Vishnu Sahasranamam

Vishnu sahasranama
Vishnusahasranama manuscript, ca1690.
Information
Religion	Hinduism
Verses	1000

Vishnu Sahasranama (Sanskrit: विष्णुसहस्रनाम, IAST: Viṣṇusahasranāma), is a list of 1,000 names (sahasranama) of Vishnu, one of the main deities in Hinduism and the supreme God in Vaishnavism. It’s also one of the most sacred and popular stotras in Hinduism. The Vishnu Sahasranama 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 Vishnu Sahasranama 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 135 th 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:

kimekam daivatam loke kim vāpyekam parāyaṇam
stuvantaḥ kam kamarcantaḥ prāpnuyurmānavāḥ śubham
ko dharmaḥ sarva dharmāṇām bhavataḥ paramo mataḥ
kim japan mucyate jantuḥ janmasamsārabandhanāt