this way, a kind of literature like the

“sahasranama” literature came to be written. There came to be written a variety of

“sahasranama” in different sects of worship to echo a worshipper’s faith in that particular

form of the Divinity. Accordingly, we have the “Vishnusahasranama” of Lord Vishnu for

the Vaishnava sect, the “Shivasahasranama” of Lord Shiva for the Shaivites, the

“Shaktisahasranam” for the Shakta sect, and the like. There are other kinds of writing

names the “Shivamahimnastotram”, Ravana’s “Dashananastotram”, etc. that contain

hymns in the glory of Lord Shiva. This kind of literature indicates that God has thousand

times strength and power and that He possesses all the capability to protect human beings

on the earth. It projects a person’s faith in one particular form of the Divinity that

possesses thousand or multiple times strength and power. It also indicates that God is the

superior in the world and He is the Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient in the

world. These powers make God all powerful to protect all in the world. Such superiority

of God’s powers and strengths gives human being assurance that God will protect him

against all odds and oddities. It becomes a cause or rather inspiration for man’s assurance

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and faith in God as protector. It gives man peace and assurance to live steady life and

attain prosperity.

Referring to the famous verse in the Bhagavad Gita in which Lord Krishna say,

“Howsoever men approach God, even so do I accept them” (IV 11), Sharma explains the

philosophy of the sahasranama of the Lord. “God is in truth beyond the distinctions of

sex and even beyond personality, as we too often conceive it. The ineffable Absolute s

endowed by us with the highest attributes we can think of, so as to bring it into relation

with us and the world we live in. Accordingly, the distinction between the impersonal

Brahman and the personal Ishwara is well recognized in our philosophy. The former is

God as He is in Himself, the Latter is God as He appears to us, when He is viewed

through human spectacles. We may call these two views of God as the scientific view and

the spiritual view respectively. The impersonal Absolute is viewed through the human

mind, becomes a personal God. And this personal God in His capacity as creator becomes

Brahma, as protector becomes Vishnu and as destroyer becomes Rudra (Shiva). And,

lastly, when as protector He comes down and takes a human form to save mankind from

evil, He becomes an Avatar. Thus, we try to bridge the yawning gulf between the

Supreme Spirit and the spirit of man (Tapasyananda, 2000 4 - 5).”

He further states, “When the Absolute is thus brought into relation with us and the world

we live, we have to think of it as an active power. Hence, the distinction we draw

between the quiescent Brahman and the active Ishwara” and further, “In fact, they are

only two different aspects of the same Reality. They are the static and the dynamic

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aspects of the same spirit. They are inseparable as fire and heat or sun and sunshine”

(Tapasyananda, 2000 5).

The concept of “sahasra” has been in continuous use since the Vedic times. A few

citations would explain this. The Rigveda describes the Purusha in the “Purushasukta”:

Sahasrashirsha purushah sahasrakshi sahasrapat /

Sa vishwam parito vritva’tyatishddashangulam // (X. 90. 1/27).

[The Purusha has thousand heads, thousands of eyes, thousands of feet. Having covered

this universe from all sides, He stood ten fingers above it.]

Lord Krishna tells Arjuna on the battlefield of the Mahabharata,

Pashya me partha rupani shatasho ’tha sahasrashah /

Nanavidhani divyani nanavarnakrutini’cha//I (XI, 5)

[O Partha (Arjun)! See my hundreds and thousands of divine forms of mine possessing

variety of lustre and forms.]

and,

divyam dadami te chakshuh pashya meyogam aishawaram / (XI, 8)

[I bless you with Divine Eyes and you see my Cosmic Form.]

Krishna claims that the best in the world should be known as “My manifestations”,

Yadyad vibhutimat sattvam shrimad urjitam eva vaa /

Tat tat evavagachchha tvam mama tejo ’nshasambhavam // (X, 41)

[You better know that whichever manifestation that you find is powerful, of noble

quality, of elegance is created out of me.]

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Lord Vishnu is worshipped with a hymn:

Namo ’stvanantaya sahasramurtaye

Sahasrapadakshishirorubahave /

Sahasranamne purushaya shashvate

sahasrakotiyugadharine namah //I

[Obeisance to the Eternal Purusha, who is the Infinite, and has thousand forms, thousands

of feet, eyes, heads, thighs, hands, who bears thousands of names and thousands of crores

of ages!]

The Purusha of the Rigveda is the Super Human of man’s imagination. There can be no

human being beyond Him. It is an idea that was perceived and explored by Vedic sages

who meditated on the Ultimate Truth. It is accepted almost unanimously that the Vedas

are no human creation. They are God’s words that emerged from God’s mouth. In this

sense, the idea of the Purusha is an original idea that stands for a Super Human.

According to it, the Purusha has thousands forms or infinite forms. Thus, the idea of the

“sahasra” sprang originally from the Vedic concept of the Purusha. The first verse of the

90th Sukta, the “Purushasukta” of the Rigveda sings the glory of the First Human Being,

the Purusha as, Sahasrashirsha purushah sahasraksha sahasrapat. The word “sahasra”

means not just one thousand, it is expressive of innumerable or eternal power and

strength of God. Sages were aware of it and so they called the Ultimate Element as

having a Presence or identity that bears innumerable names, innumerable forms,

innumerable qualities and innumerable potentiality rendered as innumerable acts of

valour. Hence, the word, “Sahasra” need not be taken by its denotative sense of ‘one

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thousand only’. It should be considered with its connotative value to mean “many”,

“Eternal”, “Innumerable” and the like. It flourished further to become an internal part of

the Indian cultural tradition till in the present times. The sahasranam literature seems to

be a culmination of this tradition. The sahasranam literature has its first example in the

Mahabharata with the Vishnusahasranam composed and sung by Bhishma in adoration

of Lord Krishna. Swami Tapasyananda describes Vishnusahasranamstotram as “the

earliest of this kind of hymnology - Its style is epic and therefore simple” (iv).

According to the ancient Indian thinking pattern, the Vedic religion had chiefly three

branches namely, ‘Karma’, ‘Bhakti’ and ‘Jnana’. According to the Veda principle,

‘karma’ and ‘yajna’ were of prime importance in the Vedic period. But there arose

rebellion against a practice of yajna performances and as a result of other patterns like

‘jnana’, ‘bhakti’, Bauddha, Jainism, etc. attained popularity among the masses. In the

ealier part of the Madhya Yuga (Middle Ages) Kumarila Bhatta did efforts to propagate

the Vedic religion, but it did not earn popularity for the yajna performances in common

people. Shankaracharya’s ‘jnana-bhakti’ (knowledge with devotion) acquired

significance. Then after, Ramanujacharya set up a practice of devotion in this world.

Thus, Puranas count devotion of the chief deity to replace yajna performances to affect

wellbeing of a devotee. Several Puranas assert significance of devotion to Lord Vishnu

and Lord Shiva by stating that a state that a devotee of Lord Vishnu attains with pure

devotion cannot be attained by Vedic scholars with huge yajnas.

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The Puranic Age focuses significantly on development of religion in the ancient India. In

the beginning, there was the Satya yuga that was rich with four components of religion.

They are ‘Satya’(Truth), ‘Jnana’ (Knowledge), ‘Tapas’ (Penance) and ‘Dhyana’

(Meditation). In the Treta yuga, there prevailed three components of the religion, ‘Satya’

(Knowledge), ‘Dana’ ((Donation) and ‘Daya’ (Compassion). Man involved him in yajna

performances. In the Dvapar yuga, there remained two components of the religion.

Common people had low intellect with little capacity to think. At that time, Sage Vyasa,

who himself was Lord Vishnu’s form put the Vedas in to four parts and created the

Puranas. The first verse in the Rigveda refers to sages who lived earlier. It shows that

elements of‘Satya’, ‘Daya’ and ‘Tapa’ chiefly the religion of those sages. In the time of

the Rigveda, yajna was the prominent method of religion. In the course of time

contradictory thinking patterns emerged with reactions to yajna performances and as a

result new alternate methods were adopted in practice of religion. The Puranas call it an

age of fall and decline. It is called the Kali yuga. Up to the Dvapar yuga, Krishna

preserved the standards of religion. But in the Kali yuga, only one component of religion

prevailed. In this way, in the Satya yuga ‘jnana’ and ‘tapasya’ were prominent; in the

Tratayug, the ‘rejas’ attribute was prominently prevailed as a result of which yajna and

motivated actions became popular. In the Dvapar yuga, motivated action enjoyed

prominence among human efforts. In the Kali yuga, of course, vices like violence, lie,

attachments were aroused beyond limits and the result was the people of the nations fell

victims to evil people. The Vedic religion was heavily damaged by an atheist viewpoint.

So the Purana strongly felt to restore values of following good path and good conduct to

safeguard religion and social unity.

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The Puranas delineate historical facts and through them they present comprehensive

vision of life. Great persons lived a life to incorporate vision of truths they beheld

through meditation to affect their actions and to elevate them to become a yajna, a true

offering. Stories in the Puranas present before the society experiences of such elevated

souls and though them the vision that they realized. These stories serve as illustrations to

show that ‘sukruti’, good deeds and ‘svakarma’, own duty help man to attain the real

human character and serves as means to attain even the divine character. They are the

means by which man can elevate him and attain liberation. They from the Dharma that

man should follow in life. Man holds worldly aspirations and loses him in the whirlwinds

that sweep constantly through the world. Yet the Dharma inspires man to do efforts to

reach the Ultimate State of Liberation, Dharam sanjayate moksho. The Puranas show

‘dharma’ of the kind of worship to god, ‘devarehan’ or ‘devopasana’, Devopasana is the

Puranic form of yajna that incorporate ‘karma’ and ‘jnana’ of the Vedic scheme of

worship. It marks a shift from selective performance to general performance and thus

brought it down to general masses. It rather conferred on a common man right to elevate

and liberate him. This is a kind of revolution that affected reforms in the form and the

sentiments of religion. The ‘Apaurusheya Purusha’ of the Vedas that was hard to

comprehend for a common man was found to be living and moving among common

masses through such stories. Man’s imagination worked potently to descend the Purusha

on the common ground through a scheme of divine incarnations of God, ‘Purusha’. It

created various puranas in huge numbers like the Vishnupurana, Shivapurana, Shrimad

Bhagavata, Devi Bhagavata, Brahmavaivartapurana, Markendeyapurana,

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Garudapurana to name a few. As the stories of these Puranas became popular among

peoples of different times it popularized a method of worship of a deity. It was a

simplified for form of the yajna performances that the Vedas propagate and that was in

high practice, during the Vedic times. It turned out to be the natural foundation of

devotion to attract all in the society. The Garudapurana states in this regards that the path

of devotion aroused feeling of equality among the downtrodden like the Shudras, the

Nishads, and the Dvijati (Garuda. 1 - 222/ 49). The Varahapurana expresses a view that

‘karma’ and ‘jnan’ are the real means of attaining liberation (5/ 16). It can be said that the

element that is well elaborated in the Vedas is exemplified in the Puranas. The Vedas

delineates God as the Purana Purusha, the First Man, Pura anati or Purabhavam. It

means the One who lived First even when the universe did not exist and even no traces of

any thing living existed. He is the Superior Power, the ‘Brahma’ that is the ‘Sat-Chit-

Anand’, the Ultimate Truth, Mind and Pleasure. He possesses the incessant power to

create life. The universe was created out of the Brahman’s Divine Will and Power. The

Puranas established the ‘Brahma’ through stories and narration to become easier for man

to comprehend. It is the ‘Purana Vidhya’ that explains God in different forms. It explains

God that is basically ‘not born of human womb’, but the one that stays beyond births and

death. It shows him taking births and living like a human being. Such are the stories of

God’s incarnations on earth. The secret of Dharma is beyond one’s understanding.

Elevated souls who lived as God’s incarnations or as sages and saints explain through

their lives and doings that ‘dharma’ is a path that leads man to the ‘good’. They put the

‘dharma’as the real foundation of life and power control life in human society. Shri

Krishna preaches to act on his natural duty as being a kshatriya to protect the ‘good’ and

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explains him the significance of ‘swadharma’, performing one’s duty. He speaks in the

Gita what he lived through his life and actions. Like it, all different puranas present a

broad vision of life with attitude of equality for wellbeing for all and ‘good’ for all. They,

thus, view at projection of comprehensive vision of human life. With lofty vision of life,

they also encourage a practice of adoration and appreciation of the super living, thinking

and acting of those elevated persons. In short, they encouraged a practice of worship and

devotion to a deity in a human form. In turn, a practice of ‘japa’, ‘namsmaran’

‘namsankirtan’ emerged and flourished. The Mahabharata calls devotion as means to be

happy,

Bhaktiman yah sadotthaya namnam etat prakirtayet /

Yashah prapnoti vipulam shreyah prapnotyanuttamam //

(Maha. Anu.149/ 125 - 27).

[Devotion is meant for growth of the ‘good’, hence, His name should be worshipped.

With it, one attains in life enormous fame, wellbeing and superior living.]

The Vedic view on bhakti - kirtan consistently projects it as the most effective way by

which human beings can ensure wellbeing by earning the grace of God. A few citations

would help to present this view.

Kirtanye madhva nam bhriyat. (Rig. 1-103 -4)

Tad va datram mahim kirtanyam bkuta. (Rig. 1- 116-6)

Tan su te kirti madhavan mahitva. (Rig. 10 -54 - 1)

Gitishum samkhya... (Mimansadarshan 2-1-36)

Oum namani te shatakrato. (Rig. 3-37-3)

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 Martya amartyasya te bhuri mam manamahe. (Rig. 8-11-5)

Archatprarthat... (Sam. 362)

Tamu stotar... bhajamahe. (Rig. 1- 156 -3)

Bhadram karnebhihi shruyanam (Rig. 1/ 89/ 8) (Sam. 3. 21/ 1/ 2)

Bhadram shlokam shrooyasam. (Atharvaveda. 16/ 2/ 4)

Shraddhaya satyamapyate. (Yajurveda. 19/30)

Stutirnaam gunakathanam. (Commentary of Mahimnstotra by Madhusudan

Saraswati)

Sankirtan mm bhagavadguna karmananmam swayamuccharanam.

(Viramitrodaya)

Satyamidva u tarn vayamindram stavam nanrutam. (Rig. 8/ 11/ 12)

To facilitate it, name was required as the basic means. With many gods many names

emerged. Likewise, as man discovered multiple capabilities of a deity either through

experience or realization, multiple names of one god. This encouraged literature that

delineated different names of God. The Mahabharata tells a story of Bhishma was

involved in devotion of Lord Krishna when he was lying on a bed of arrows waiting for

the right hour of his death. Out of devotion he prays to God and that becomes the

Vishnusahasranamstotram and Bhishmasatvaraj. The Mahabharata abounds in writing

of sahasranam in praise of various gods and goddesses. The Vishnusahasranam and the

Shivasahasranam are glittering examples of sahasranam literature.

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There is another sahasranam writing available. Swami Tapasyananda has written a book,

Sri Lalita Sahasranama (2000) giving a text with transliteration and translation. It is in

reference of Goddess Lalita or Kameshwari. D. S. Sharma states an origin of the

Lalitasahasranam, another book of Sahasranam literature as “sequel to the

Lalitopakhyana which forms part of the Brahmanda PurancP It forms a part of a

dialogue between Sage Agatsya and the Hayagriva who narrates the deeds of the Goddess

Lalita. On the sage’s request Hayagriva imparts the thousand names to him. In that

relation, Hayagriva narrates the story of Lalita to which the Lalitasaharanaam refers. It is

a story of Manmatha, the God of Love who was reduced to ashes by Lord Shiva. The

story narrates how a demon, Bhandasura was created from Lord Shiva’s innocent folly,

ruled over the city of Shonitapur and inflicted tortures on humans and gods. On the

Divine Sage Narad’s advice Lord Indra did penance and pleased the Goddess Lalita who

killed the demon in a battle and revived the God of Love back to life. Devotees of the

Goddess perform japam and repeat this litany of thousand names that were composed by

Saraswati, the Goddess of Speech at the express command of Shri Lalita Parameshwari

herself (Tapasyananda, 2000 3- 4). It is believed that the Vishnasahasranam too was

created by Goddess Saraswati.

The sahasranam literature explores a doctrine of pluralism in one Supreme Being or the

Cosmic Consciousness - the co-existence of ONE and many that the Vedic sages

originally perceived and explored, Ekamevadwitiyam, or Ekoaham bahusyam, or Ekam

sadvipra bahudha vadant (Rigvedasamhita, 1/ 164/ 46). Brahman has different names

such as Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni, Garutman, Supama, Yama, Matarishva. There are

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different signs for the Brahman. Essentially, the Brahman, the one being, thus has many

embodiments in accordance with different powers attributed to them.

Sahasradha mahimanah sahasrayavad brahma vishtitam taavativak

(Rig. 10/114/8)

The Rigveda refers to the primordial strength and colossal form of the Super Power of

thousand armed Lord, “Sahasrashirsha...” This reveals the omnipresence of God. The

Chhandogya Upanishad of the Samaveda speaks of this supreme power,

Sarvakhalvidam Brahman tajjalaniti shantaupasita

God is the whole and all objects on the earth are His parts. God pervades in the universe.

Where ever my eyes fall I find you, I see you, I feel your presence, many poets sing the

sentiments like it and many yogis and devotees live though such experience. The objects

that hold the divine presence include all human beings, animals, birds and all animate and

inanimate objects in the world. There is always an invisible link between the whole and

its parts. As the gravitational force at the center of the earth pulls ail objects to the center

of the earth, the Divinity is the spiritual force that lies at the center of the Divine and it

pulls all human beings and objects to it. The Divinity works like a super magnet to attract

all. When a worshipper uses his imagination to evolve a name indicating or referring to

the Divine he seems to be seeking a link through which he may put him in touch with the

Divinity. A name by which he calls God serves him a link to put him in touch of the

Divine. Through name he feels the Divine, he knows the Divine, he feels affinity with the

Divine and eventually he feels Oneness or Union with the Divine. When he utters a name

of god once he feels a slight change in his sensation. As he keeps on uttering God’s name

repeatedly the sensations changes to divine vibrations that he receives from the Super

18
Magnet above. His mind feels tuning with the Divinity. As a result, he withdraws his

mind from worldly objects and affairs and concentrates on the Divine. As this practice

advances his mind attains evolution and will gradually flourish like a lotus. Eventually

this progression leads him to feel the final merger or union with the Divine. This is how

name works in Yogic Evolution of human mind to become a Super Mind. It makes a

journey from “being” to “becoming”. “Being” means to exist and a name has a role to

play in it. “Becoming” is a state of the nameless, that is God. In this sense, Yogic process

has two stages of developments like the Saguna Samadhi and the Nirguna Samadhi.

Name operates vitally in the former and in the later it operates inherently and yet subtly

to pull on to the Divinity. In both the cases, name of God is valued as a means to erect

links with the Divine. Therefore, Lord Krishna says in the Bhagavadgita, “Yagnam

Japayagnosmi” (Gita, Canto X 25). Such may be the spiritual significance ascribes to

the writing called the “Sahasranam” literature. It may be the reason that various kinds of

sahasranam writing become an integral part of man’s daily worship. It, nonetheless, need

not stagnate like mere uttering of names as mere rituals. Otherwise it would not render

any transformation in man’s life. If one expects a significant transformation by name he

has to utter names with total involvement. He has to forget the world and focus

completely on God’ name and ultimately on God through it. This gets him concentration

on God. It works magic as indicated above in terms of his spiritual evolution and the

final Union.

In view of the power of name, it would be useful to refer to a meeting of an Indian sadhu

(sage) and a westerner that Gautam Patel narrates at the outset of the preface, titled

19
“Vishnusahasranama- Pushpashasa Prajagara”, of the book edited by him,

Vishnusahasranamastotrabhashyam, Aadishankaracharya Granthavali Bhag 2 (2003). A

westerner meets an Indian sadhu and asks him, “What is the meaning of chanting Rama

Rama? Is it going to liberate?” He meant that it is all foolish and illogical. A sadhu was

an experienced and elevated soul and he possessed capacity to read another person’s

mind. He was well aware of an established instinct among westerners to laugh at the age-

old Hindu practice of chanting God’s name. He replied to him with slight anger in his

tone, “Oh you fool!” At it, the westerner lost his temper, jumped from his seat and at

once shouted, “Is it the manner of an Indian sadhu? I am asking a question and he is

using bed (bad) words for me”. At it, the sadhu gave a serene smile and calmly replied

him, “Well my child! If a bed (bad) word like ‘fool’ has capacity to compel you to get up

from your seat, if I chant Rama Rama with love will it not attract my loving Lord Rama?”

(6). Further, he says You may call God with what ever name, if you call him with

affection of your heart he will come running to you like a fascinated lover. This is the

significance of uttering or chanting God’s name constantly. God’s name is so loaded with

power that it can move any one (6).

We know a few cases of elevated souls in India like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu,

Ramakrishan Paramhamsa who were so intimately tuned with God’s name that, as it is

said, if someone mentioned God’s name to a sage he would at once slip in to trance and

lose contact with the world in front of him. Further, we may refer to an episode in the

Ramayana that Hanuman constructs the Rama Setu, a bridge to Lanka gives a testimony

of power of name. He wrote Lord Rama’s name on each stone and put it on the sea

20
 \\
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waters and the stones floated on the sea waters. Like it, the bridge was erupted afnd L4fd* ;>

Rama walked on it to reach Lanka to fight a war with Ravana. So it is a widely accepted
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belief that power of names works its potency to cause miracles. ^

The Vedas too establishes power of words through its sacred chants (‘richas’). While

performing any offering (yajna) or any ritual or puja chanting of richas or shlokas loudly

is mandatory at all performances. Prayers or hymns are sung loudly in the

accompaniment of musical instruments. This is also true about other religions like the

Islam, that has the singing of kawallis in praise of the Allah and the Christianity that has

psalms or prayers sung at mass prayers at churches. The notion behind it is that the sound

and the melody of a sacred chant or hymn or prayer spreads in to atmosphere and creates

spiritual vibrations. These vibrations put a worshipper’s mind in tune with the Almighty

above. Further, the theory of yoga recognizes a value of sound by associating with the

Superior. It is the ‘Nadabrahma’ or the Cosmic Sound that is eternal. It existed at man’s

creation and even before it and will stay for ever after the destruction. A word or a name,

when spoken or uttered loudly or mutely it spreads around it vibrations, good or bad, and

accordingly causes good or bad effect in the atmosphere around and also on a listener’s

mind.

Gautam Patel refers to the significance of uttering or chanting God’s name- japa in view

of power of word. He says that significance of recital of a verse of chanting of God’s

name is accepted since the Vedic times. He says, “The Vedas reiterate clearly that word

contains in it unique potency and power, word is eternal, word is all pervading and so you

21
utter a word and it spreads quickly in the entire word. God too is eternal and pervades in

the entire universe. For such relativity or similarity of attributes word is called Brahman,

the Shabda -Brahman. Word is worshipped as Brahman, and a worship of the Naad-

Brahman prevails in India in all religious practices since the antiquity till the present
t
time.” He further refers to scientific experiments carried out as regards pervasive

character of word. The modem science has proved that it is possible today that sound is

heard simultaneously at different and distant places. He also refers to current

experimentations in this regards that scientists are working on possibility to record a

sound after a speaker or producer of that sound leaves the room and goes elsewhere. He

says, “The science has yet to reach that stage” and that if it happens it would be possible

and hear Krishna’s Gita as originally sung on the battlefield of the Mahabharata. Gautam

Patel views it a possibility on the basis of spiritual experiences that his guru Swami

Gangeshwarananda had. Several times he could hear at a town Vasudhara little far off

from his mother’s place several of the verses of the seventh canto of the Rigveda that

Maharshi Vashishtha had viewed and recited long back at his ashram. He believes that

those verses still echo their sound and spread vibrations to refine the environment. “Such

is the spiritual experience that great persons narrate and such is the significance of word”,

says he (6).

Gautam Patel further cites from the book, Vishnusahastrastotra, Antarpravesh edited by

Makarand Dave and Kantilal Kalani, “Sages say that a name and the named (sign and the

signified) are no different but one. The named is implied in a name and the named

emerges from the name when one’s devotion arouses and brims over his heart and his

22
#
mind attains transparency” (4). The book explains further that god is nameless, formless

and beyond human perception and he needs to be known by a name, viewed by a vision

and known by a concept...Books like Vishnusahastranama, etc. serve this purpose (4).

A few thinkers and scholars of the Indian origin writing in the west impart varied

perceptions on power of words. Sam Selvon, a West Indian scholar of Indian origin says

about a word, “Everything that happens is words. Pure expression is nothing”. He views

that a word is real and it captures the eternity in to it. In this sense, it turns out to be a

spark of the eternity. This is true about God’s name that a name that we chant holds a

spark of the Divinity and chanting or uttering it repeatedly would connect a person with

the Divinity (Quoted in Parikli, 118). Paramahansa Yogananda’s writes in his An

Autobiography of a Yogi (1967): “The infinite potency of sound derived from the

Creative word AUM, is the cosmic vibratory power behind all cosmic energies. Any

word spoken with clear realization and deep concentration has materializing value. Loud

or silent repetition of inspiring words has been found effective in various system of

psychotherapy; the secret lies in stepping-up of mind’s vibratory rate” (11, Quoted in

Parikh, 307). Sasenarine Persaud, a writer of West Indian origin in Canada relates power

of word with that of yoga of writing that takes a writer to a state of Yogic Realism. He

view that in the process a word serves as a ladder or a support system to concentrate like

icons such as an idol, an image or a picture serves to a yogi in a former part of yoga, the

Saguna Samadhi.. He suggests that a writer should understand the power of a word and

focus on it. It has capacity to lead him to realize the Truth or the Real that is the ultimate

realization. Radhakrishnan focuses on the spirit of the Indian philosophy, “... it is not

23
enough to merely know the truth but to realize it and become one with it” (History of

Indian Thought, 2). Aurobindo defines yoga as “But in thought, so in life, the true riel of

self realization is a progressive comprehension” (Parikh, 121). All these views and

perceptions hint at power of word that one may realize through name of a person, an

object and of the Divinity. In this sense, we may say that name has potency to lead one

to realization. Accordingly, it may even cultivate one’s mind and thinking to a higher

goal. The Sahasranama literature in Sanskrit seems to be written on logic of this kind.

The Sahasranama literature in fact has its antiquity in the Vedas. As the Vedic religion is

the oldest among all religions, the Vedas are the oldest among the Hindu scriptures. The

Vedas happen to be the oldest expression of what religion means. It is the root of the

entire religion, “Vedoakhilo dharmamoolam”. The Vedas are true expressions of natural

religion that was perceived by sages of the time and they instructed general people to

follow in life and attain progress of three kinds, material, intellectual and spiritual. This

religion indicates them a path of progress. The Vedas seek to convert this natural religion

in to ritualistic performance to make it easy for people to follow. The Vedic Trilogy of the

Rig-Yajur-Sam dwells upon three means of ritualistic performance of religion such as

knowledge, action and devotion. The Bhagavadgita describes these three as three

different paths of yoga available to man to follow to attain elevation and liberation in life.

The last of them is devotion, as elucidated in the Samavada. It indicates prayers and

worship as subtle ritualistic performances. These performances were evolved during the

oldest times of the Satyug, Tretayug and Dwparyug to go with various kinds of yajnas to

be performed on different occasions and to work out different intentions or motives.

24
These yagnas involved offerings to different gods in the presence the sacred fire burning

constantly with various food materials being offered in the fire and most significantly it

went in an accompaniment of recital or singing of Vedic verses and hymns in adoration

of God. The Fire, the smoke and the high pitched sound of singing by performers of

yajnas would fill the atmosphere with purity, sacredness and involvement in which one

would feel the presence of the Divinity. Recurrence of yagnas would give a man a

constant feel of the presence of the Divinity in life. But since yagnas were too costly that

mostly the affluent in a community could afford them. Further, they involved lot of time

and energy. So they were found not much suitable to perform in the recent times. The

Bhagavadgita perhaps perceived this reality and, hence, it seeks to replace yagnas with a

‘japayajna’ as viable option in the present time. The Gita clearly states, Yajnanam

japayajnosmi (X 25), means I am the Japayajna, chanting of God’s name, it stands as the

best among all yagnas or offerings.

The Vedic sages sought to offer through Yajna performances their incessant devotion to

the Supreme Being that is the eternal Cosmic Force. The chanting of verses embodied

their uniform plea to the Almighty. They expressed gratitude to the Supreme power for

blessing them with security, protection and bliss in life. They took religion natural

practice to offer faith and devotion and of course gratitude to God who is more powerful

and is capable of protection man’s life and property. In this sense, one who protected man

became God for him. ‘God’ is a word that denominates through it the three super actions

of the world, Generation, Operations and Destruction that is understood in other words as

Creation, Sustenance and Destruction. One who is capable of these three super actions is

25
God. It means that He is almighty, all powerful and superior. Man puts his faith and

devotion in God for his superior power to protect from all odds in the world. For him all

elements in nature basically became gods as they caused the survival of life and protected

man from odds. Accordingly, the Sun became god. Also the moon and all five life

elements like the Fire, the Wind, the Earth, the Water and the Light became gods to

whom man worshipped. But over these life elements and natural power managers or

executers, there is a superior power that controls all. The Vedas calls it the ‘Purusha’.

The Purush bears a concept of the Trinity that combines the three Super Powers,

Creation, Sustenance and Destruction and the names representing them are Brahma,

Vishnu and Mahesh. But a name used for god would stand for one power and god has

multiple powers. As man realized it, he imagined god as having superior human form that

is having four arms instead of two as usual with a human being, or having more than one

faces and the like, or as it is with Lord Ganesh a long tusk and big belly. All such unusual

limbs and shape that are imagined about god are indicative of god’s super power. Man’s

imagination works in this direction and creates variety of forms of god and evolves

names for god. As a result, more than one name came to be used for one god and people

called some gods with one, two, three thirty, three hundred or even a thousand names.

The Sahasranama literature flourished from stotras for gods like ‘dvinamam’, ‘trinamam’.

‘shatavaristotram’, ‘trishatavaristotratam’ or ‘sahasranama’..Man’s logic of the Vedic

times seemed to mean a word ‘sahasra’ - one thousand to indicate God as superior figure.

The Indian mythology gives us some names Sahasrarjuna, of thousand forms of Lord

Vishnu’s Cosmic Form that the Bhagavad Gita delineates. They may serve as useful

examples. Even Ravan with ten heads indicates super power that Ravana possessed. All

26
such cases seem to establish a logic that one name signifies one power that the signified

possesses and more than one names used for him indicates that he possesses more than

one powers. The sahasranaama literature seems to be working on this logic.

The Vedas propagate through the yajna performances three paths that man can follow to

realize the Truth. The paths are Knowledge (Gnana), Action (Karma) and Devotion

(Bhakti). The Vedic Trilogy - Rig, Yajur and Sam - dwells upon respectively knowledge,

action and devotion. The Rigveda explores the knowledge of the Almighty to guide a

seeker of truth. The Yajurveda is a prescriptive text on rites and rituals to be performed in

the interest of different human motives. It details on subtle ritualistic procedures. The

Samaveda is a text of sound and music to explore how with singing of hymns and

chanting of Vedic verses fusion of sound and music is created to adore the Almighty. It

prescribes a way to use sound to cause pure and clear environment that may be conducive

to spiritual practice and to generate positive vibrations in which human soul works to

elevate sound to spiritual heights to become like the Cosmic Sound that is the Eternal

Sound, the Nada Brahma. Sages and yogis explored this path too to seek the Truth. May

we draw a kind of parallels between the Hindu “Sam” and the Christian “Psalm”? The

reason is both “Sam” and “psalm” mean “prayer” that forms an inevitable part of worship

in almost all religions of the world.

The knowledge of the Vedas is the basic eligibility of a performer of a yajna. Several

physical actions in the forms of rites and ritual are required to work out various religious

performances. One needs to build an altar, collect materials like grain, fruits, ghee, wood

27
and fragrant material etc. for offering to God. These two combine to make a real

performance of yajna. Further, these two are visible to eyes at a site of yajna. Thus, they

form the physical and the intelligible facets of the yajna performance, the physical by

physical actions in view of rites, rituals and offerings and the intelligible by way of

knowledge that is evocated through invocation to God, chanting of the Vedic verses and

singing of hymns in adoration of glory of the Almighty. These two combined creates an

atmosphere of high or elevated sentiments in a pollution free air and also a kind of

awareness about the superiority of the Purusha of the Vedas, the God Almighty that He is

Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient. But these two would be futile exercise in

absence of a performer’s devotion to cause his involvement and tuning with the

Almighty. Therefore, a performer needs to add to his performance his sentiments of

devotion that would express his faith and confidence in God. It makes his performance

worthy of acceptance by the Almighty. Presence of devotion - Bhakti means a

performance accepts the supremacy of God and expresses his faith in God as his

protector. Absence of devotion means, on the other hand, that a performer is

overconfident about power of his knowledge that he possesses or the action that he is

capable of performing with all skills and competence. The mythology and history of the

Indian culture illustrate it by narration of cases of powerful demons like Havana, Kamsa,

Jarasandh, Duryodhana, Dushanan, Hiranyakashipu, Aghasur and the like. Indian

mythological works like the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the Puranas, the

Upanishadas, etc, abound in number of such stories. The motive that stands behind all

such narrations is to pose examples as to what would be the repercussion if man performs

any rite or ritual without devotion. Absence of devotion in performance involves a risk of

28
a kind that it makes it a kind of an egotistic action. It reflects a performer’s ego of his

excellence of knowledge and his skill and competence with which he is capable of

putting high quality performance. Ego is dangerous. It blinds man’s capacity to view and

think and causes hurdles in his path of realization of the Truth. Man’s ego creates a thin

veil in front of his eyes to separate man from the Truth. It is very difficult to pierce

through this veil. Man’s devotion serves at that point as neutralizer. Devotion softens

man’s egotistical instincts and clear his vision making him capable to see things in a clear

and neutral light. Devotion gives extra strength to a performer to enhance a worshipper’s

faith and confidence in the Worshipped, God. Eventually, man’s seems to reach a kind of

understanding that devotion is a kinetic energy behind all knowledge and actions and it

adds life and energy to whatever man performs. Such was realization that prevailed in all

times. As mentioned earlier, with fusion of knowledge, performance and devotion, yajna

performances acquired popularity as effective forms of worship among sages of the Pre-

Vedic, Post Vedic times and during the first three quarters, the Satyug, the Tretayug and

the Dwaperyug. But with numerous experiences that the Puranas, the Upanishadas and

other mythological works narrate, it seemed to clear to sages that a performance devoid

of devotion would be dangerous and risky. Yajna is capable of assigning to a performer

superior power and strength that may be even almost equal to God’s strength and power.

But superior strength and power devoid of wisdom would have serious repercussions to

cause serious damage to the human conscience. The mythological narratives of numerous

demons that lived during the Satyug, the Tretayug and the Dwaparyug believed that they

could attain superior power and strength by pleasing God through determined penance

and performances of yajna. Then a demon would grow arrogant and over ambitious about

29
his unmatchable strength and power and inflict tortures on innocent people in the world.

Such stories are illustrative of this kind of a risk factor. In the Bhagavad Gita that was

created at the end of the Dwaparyug, Lord Krishna cautions about it and sings the glory

of devotion as the most effective path of worship to God.

Like the Vadas, the Bhagavadgita too propagates three paths of attaining the Truth,

Karmayoga, Gnanayoga and Bhaktiyoga. Moving on the practical dimension of the

philosophy, Lord Krishna relates each normal by performed by a man as “Yoga” that is

one’s efforts to encounter the Truth and eventually to unite with it.. It means that any

effort done with all seriousness, utmost sincerity and involvement can make it a higher

action that may unite man may lead him to the Truth. Krishna defines “Karmayoga” as

Yogah karmasukaushalam (Gita. II, 50), means “Yoga means any act that man performs

with the best of Ms skills”. “Gnanyoga” means to know God as the Superior Being Who

is Omnipresent, Omniscient and Onmipotent and is capable of taking care of safety and

wellbeing of all human beings on the earth. “Bhaktiyoga” is sentiment of total surrender,

Mamekam sharanam vraja (Gita XVIII 66). Devotion- brings humility in man and

safeguards him from any risk of egotistical instincts that would mar his efforts. The

Bhagavad Gita reaches the conclusion that any action or performance devoid of Bhakti or

devotion is worthless and even risky. Hence, the book attaches the utmost importance to

devotion for success of any performance. It in fact emphasizes that any action and

knowledge would become worthless like a figure of any number of zeroes but without

one. With frill conviction Krishna states that devotion is superior of all actions.

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Bhakti is a sentimental form of worship to the Almighty. Since the antiquity, it has been

accepted as an effective form of worship. Vedic sages sought to offer their incessant

devotion to the Supreme Being through Yajna performances. They sang hymns in

adoration of God and also to express their gratitude to God for protecting and

safeguarding life and wellbeing of the people. The hymns are the testimony that sages

valued devotion. Therefore, since the Vedic times, hymns, devotional songs or bhajans

have been sung as prayers at worships and rituals and they form an -inevitable part of

worship in the Hinduism. This is in fact found true about all religions on the earth.

Devotion works like liquid to soften the hardness of knowledge and action to render them

palatable or digestible. The Hinduism prescribes nine forms of worship through which

devotion to God can be expressed. It is called “Navadha Bhakti”. Lord Krishna says in

the Bhagavadgita, “Ye yatha mam prapadhyante tamstatheiva bhajamyaham” (IV 11),

that means “Whoever worships me in whatever form I attain that form”. This kind of call

by Krishna gives rise to worship of multiple forms of God and man enjoys a liberty to

worship any form. Unlike the Islam and the Christianity, the Hinduism is not monolithic.

It is polytheist. Polytheism of Hinduism is a continuity of the natural religion of the

Vedic times that is also known as the “Sanathan Dharma”. Vedic sages worshipped all

those natural gods in the universe that create life, sustain it and end it for new creation.

They believed that Gods protect life and wellbeing of all human and other lives on the

earth. Krishna promises, or rather assures in the Bhagavad Gita, Yogakshema

vahamyaham (Gita XVIII 60). He assures that he will respond positively to man who

worships any form. Such a liberty allows worship of multiple forms of God. As a worship

of multiple forms of God emerged and flourished, a body of literature containing hymns

31
based on thousand names of God too flourished as the Sahasranama literature. Krishna

further calls devotion as supreme of all kinds of actions. As a result, ‘namasmaran’ or

‘namsankirtan’ became a popular form of worship over a period of time. Reciting God’s

name repeatedly is a superior kind of worship, “Yajnanam japayajnosmi”, says Lord

Krishna (Gita X 25).

The Vedas propagates three forms of Bhalcti that manifest as “stuti”, prayer and worship.

The Nirukta says sages experienced directly the glory and grandeur of deities and they

described various rites and rituals appropriate to the experienced or perceived forms of

the deities. Different deities represented different verses chanted based on the sages’

perception. There are four kinds of the “stuti”, namely Name, Mitra, Karma and Rupa. It

means chanting a name of a deity, his friend, his action and his form. Agni, Indra, Varuna

are worshipped by actually chanting their names. Bhakti has two modes of performance,

‘Garni’ and ‘Para Gauri’. ‘Gauri’ Bhakti comprises dhyana, japa, namasankirtan, etc.

This kind of Bhakti is referred in the most popular purana, Shrimad Bhagavad as

“Navadha Bhakti”. The other kind of Bhakti is ‘Para-Bhakti’ which is in fact an offshoot

of Gauri Bhakti. It is a special kind of a devotee’s love for his personal deity. This kind of

Bhakti - devotion also has numerous forms. For instance, the Shakti worship takes

various forms. Namasankrirtan is highly applauded in the Vedas. For instance, the

Rigveda says,

Nama te shatakrato vishwabhirgirimahe. (3/ 39/ 31.)

The Atharvaveda says,

Marta amartyasya te bhurinam manamahe. (2/ 19/ 3).

32
In these sutras, mortals are urged to repeatedly chant the immortal that is the Akshara.

Japa, according to the Yagnavalkya Samhita is a ritualistic exercise of mantra. It means a

study and its practical form in accordance with a guru’s instructions and advice. Lord

Krishna’s claim in the Bhagavad Gita, “Yajnanam japayajnoasmi” (X 25) establishes its

value. Japa enhances purity of consciousness and of mind that is essential of spiritual

progress. The Mahabharata too accepts the value that goes with japa. The Agnipurana

testifies the superiority of japa. The Narada Parana clearly sings the glory of japa in the

fourth quarter of the time namely the Kali Yug, “Kalau keshavakirtanat". As mentioned

earlier, the importance of Namjapa is accepted with due respect in almost all paths of

worship in the world, the Vedic, the Puranic, the Smart, the Trantrik, the Buddhist, the

Sufi, the Christianity, the Islam, to name a few.

Kirtan is Namasankirtan includes all different kinds of singing of the glory, of the

Almighty and applauding some of His traits and attributes in the name of a specific deity.

These traits and attributes include names, qualities, grace, strength, glorious deeds,

people’s faith and the like. It works positively on man’s - devotee’s imaginative

capability that expands and touches new horizons as he experiences God’s grace and

blessings in life. It serves as constant reminder to man that his mind is likely to get lost in

worldly allurements and move away from the divine touch. It may succumb to the

prwssure and powerful influence of six distractions in life like passion (kama), anger

(krodh), lust (lobha), attachment (moha), ego (mada) and arrogance (madsar),

Namasankirtan saves man from falling down and keeps up steady touch with the

33
Almighty. A remarkable fact is that it is so far the easiest way of worship. Its

performance requires no wealth, materials, riches, big arrangements or a crowd of people.

Just one man with empty hands can do it. It is a personal kind of worship that requires

just a performer’s presence of mind and heart. Uttering or chanting a name is in fact a

physical exercise performed with mouth. But it becomes effective in clean and calm

environment to render positive results. It allows concentration of mind that is essential for

spiritual growth. For it, one has to disconnect him slowly and gradually from worldly

contacts and attachments and involve in an act of chanting God’s name. In turn, it leads

him to experience gradual involvement with God’s name that allows him to feel God’s

presence. It creates links and tuning between a devotee and God. This tuning leads him to

the final Union with God. This is the summit among goals that man aims at in his life.

With it, life attains perfection. As japa or namasankirtan acquires the utmost significance

in man’s spiritual progress it has been closely incorporated in most religious rites, rituals

and performances done publicly or privately. It in fact becomes an integral part to

worship. It is in the sense that it enhances its end results with heightened effect on human

spirit under the effect of singing and power of a name that attributes to environment

spiritual character.

Kirtanbhakti is devotion through singing in the glory of God’s name and His glorious

doings to protect ‘good’. It is also called Namasankirtan. It is a worship of the form of

god as word and a word becomes Brahma to acquire spiritual value for a devotee. God is

worshipped in a human form as deity or god. Through such worship one’s mind and

samskaras acquire purity. In this state of mind, a worshipper slowly and gradually lifts his

34
devotion to become a worship of the Brahman, the Ultimate Formless. Kirtan may be

done with God’s different names, but its final conclusion is the Ultimate Element

Brahman. It is like all different paths leading to one element,

Aaakashat patitam toyam yatha gacchati saagaram,

Sarvadeva namaskarah Keshavam prati gachchhati. (Prapannagita )

means “As water falling down from the sky moves to the sea, all worships done to all

different gods eventually is an offering to Keshav, the Ultimate God”. Kirtan is unique

for it tuning with and pondering over god’s names. It infuses spirit, the Cheitanya in a

dead word of a name and makes it living entity. It enacts a kind of incarnation or

descending of the Super Spirit in to an idol or an image and with it an image or an idol

acquires spiritual potency to do magic. The supernatural potency of an idoi or an image

inspires devotion and faith in people’s hearts. Out of devotion and faith, a worshipper or

a devotee sings hymns or devotional songs in glory of god’s potency. A devotee’s

involvement with the divine grows intense as he advances ahead in worship. With

concentration he reaches a divine stage of union with God, Aham Brahmaasami. It is the

“Abheda darshan” or the “Adwaitabhava” or the “Brahmopasana”. It is the “Parabhakti”

as Lord Krishna calls in the Gita (XVIII, 50 - 54). The Vishnupurana state that the

benefits that one used to earn through meditation in the Satyug, through yajnas in the

Tretayug, through worship to god in the Dwaparyug can be eanned in the Kaliyug

through ‘naamkirtan’ of Lord Vishnu (VI 2 -17). Shrimad Bhagavad makes almost a

similar kind of statement about significance of ‘kirtan’ in the present age that is called the

Kaliyug. (“Naradaparva” XI100-101).

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Kirtan as devotion is performed through various kinds of literary and musical

compositions. Most of them are based on the Samavedic meter, the ‘Anushtupa’. Such

compositions are found in Itihaasas, Puranas, Shakta Promoda etc. in which best names

of a deity are chanted. These are vividly illustrated in the works like Satvaraj,

Namadwadashi, Sahasranama. Such stuti or stotras were originated from the Yajurveda,

“Yajusate-Jai” (Sam. 4-5-1 to 11 and Van Sam -16). The Soul of the Universe, the

Vishwatma is addressed by one hundred names. Further, uttering Rudra’s - Lord Shiva’s

- names can lead man to a state of immortality. According to Jabalopanishada, all these

100 names of Rudra are the names of the Nectar, the Amruta that is deathless and

immortal and the Brahman, the Supreme Being.

Darshanshastra is a book on philosophy. It indicates paths to realize tire earthly, the

heavenly, the ephemeral and the eternal prosperity and bliss. It forms a basis for Indian

way of living and thinking. Indian life and culture are designed on its models. Indian

religion and theology that prescribe behaviour and codes of conduct for good living

emerged from it. Human life reflects thoughts and actions in the contexts of worldly and

other worldly aspirations that man holds in life. Man’s other worldly aspirations reflect

his concern for spiritual progress and his supra earthly attitude and spirituality. It can be

realized in a variety of ways. The Vedic religion emerged from a supreme blend of

attributable, non-attributable; non- dualism, dualism and polytheism. The Vedas consider

that “the Apaurusheya is rightly regarded as the foundation of the Hindu culture and it is

an intrinsic ingredient of this view, “Kartumakartumanyathakartum”. Namasankirtan

seeks to translate this Apaurusheya in to a human form bearing all human attributes,

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however, of superior quality and performance value. A devotee’s imagination operates in

this direction and invents new and varied names for the Apaurusheya in the context of his

personal deity or God bearing a human replica of the superhuman form. In this sense,

namasankirtan or sahasranarpa literature is creation of man’s imagination deeply involved

in worship and devotion of God. It is indicative of the richness and power of his inventive

imagination and his faith. It is reflection of his belief in god’s response to it and in God’s

potency to safeguard man’s well being. Lord Krishna reiterates his assurance to Arjuna in

the Bhagavad Gita, Yogakshemam vahamyam (XVIII 60) and through it he echoes man’s

faith in God. Krishna persuades Arjun with a view to pulling him out of an abyss of

depression and reviving in him confidence to act:

‘‘Yeyatha mamprapadyante tamstatheiva bhajamyaham”, (IV 11)

“Sarvadharman parityajya maamekam sharanam vraja,

Aham twam sarvapaapebhyo mokshayishyami maa shucham. (IV 39)

Man’s faith and devotion in God and His potency to protect and sustain man’s wellbeing

forms the real foundation of namasankirtan. It has its final culmination in the

sahasranamstotra. This foundation infuses new strength and value in human life and

culture. Namsankirtan has been closely knit in puranic narrations of devotees and their

devotion to God. Gleaming instance are Parvati’s devotion to Lord Shiva, Dhruv’s

devotion’s to Lord Vishnu, Ajamil’s devotion to Lord Vishnu, An elephant’s prayer to

Lord Vishnu to release him from the deadly clutches of a crocodile and the like. Histories

and the Puranic and the Upanishadic writing abound in such narrations. Richness and

vividness of stories of faith and devotion reflect that devotion is so deeply integrated in

Indian life and culture across the bounds of caste and creed and region and religion. Such

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stories are meant to inspire common man for devotion and noble living. It is rightly

expressed through literature that mentions various names of one God.

Such literature represents spirit of “Unity in diversity”. It explains that one may utter

whatever name of God, it eventually reaches the Almighty. All different names of God

serve as different paths leading to the Almighty. It is said in one Sanskrit verse, all rivers

may emerge from different points in the mountains or lakes, or they might have different

points of origins, but they certainly flow in to one direction and that is toward the sea.

The sea remains the only destination of all rivers in the world. Likewise, a devotee may

pray to any form of God he likes and in what ever method that suits him and in what ever

condition he stays and in. whatever place and time he lives in, a thing that he offers

reaches unfailing to the Almighty. Such a liberty that a Hindu devotee enjoys speaks of

the democratic spirit of the Hindu form of worship.

The concept of multiple gods and their multiple names is unique and true about natural

religion that the Vedas propagate in origin through statements like, Ekoaham bahusyam.

It means, “I am the ONE let me be multiple”. In this regards, Mahafshi Yask gives a

memorable statement in the Nirukta: Tesya mahabhagyad ekasya api bahuni

namadheyani bhavanti. It means, “It is God’s fortune that several names emerge from

His one name”. He further says that Mahabhagyad devataya eka eva atma bahudha

stuyante. It means, “It is God’s fortune that His single from is worshipped in diverse

ways” (G. Patel, 4). A name, Vishnu has curious denotation, Veveshti vyapnoti iti Vishnu,

means “Vishnu is the one that pervades every where”. Its presence is felt in each particle,

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speck or atom in the entire universe. The Vadas indicates a worship of multi or numerous

gods. The Rigveda mentions 33 gods, 34 gods, it may range to 3339 gods even having

significance to human existence. It is called “Polytheism” of the Vedas. Western scholars

believe verses of the Rigveda Samhita and the Samhita of the other three Vedas mention a

practice of worshipping many gods and that a sage believes each element in nature as god

and prays to them. But he sees behind each of these gods in nature a lurking presence of

the God Almighty. They believe that these multiple gods are none other but different

forms of the God Almighty. An archaeologist like Max Muller mentions that as the

thinking advances in the Vedas the concept of “polytheism” seems to be moving to the

concept of “Henotheism” or “Hethenotheism”. According to it, it is believed that each

god in nature has its own significance to human existence. Hence, man has to recognize

each god as valuable to him from different perspectives. He cannot ignore their presence.

But man has also to know that behind all these natural god there is Supreme Strength

operates and it belongs to the God Almighty. Thus, “Polytheism” or “Henotheism” that

remained a character of the Vedic natural religion ultimately points at “One Spiritual or

Cosmic Presence” called the Ekeshwarvada. This concept is principally different from

the “Monotheism” that is ‘ONE God Worship’ as propagated by the Christianity, the

Islam and other religions of the world. Dhruv states in this regards that when a sage

worships one god he believes in him. On working on its reason it would be clear that a

sage finds the God Almighty peeping through all different gods in nature. He eventually

feels the presence of the Almighty in these different gods present in different elements in

nature. These gods are then addressed with different names Ike the Creator as as Brahma

- Prajapati, the Sustainer as Vishnu, the Destroyer as Shiva, the Sun, Varuna and the like.

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The Purushasukta of the Rigveda asserts a concept of spiritual unity in the form of the

God Almighty and creation of different gods was a part of the wish of the God Almighty,

Ekoaham bahusyam. Each object, thus, serves as God’s spark to ignite man’s desire to

connect with God. That is why God is known as “Omnipresent”. Name and its chanting

or uttering with devotion makes one conscious about God’s presence and provides him a

link to connect with God. On the other hand, when God is present every where, he can

very well see every one. It makes God “Omniscient”. Man’s awareness of these two traits

of the divinity may grow sharper as he chants God’s name increasingly. Such awareness

on the part of a devotee inspires him for higher goal and prevents him from deterioration

of any kind.

The Vedic religion was at its core naturalistic. It had a simple logic. One works for you

and you appreciate it. One who helps you in any way becomes important for you. This

simple logic may become special as intensity of a need increases. A devotee feels on his

part intensity that arouses in him about feeling of urgency and gratitude to God who

supports him in all respects. In simple life conditions, one finds god in a doctor because

he cures and gives new life to a person. A child takes his parents as gods - Matru devo

bhava and Pitru devo bhava - because they brought a child in to this world and nourished

him for his growth and development. A teacher becomes god - Acharya devo bhava - as

he educates a child’s with knowledge and understanding about life and the world. In the

Vedic times, each element in nature contributed to the survival of human life and man’s

well being. Vedic sages, therefore, set up a practice to offer gratitude through

performance of yajna and singing hymns and prayers to all elements in nature for what

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they do for human survival. As a result, a practice of worshipping many gods emerged

coupled with sentiments of gratitude. But the sages were aware that such a loose structure

pf worship would disintegrate man’s efforts and concentration. Hence, they propagated a

theory of ONE GOD with multiple forms in which GOD is the WHOLE and all diverse

forms are its ‘amsh’ or sparks or manifestations in the world. Krishna describes his divine

manifestations to Arjun in the Bhagavad Gita calling it all pervading in the universe.

Name, ‘japa’ or ‘naamsankirtan’ bears this logical base with a view that it gets in to

man’s understanding to true knowledge about God.

A question may arise in relation to these two: Chanting a name or ‘japa’ and

‘Namasankirtan’. It may confuse one as to when a name is good enough to work well

why one needs a thousand names. Gautam Patel hints at it and furnishes explanation of

this kind. Name refers to one specific and basic identity by which God is recognized and

known in the world. Remembering different names of God convey a sense beyond God’s

simple identity an additional sense that speaks of God’s unique quality or attribute and

his strength or power and some act of adventure or valour that he did to protect a devotee.

These names help to inspire in a devotee a respect and adoration for God’s superior

character and abilities. A devotee realizes the grandeur of God’s superior qualities,

character and power. The names in turn intensify his devotion for God.

When natural religion was turned to ritualistic it gave rise to multiple sects with diverse

methods and logic presented by each sect in the name of a one favoured from of god. It

was propagated intensively to consolidate among a group of devotees one kind of

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devotion and worship. Such developments worked to constitute the present form of the

Hinduism. To an eye of a westerner that is used to monolithic systems of autocractic,

dogmatic or dictatorial kind of system as such, this structure may appear too loose and

disintegrated to exert • tight control over its followers and upkeep the institutional

structure. A westerner rather condemns Hinduism as loose, most illogical, “humbug” and

confusing kind of worship. Max Muller calls Hindu polytheism as “Henotheism”. Such a

perception of a western causes a constant flow of severe criticism of Hinduism for last

several centuries.

Swami Tapasyananda comments on a westerner’s perception on a concept of polytheism

of the Hindu way of worship. In his preface to the book, Shri Lalitasahasranama (2000)

he states, “To those brought up in Semantic religions, such a conception is wholly

unacceptable. God can only be Father according to Christianity and the Great Creator

according to Islam. They forget that all conceptions of the Deity in the human mind are

anthropomorphic, and it is far more reasonable to conceive Him as Father - Mother more

then merely as Father. That is what the cult of Shakti has done. S’iva is Pure Being and

Shakti is Pure Will. Each is a complement of the other and if separated completely from

the other, both will be mere fictions. Together they are the Cosmic Whole and what

transcends it. Though intellectually analyzable, they are factually one...” He further says

that “this Sahasranama is an important litany in the scheme of worship of the Supreme

Power as Mother Lalitambika” and that the two Sahasranama popular among devotees

are the Vishnu -Sahasranam and the Lalita - Saharanama of which the former is “the

earliest kind of hymnology” (iii - iv).

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But the fact is that like the reality in India appears to a westerner too complex to

understand the natural. character of Hinduism that involves multiplicity appears too

complex for a westerner to grasp. Beneath diverse sects, names, methods and manners of

worship that come down since the antiquity till the present time to make an overall

structure too complex and confusing there stays a thin thread of unity to link all in the

universe in some way. It is by this invisible thread of unity that the Hinduism survives for

ages and against all odds. It is a unifying factor. It stands for a concept “Unity in

diversity”. Secondly, it gives a broad base to Hinduism that helps it to survive over ages.

Further, diversity of gods, sects, etc. gives an additional facility to devotees and

worshippers. They get a choice to select his personal god or deity and also a method and

manner of worship that suits him most. It reflects on several attitudes from different

angles. A diverse form of Hinduism has most popular projection on liberty or freedom

allowed to a follower or a worshipper to select their own god and a way of worship. On

the other hand, it reflects on generosity of heads or superiors of the religion like sages,

priests and gurus to allow their subordinate devotees due freedom. Unlike western

religion like the Christianity, the Islam and many other monolithic religions in the world,

the Hinduism prefers to keep away from prescriptive or dogmatic instinct and to impose

it over its followers. It never insists on ONE god, ONE method of worship and ONE code

of conduct. It avoids getting in to dogmatic attitude of its superiors over subordinates to

impose a system of religious commands or fatwahas and penalty or punishment for

disobeying or overruling them. Such a tight system would exert over followers constant

pressure in the form of morality. There prevail in such a system strong binaries like good/

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evil, friend/ foe, moral/ immoral, and the like to cause among followers strong biases.

Such is not the experience of a Hindu person. All the time he feels free with least

botheration to follow one god and worship. But if such freedom is allowed it might prove

risky for man’s wellbeing with one’s licentious conduct. To provide a safeguard against

such a risk, the Hinduism has evolved a strong system of samskaras and family traditions

in lie with an invisible network of religious preaching and rites and rituals. It works so

closely and subtly in man’s life to inculcate in him the ‘good’ and prevent him from

following wrong paths. There prevails further closely knit with it a subtle practice of

‘japa’ and ‘namasankirtan’. It involves human action with concern for religious and

spiritual power to lead one to higher living, thinking, higher actions and higher goal. As

a result of such intimate working, ‘japa’ or ‘namasankirtan’ is perceived among devotees

a practice that is the most lucid and convenient method of praying. He carries no pressure

about codes and dogmas and no tension of penalty or punishment from a religious

authority or its agent. Man can live and worship God under total freedom of mind. It is a

psychologically proven fact that in freer environment and climate human soul can

flourish well and good growth is assured. The Hinduism, thus, allows freer environment

with strong support system from human growth. Name plays a vital role to create it. In

addition to it, through constant reminder of God’s presence, His attributes and His

support and protection it opens avenues of higher goals to go closer to God, to know God

and to become like God. When in other religious systems distance between the

worshipped and a worshipper is deliberately maintained, in Hindu system of worship

seeks through God’s name and its chanting by a devotee subtly to reduce this distance to

allow a devotee to feel closeness or intimacy with God’s presence. It goes up to the

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extent that one may merge or unite with God and feels the Union. Such is the working

and value of a name in a Hindu system of worship.

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 References

Agnipurana

Chhandogya Upanishada.

Dhruv. Hindu Veda - Dharma.

Garudapurana.

Jabalopanishad

Macdonanell, A. A. History ofSanskrit Literature.

Mahabharata, “Anushasanparva”

Mahabharata. “Naradaparva”.

Max Muller, F. (ed). The Upanishads.

Narada Parana

Parikh, J. P. (2005) “India in Indo-Caribbean Canadian Writing: A Case of Sasenarine Persaud. A Ph. D.

thesis submitted to the M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara.

Patel, Gautam et al. (2003). Vishnusahastranamastotram

Rigveda. “Purushashukta”. X. 90

Samaveda.

Shrimad Bhagavatapuranam

Shrimad Bhagavadgita.

Tapasyanand, Swami. 2000. Shri Lalitasahasranama.

Varahapurana

Yagnavalkya Samhita.

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