Vishnu Sahasra Nama Stotram
INTRODUCTION
Stotras are devotional hymns of Hinduism sung in praise of God. This word is derived
from Sthuthi which means praise. Though post puranic age has given rise to large number
of popular mellifluous stotras composed by sages like Sankara, Ramanuja, Vedatha
Desika, Appayya Deeksithar, Mooka Kavi etc and poets like Kalidasa, there are several
great stotras which trace their origin to Puranas. Of these the greatest is possibly the
Vishnu Sahasra Namam found in Mahabharatha. Literally translated this means thousand
names of Vishnu. This is found in the Anushasanika Parvam (chapter relating to orders or
rules to the kings) of Mahabharatha.
Bheeshma Pitamaha was defeated and grievously wounded by Arjuna. But since he
could choose the time of his death as per the boons received by him, he chose to die in
Uttarayana and was waiting for the auspicious time. Meanwhile the war was over leading
to death of all those male members in his family except the Pancha Pandavas and the
unborn child of Abhimanyu. Yudishtra the eldest of the Pandavas became the King of
Hasthinapura and whom else would he go for advise other than Bheeshma the great.
Anushasanika Parva is in the form of questions and answers between Yudishtra and
Bheeshma Pitamaha.To a question as to what is the best possible stotra, Bheeshma
answers that it is the Vishnu Sahasra Nama and teaches it to Yudishtra.
Though it describes one thousand aspects and praises of the lord, it is not simple and
easy to understand. Many great Acharyas lead by Sankara Bhagavat Pada, felt a need to
give its meaning in crystal clear terms so that the devotee can not only sing but meditate
on the aspect of the God he is praising. But this again was done in Sanskrit. With the
modern civilization several translations of this stotra is available in English and in almost
all major languages of India.
I have attempted yet another translation in English .My aim is to make the translation
simple to understand and easy to meditate. Naturally I have leaned heavily on many
translations, which are already available, especially the one in Tamil by Anna published
by the Sri Ramakrishna Mutt, Mylapore, Madras.
Though it is called Sahasra Nama in fact it contains only 901 distinct sounding names.
Eight hundred and fifteen names are repeated once, Seventy-five of these names are
repeated twice, nine of these names thrice and two of these names four times. The
acharyas have attempted to give different meanings to the same word in different places
successfully.
In the afterward to the stotra Goddess Parvathi asks Siva the cosmic god for an easy
way to sing this stotra for the learned .He replies that it is sufficient that the learned one
repeats the name of Rama and this is equivalent to his singing of sahasranama. It is
important to note that this is easy method is prescribed to the very learned who do not
have time to recite it daily and not for everybody,
It is also very important to meditate on the meaning of each word while it is sung.