Design Patterns & Vishnu Sahasranamam
A chip of the same Block..
A thing of beauty brings in awe. Be it technology space or be it algorithms.. Be it performances in the Olympic winners or the work of Mozart, artists, and master chefs.
After the terrible war, Yudhistira is devastated. He was saddened to learn that Karna was his own blood. He approaches the Grandsire Bheeshma on his bed of arrows for seeking the knowledge of the Ultimate destination, the Ultimate dharma and the Ultimate japa, and Song of glory. And the 1000 names of Glory of the Absolute and the backdrop for Vishnu Sahasranamam
I was listening to a few talks by Chinmaya Swamiji on the 1000 names and that set me thinking.. It does not sound very different from the Design Patterns.
In the world of Technology and Complex Designs, The joy of problem-Solving.. Object Oriented paradigms and Operating Systems and Databases. Sampling Theory & Space and Time optimizations.. Complex Blueprints and Algorithms.. Artificial Intelligence.. These seem to resonate as I was sifting through a few names. After all, we are a tiny chip of the same block.
And I very loosely placed the first 100 names in these buckets based on their etymology.
- Mastership, Pure and Unattached
- Ultimate Source & Destination- Constructor, Destructor & Maintenance
- Base Enabler
- Infinite Knowledge & Memory
- Hard to Comprehend- Principle of Plurality
- Principle of Space and Time
~ Supremacy
paramaatma, purushottama, ishaana , ishwara, shrimaan, amara prabhu, netaa, pradhaana, purushesvarah, param, sreshthah
~ Pure and Unattached
putatma, pavitram, mangalam
~ Ultimate Source & Destination
vishwa-retas, prajaa-bhavah
muktaanam-paramaa-gati, sharanam
~ Constructor
prabhava, swayambhu, padma-naabha, kruti, vishwa-karma
~ Destructor
sharva, pratardana, twasta, naarasimha-vapu
~ Nourisher
bharat, bhutabrud, daatha
~ Hard to Comprehend
agraahya, aprameeya
~ Principle of Plurality
Vishwam, vishnu, bhutaatma,
~ Principle of Space and Time
(S) sarva, tri-kakub-dhaama
(T) Bhuta-Bhavya-bhavat-prabhu,
aha, samvatsaara
~ Timeless
jyeshthah, an-aadhi-nidana
~ Unchanging Principle
sthaanur, sthavishthah, sthaviro, dhruvah
~ Primordial
bhutatma
~ Infinity
avyaya, akshara
~ Infinite Knowledge & Memory
medhaavi, nidhi avyaya, kruta-gya, kshetra-gya
~ Supreme Order
vikrami, krama
~ Base Enabler
pratyaya, sudarshana
And the higher order aspects beyond what we see in algorithms that we enjoy and experience as Humans and as Creators in our own spaces..
~ Happiness
shambu, shiva, sharma
~ Lord of Senses
suresha, rishi-kesha
~ Contemplation
yoga, mano
~ Consciousness, Witness etc
hiranya-garbha, eshwara, saakshi
After hearing my story, a friend was puzzled and asked me if this was an encoded message deep inside the Sahasranamams. Well, there can be as many views as the number of beholders.. The blessed find serenity and bhakthi in the names. The advaitins find tenets of Vedanta in each of the names. And a person like me finds a mix of everything that I can relate to.
Perhaps it takes time to experience.. The force is not away from you and me in some distant place.. It is ananya.. It is Vishnu.. It is everywhere.
Design Pradigms is just one way of seeing it. There are layers of acoustic marvels in the way the words are sequenced. Like a sliding window there are 2 to 3 sound filters running at any point of time. Something like a double helix DNA spiralling across the aksharamaala. And the 1000 names primarily being male or neutral gender have (h) visarga word endings making the chant like a bastrika pranayama providing heat and energy.
Some more musings..
Vanamaali.. The protector of the Forest & Ecosystems
This line caught my attention in the chanting class. Nyagrodhaḥ Udumbaraḥ Aśvatthaḥ
It happens to be the name of the 3 holy trees. The Fig tree, the peepal tree and the Banyan tree. And in my words..
An avid nature lover, one of our friends narrates this mindblowing relation.
To imagine that the mighty Fig trees arise from the labour of an almost invisible wasp and by the distribution and delivery service of another slightly bigger species like a bird, bat or monkey makes the Fig story so interesting!
And even greater is the mystery surrounding our ancestors’ knowledge of all this that they made Figs sacred — today’s ecologists have only recently branded them a Keystone species. Never are figs offered to deities because they are literally ‘fruits with life inside them’ in more ways than one!
The Fig trees do not have a specific flowering season precisely for the reason that the generations of wasps and their life cycles have to be supported throughout the year. This asynchronous flowering is part of a co-evolution when one species evolves to accomodate the needs of another.
The above narrative and the brilliant video shot in the beautiful lands of Africa reminds me of the Yagya cycle between the fig tree and the wasp and the cycle of life as described in the Karma Yoga of Gita. He is the elements and the dharma-aviruddha-kaama that is seeded in the forest.
Vanamaali Gadi Shaarngi Shankhi Chakri ca Nandaki
Srimaan Narayano Vishnur Vasudevo Abhirakshatu
He is vanamaali, the caretaker of the forest… His saarangi bow is releasing the messages .. shanka is the tone of their communication.. nandaki sword is cutting through the ecosystem to get it delivered and executed..He is chakri the sustainer of the cycle. O Narayana Vishnu Vasudeva please save us Abhirakshatu.
Shankhabhrin Nandaki Chakri Shaarngadhanva Gadaadharah
Rathaangapaanir Akshobhyah Sarva-praharana-ayudhah
He is equipped with all kinds of tools..Sarva-praharana-ayudhah, holds the shankah Shankhabhrin and the wheel in his hand Rathaangapaanir.
bhagavān bhagahānandī vanamālī halāyudhaḥ
He is the lord of the garden bhagavān.. lord of the forest vanamālī.. ever happy and equipped with the tools for ploughing the garden halāyudhaḥ..
auṣadhaṁ jagataḥ setuḥ The bridge that fuels medicine and food for the world
The Banyan tree is called Aśva-tthaḥ as it is continuously changing. In Gita, this samsaara is compared to an inverted Banyan tree vruksha with the roots upwards and the thick branches of Samsaara and our attributes gunas intertwined and pulling it downwards. He is both the upward Purusha and the downward prakruthi.. Uttaro dakshina and the Aśvatthaḥ.
More Later..
