Sahasranama

{{IAST|Sahasranāma}} is a Sanskrit term which means "a thousand names".Sir Monier Monier-Williams, sahasranAman, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages, Oxford University Press (Reprinted: Motilal Banarsidass), {{ISBN|978-8120831056}} It is also a genre of stotra literature,{{cite book|author=Nancy Ann Nayar| title=Poetry as Theology: The Śrīvaiṣṇava Stotra in the Age of Rāmānuja |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vG1syVBXKAC| year=1992| publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag| isbn=978-3-447-03255-1 |page=17 }} usually found as a title of the text named after a deity, such as Vishnu Sahasranāma, wherein the deity is remembered by 1,000 names, attributes or epithets.David Kinsley (1974), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1062088 Through the Looking Glass: Divine Madness in the Hindu Religious Tradition], History of Religions, Vol. 13, No. 4, pages 270-305

As stotras, Sahasra-namas are songs of praise, a type of devotional literature.{{cite book|author=Harvey P. Alper|title=Understanding Mantras |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V8Upy4ApG_oC |year=1991 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0746-4 |pages=362–363}} The word is a compound of {{IAST|sahasra}} "thousand" and {{IAST|nāman}} "name". A Sahasranāma often includes the names of other deities, suggesting henotheistic equivalence and/or that they may be attributes rather than personal names.John S. Mbiti. Concepts of God in Africa. p.217, 1970 Thus the Ganesha Sahasranama list of one thousand names includes Brahma, Vishnu, Shakti, Shiva, Rudra, SadaShiva and others. It also includes epithets such as Jiva (life force), Satya (truth), Param (highest), Jnana (knowledge) and others.[http://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_ganesha/gaNapatisahasranAmAvaliH.html?lang=sa श्रीगणपतिसहस्रनामावली], Sri Ganapati Sahasranama, Shree Sharada SahasraNama/श्री शारदा सहस्रनाम dedicated to Sharda Devi,The presiding deity of Kashmir now in Sharada Valley, Muzaffarabad POK SanskritDocuments.Org Archive The Vishnu Sahasranama includes in its list work and jñāna-yājna (offering of knowledge) as two attributes of Vishnu.{{cite book |author=Dharm Bhawuk |title=Spirituality and Indian Psychology | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VO7jV2OZDF4C |year= 2011|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1441981103|pages=152–153}} The Lalita Sahasranama, similarly, includes the energies of a goddess that manifest in an individual as desire, wisdom and action.{{cite book|author=V. R. Ramachandra Dikshitar |title=The Lalitā Cult|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9itsZ4JcYyoC |year=1942|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0919-2|pages=4–5 with footnote 7}}

A sahasranama provides a terse list of attributes, virtues and legends symbolized by a deity. There are also many shorter stotras, containing only 108 names (108 being a sacred number in Dharmic religions) and accordingly called ashtottara-shata-nāma.

Chronology

The sahasranamas such as the Vishnu Sahasranama, are not found in early Samhita manuscripts, rather found in medieval and later versions of various Samhitas.{{cite book|author=Nancy Ann Nayar| title=Poetry as Theology: The Śrīvaiṣṇava Stotra in the Age of Rāmānuja |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vG1syVBXKAC| year=1992| publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag| isbn=978-3-447-03255-1 |pages=23–24 }} One of the significant works on Sahasranama is from the sub-school of Ramanuja and the Vishnu Sahasra-namam Bhasya (commentary) by 12th-century Parasara Bhattar.{{cite book|author=Nancy Ann Nayar| title=Poetry as Theology: The Śrīvaiṣṇava Stotra in the Age of Rāmānuja |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vG1syVBXKAC| year=1992| publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag| isbn=978-3-447-03255-1 |pages=82–83 }}{{cite book|author=P. Pratap Kumar|title=The Goddess Lakṣmī: The Divine Consort in South Indian Vaiṣṇava Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ejpCrALI_hsC&pg=PA77|year=1997|publisher=Scholars Press/The American Academy of Religion|isbn=978-0788501999|pages=77–79}}

Type

Sahasranamas are used for recitals, in ways such as:

sravana, listening to recitals of names and glories of God
nama-sankirtana ({{IAST|nāma-sankīrtana}}), reciting the names of God either set to music or not
smarana, recalling divine deeds and teaching of divine deeds.
archana ({{IAST|arcanā}}), worshipping the divine with ritual repetition of divine names.

Hinduism

Some well-known sahasranāmas include:

The Vishnu Sahasranama, of which the most popular version is found in the Anushasana Parva (13.135) of the Mahabharata.Swami Vimalananda. Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram. With Namavali, Introduction, English Rendering and Index. Fourth Edition. (Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam: 1985). Other versions are found in many Puranas linked to Vaishnavism.{{cite book|last= Klostermaier|first=Klaus K.|title=Survey of Hinduism, A: Third Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8CVviRghVtIC | year= 2010| publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-8011-3|page=530 with footnote 35}}P. Sankaranarayanan. {{IAST|Sri Viṣṇusahasranāma Stotram}}. With English Translation of {{IAST|Srī Saṅkara Bhagavatpāda}}’s Commentary. (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan: Mumbai: 1996).
The Shiva Sahasranama, which is also found in the Anushasana Parva (13.17) of the Mahabharata.{{cite book|author=Jessica Frazier|title=The Bloomsbury Companion to Hindu Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AdZBAgAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1472567161|page=186 footnote 22}} Seven other versions also exist.{{cite book |last=Śarmā |first=Rāmakaraṇa |title=Śivasahasranāmāṣṭakam : eight collections of hymns containing one thousand and eight names of Śiva |publisher=Nag Publishers |publication-place=Delhi |year=1996 |isbn=9788170813507 |oclc=36990863}} Includes Śivasahasranāmakoṣa, a dictionary of names. This work compares eight versions of the Śivasahasranāmāstotra. The preface and introduction (in English) by Ram Karan Sharma provide an analysis of how the eight versions compare with one another. The text of the eight versions is given in Sanskrit.
The Lalita Sahasranama, which is a Shaktist stotra.Swami Tapasyananda (Editor). Śrī Lalitā Sahasranāma. (Sri Ramakrishna Math: Chennai, n.d.). With text, transliteration, and translation. {{ISBN|81-7120-104-0}}. This Devi-related work is found in the {{IAST|Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇa}}.Labhashankar Mohanlal Joshi. Lalitā Sahasranāma: A Comprehensive Study of One Thousand Names of Lalitā Mahā-Tripurasundarī. Tantra in Contemporary Researches, no. 2. (D. K. Printworld (P) Ltd.: New Delhi, 1998). {{ISBN|81-246-0073-2}}.
The Ganesha Sahasranama, found in the Ganesha Purana.The {{IAST|Gaṇeśa Purāṇa}}. Nag Publishers; Reprint 1993. "Introduction" in English by Ram Karan Sharma. Text in Sanskrit. {{ISBN|81-7081-279-8}}.{{IAST|Gaṇeśasahasranāmastotram: mūla evaṁ srībhāskararāyakṛta 'khadyota' vārtika sahita}}. ({{IAST|Prācya Prakāśana: Vārāṇasī}}, 1991). Source text with a commentary by Bhāskararāya in Sanskrit.
The Hanuman Sahasranama, is a Hanuman stotra told by Valmiki. Its origin is unknown, but it is often attributed to the deity Rama. {{Cite web |title=shrI Anjaneya or Hanuman Stotra of 1000 Names |url=https://sanskritdocuments.org/doc_hanumaana/anjaneya1000.html |access-date=2022-07-09 |website=sanskritdocuments.org}}

Tantrikas chant the Bhavani Nāma Sahasra Stuti and the Kali Sahasranāma. While the Vishnu and Shiva Sahasranāmas are popular amongst all Hindus, the Lalita Sahasranama is mostly chanted in South India. The Ganesha Sahasranama is mainly chanted by Ganapatya, the Bhavani Nāma Sahasra Stuti is the choice of {{IAST|Kashmiri Paṇḍit}}s, and the Kali Sahasranāma is mostly chanted by Bengalis.

Jainism

Jina-sahasranama is a stotra text of Jainism,{{cite book|author=Johannes Klatt|author-link=Johannes Klatt|title=Specimen of a Literary-bibliographical Jaina-onomasticon |url=https://archive.org/details/specimenalitera00klatgoog |year=1892| publisher=O. Harrassowitz|pages=[https://archive.org/details/specimenalitera00klatgoog/page/n47 39]–40}} with thousand names of Jinasena, Ashadhara and Banarasidas, Arhannamasahasrasamuccaya by Acarya Hemacandra.Jain Journal, Volumes 2-3, Jain Bhawan., 1967, p. 125

Sikhism

Guru Arjan of Sikhism, along with his associates, are credited with Sukhmani Sahasranama, composed in gauri raga, based on Hindu Puranic literature, and dedicated to Waheguru.{{cite book|author1=Pashaura Singh |author2=Louis E. Fenech |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CzYeAwAAQBAJ | year= 2014|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-100412-4|pages=175–178}} This 17th-century Sikh text is entirely dedicated to bhakti themes.

References

External links

[https://sanskritdocuments.org/sanskrit/sahasranama/ SahasranAma stotras (160+) at sanskritdocuments.org ] {{in lang|sa}}.
[https://sanskritdocuments.org/sanskrit/sahasranamavali/ SahasranAmAvalIs (110+) at sanskritdocuments.org ] {{in lang|sa}}.
{{Commons category-inline}}

Category:Bhakti movement

Category:Hindu philosophical concepts