Considered one of the most important of the Sahasranāma-s (1000 names), the Viṣṇu Sahasranāma is from the 149th adhyāya of the Anuśāna-parva of the Mahābhārata.

It is one of the most popular forms of prayer. It is a praise of the Lord with thousand words. Swami Dayananda Saraswati says “The Viṣṇu Sahasranāma does not propound a theology, it merely talks about what is already said in the Śruti, Smṛti and Purāṇa-s“.

“Each of these words is a name of Īśvara and when understood becomes a window through which you look at Īśvara and understand Īśvara with awe and wonderment.”

Viṣṇu Sahasranāma

In this adoration, the devā-s offer salutations again and again, to the Devī who is in all beings as consciousness, intelligence, sleep, hunger, contemplation, power, forgiveness, modesty, peace, commitment, good fortune, compassion, contentment, error etc. At the end of this hymn, we realise Devī is literally our life.

Śrī Devī Stutiḥ

Yaśchandasā

I'm Poornima, a Yoga and Veda chanting teacher and student from India. I study Veda chanting in the Mysore/Sringeri tradition from my teacher, Shantala Sriramaiah, a senior student of Guruji M.S. Sreenivasan of the Challakere Brothers.

To learn Veda chanting or Yoga, please get in touch on poorna.yogah@gmail.com

Yaśchandasā

Poorna Yogah

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