Vishnu.Sahasranama.with.the.Bhasya.of.Sankaracharya_text

12 VISHNU SAHASRANAMA
The Vish. Purana (1-2) says : " Thus the only God,
Janardana, takes the designation of Brahma, Vishnu or
S'iva, according as he creates, preserves, or destroys.
Hence 0, Brahmana ! except discriminative knowledge
(Vijnana) there is nothing, anywhere, or at any time, that
is real. Such knowledge is but one, although appearing as
many, diversified by the manifold consequences of our
own acts. Knowledge, perfect, pure, free from pain and
detaching the mind from all that causes affliction ; know-
ledge, single and eternal—is the Supreme Vasudeva ;
besides whom there is nothing. When (one recognises
that) the one Purusha is dwelling in all the bodies, then
the words ' who art thou ' ' that I am ' are useless. Just as
the same sky appears as white, blue, etc., so, the same
Atman is seen as many by the deluded. Every thing that we
see is Achyuta, there is nothing besides Him. He is I, He
is You. He, the Atman, is all this ; so, free yourself from
the delusion of differences. The king, being thus instructed,
opened his eyes to truth and abandoned the notion of
distinct existence." (Yama says to his servants) : " All
this, and myself are Vasudeva. He is the only One the
Supreme Purusha and the Supreme Ruler. Leave those
whose minds are firm in Ananta enshrined in their hearts,
and keep at a distance from them." " 0, God ! all that
the Goddess of Earth has been saying is true, I, S'iva, You
and all this are Narayana ; but the impersonations of His
power are for ever mutually fluctuating ; and excess or
diminution is indicated by the predominance of the strong
and the depression of the weak." (Brahma says to Siva) :
" Soul of the Universe, You and I are, as the cause of
this world, one and the same ; during evolution, We are
separate in respect of Our functions. He who has obtained
Your protection, has also obtained Mine ; you will, O,
S'ankara 1 see yourself as in no way different from me.
Men whose minds are deluded by Avidya, see the distinctions
such as " I, he, thou, and this world with gods, titans and