SAHASRANAMA OF VISHNU: 459 of 1,000

SUGHOṢAḤ {सुघोषः}

(1) His deep and sonorous voice that is representative of the Vedas is supremely auspicious. (2) He whose voice is sweet, auspicious, and pleasant. (3) He whose voice is the essence of the four Vēdas.^(Śaṅkara) (1) He who is proclaimed by the “Vēdic-voice” of the Upaniṣads. (2) He whose voice is itself the great Vedas. (3) He who is praised by the Vēdas.^{(Parāsara Battar)}

Śaṅkara’s interpretation flows from: “Su-Śobhano ghoṣovedātmako asya iti Sughoṣaḥ” – “That auspicious voice, the very essence of the Vedas is that Sughoṣaḥ” – that Sughoṣaḥ is Svayam Nārāyaṇa-Svarūpa. Furthermore, Śaṅkara adds that the voice is deep, sonorous and majestic as the rumbling of the clouds: “Mēgha-gambhīra ghoshatvāt“

Parāsara Battar’s interpretation is also the same as Śaṅkara’s when it comes to this nāma.

Shri Narasimhan Kṛṣṇamācāri in his multi-volume translation of the Viṣṇu Sahasranāma, cites V.V. Rāmānujān‘s reference to the following verse from the Thiruvaimozhi as relevant to this nāma:

நாரணன் முழு ஏழ் உலகுக்கும் நாதன் வேத மயன்^[1]
Nāraṇan muzhu Ezh ulagukkum nādhan vēda mayan

Nāraṇan = he who is known by the name of Nārāyaṇa, muzhu Ezh ulagukkum = across the universe, over the seven known worlds (or planes of existence), nādhan = the supreme master, vēda mayan = is revealed by the Vēdas and is the very essence of it and it is about him that they (the Vēdas) speak of.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa speaks of this eternal sound that is part of our being^[2,3]: “The Anāhata sound is always going on of itself. This is the sound of Praṇava (Om). It comes from the Supreme Brahman and is audible to the Yogis. The ordinary worldly men cannot hear it. The Yogis can understand that the sound rises on one side, from the ‘ region of the navel’, and on the other, from Supreme Brahman.”

During his Tantra Sādhana, Sri Ramakrishna heard this Anāhatadhvani (the unstruck sound) coming from everywhere and arising naturally and continuing unendingly – this is the universal sound that connects all beings and all things in the universe – this is the eternal sound of the universe.^[2,3] – the sound that finds its source in the beginning of the universe and has continued since and shall continue forever – this dhvani is the Sughoṣaḥ.

Shri Narasimhan Kṛṣṇamācāri further points to the following verse from Subramaniam Bharathi’s (Bharathiyar) poem காக்கைச் சிறகினிலே – kakkai siraginile (In the plumes of the crow…)

கேட்கும் ஒளியில் எல்லாம் நந்தலாலா – நின்றன் கீதம் இசைக்குதடா நந்தலாலா^[4,5]
kekum oliyil ellam nandhalala – nindran geetham isaikudhada nandhalala

In every sound that I hear, in every voice that comes to me, Nandalala (Kṛṣṇa), I hear the mellifluous echoes of your gītā…”

That eternal sound, the sound of the universe, the hum of life, the thrum of being, that is Sughoṣaḥ and that Sughoṣaḥ is represented by Viṣṇu.

contribute to the blog