Bahu means – Many and Shirah means head, Bahu-Shirah means the One who is multi-headed. In Purusha Suktam, the Supreme Lord has been described as
Sahasra SIrshA purushah sahasrAkshah sahasra pAt
He is the Purusha with thousand heads, thousand eyes and thousand feet.
aneka-vaktra-nayanam anekādbhuta-darśanam
aneka-divyābharaṇaṁ divyānekodyatāyudham
divya-mālyāmbara-dharaṁ divya-gandhānulepanam
sarvāścarya-mayaṁ devam anantaṁ viśvato-mukham (BG 11.10-11)
Arjuna saw in that universal form unlimited mouths, unlimited eyes, unlimited wonderful visions. The form was decorated with many celestial ornaments and bore many divine upraised weapons. He wore celestial garlands and garments, and many divine scents were smeared over His body. All was wondrous, brilliant, unlimited, all-expanding.
aneka-bāhūdara-vaktra-netraṁ paśyāmi tvāṁ sarvato ’nanta-rūpam
nāntaṁ na madhyaṁ na punas tavādiṁ paśyāmi viśveśvara viśva-rūpa (BG 11.16)
O Lord of the universe, O universal form, I see in Your body many, many arms, bellies, mouths and eyes, expanded everywhere, without limit. I see in You no end, no middle and no beginning.
Sri Parasara Bhattar has interpreted the Nama as referring to the form of Ananta, where He has many faces and over a thousand hoods. Ananta is the expansion of the Supreme Lord.
Ananta Shayana or the Lord’s bed is but His own expansion, with a thousand hoods. It is also said that this form of the Lord balances this material world on His hoods. Scriptures say that Sripad Ramanujacharya is an expansion of this Ananta form of the Lord. Once while Ramnujacharya was in Melukote, he was challenged by the scholars to provide answers to his teachings. It is said at the place Tondanur, Ramanujacharya sat behind a screen and a 1000 scholars sat on the other side and asked questions all at once and all of them received responses. It was later seen by a curious disciple that Ramanujacharya had taken up his original form of Ananta and all the 1000 hoods were providing the responses at once.
Lets chant the Holy Name of the Lord, who is multi headed and seek His mercy to progress ahead in our spiritual practice.
Nama 116 – VishnuSahasranama
