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Sri Vishnu Sahasranaam |
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Sanskrit is the ancient language in which Indian scriptures and epics have been written. In Sanskrit, sahasra means "a thousand" and nāma means "name". The Vishnu sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names of LordVishnu. It is one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras in Hinduism. Each of the names eulogizes His countless great attributes. According to the great Hindu epic Mahabharata, the names were handed down to the eldest of the Pandava brothers, Yudhisthira by the eldest of the dynasty Bhishma who lay on a battle of arrows on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Yudhisthira asked Bhishma the following questions: kimekam daivatam loke kim vāpyekam parāyanam stuvantah kam kamarcantah prāpnuyurmānavāh subham ko dharmah sarva dharmānām bhavatah paramo matah kim japan mucyate jantuh janmasamsārabandhanāt |
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In this universe who is the one Deva of all? (i.e., at whose command all beings function?, or who is God of all?. Who is the one greatest refuge for all? Who is the one Divinity by praising and by worshipping whom a man attains good? Which according to you is that highest form of Dharma (capable of bestowing salvation and prosperity on man)? What is that by uttering or reciting which any living being can attain freedom from cycle of births and deaths? Bhisma answered by stating that mankind will be free from all sorrows by chanting the Vishnu sahasranāma' which are the thousand names of the all-pervading Supreme Being Vishnu, who is the master of all the worlds, the supreme light, the essence of the universe and who is Brahman. All matter animate and inanimate reside in him and he in turn resides within all matter. |
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