vishNu sahasranAma

[Vaidya Sundaram]

On June 08 1999 Ravi wrote:

> > who is omnipresent (vishnu), who has the colour of the moon (sashi
> > varnam), foru
>
> Are there any references which link shashi varNam (white color) with
> shrIman nArAyaNa? Is not His color referred to as megha varNam?  DhyAna
> shloka-s in sahasranAmam points to this. Also it refers to Him wearing
> pItAmbaram.

namaskaram.
 The following is probably only an interesting aside, here goes ...
 As you know, there are several "original" Ramayanas, apart from THE one by Sri
Valmiki. One such is the Ramayana written by JAmbhavAn (the minister of
Sugriva). In it, JAmbhavAn is elaborating on how old he (jAmbhavAn) is, and in
this context he says: I have seen Shiva's throat before it was blackened by the
poison, I have tasted the waters of the sea before they got salty, I have seen
Brahma with five heads, and I have seen Vishnu before his complexion was
darkened by the churning of the kshera saagaram for amrutham - if I remember
correctly, he refers to Vishnu's complexion as  hema- -- like gold (as opposed
to kanaka - gold itself). My translation of hema may be erroneous, but, it is
interesting to note that the system is a dynamic one. HE need not assume for
Himself the same colour at all times!
 Kindly note that I am not in any way refuting another passage of the Vishnu
SahasranAma where it is said the He has the colour of clouds. I am merely
pointing out something I think is interesting.

bhava shankara desikame sharaNam
Vaidya.