Vishnu Sahasranama

The Vishnu Sahasranama (Sanskrit: Viṣṇusahasranāma, विष्णुसहस्रनाम), a tatpurusha compound, is a list of 1,000 names (sahasranama) of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism and the personal supreme God for Vaishnavas (followers of Vishnu). It is also one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras in Hinduism. The Vishnusahasranama as found in the Anushasana Parva of the Mahabharata is the most popular version of the 1,000 names of Vishnu. Other versions exists in the Padma Purana, Skanda Purana and Garuda Purana. Each name eulogizes one of His countless great attributes.

The VishnuSahasranāma has been the subject of numerous commentaries. Adi Shankara wrote a definitive commentary on the sahasranāma in the 8th century which has been particularly influential for many schools of Hinduism even today. Parasara Bhattar, a follower of Ramanuja, wrote a commentary in the 12th century, detailing the names of Vishnu from a Vishishtadvaita perspective. Madhvacharya asserted that each name in the sahasranama has a minimum of 100 meanings.

According to the 135th chapter of Anushāsanaparva (verses 14 to 120) in the epic Mahabharata, the names were handed down to Yudhishthira by the famous warrior Bhishma who was on his death bed (of arrows) in the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Yudhishthira asks Bhishma the following questions:

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