Sahasranāma (Devanagari सहस्रनाम) is a Sanskrit term which means "a thousand names". It is also a genre of stotra literature, 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.
Contents
As stotras, Sahasra-namas are songs of praise, a type of devotional literature. The word is a compound of sahasra "thousand" and nāman "name". A Sahasranāma often includes the names of other deities, suggesting henotheistic equivalence. Thus 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. The Vishnu Sahasranamam includes in its list, work and jnana-yajna (offering of knowledge) as two attributes of Vishnu. Lalita Sahasranama, similarly, includes the energies of a goddess that manifest in an individual as desire, wisdom and action.
A sahasranama provides a terse list of attributes, virtues and legends symbolized by a deity. There are also many shorter stotras, called ashtottara-shata-nāma, which have only 108 names.
Chronology
The Sahasranama such as the Vishnu Sahasra Nama, are not found in early Samhita manuscripts, rather found in medieval and later versions of various Samhitas. 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.
Type
Sahasranamas are used for recitals, in ways such as:
Hinduism
The most well-known sahasranāmas are:
Tantrikas chant the Bhavani Nāma Sahasra Stuti and the Kali Sahasranāma. While the Vishnu and Shiva Sahāsranamas 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 Kashmiri Paṇḍits and the Kali Sahasranāma is mostly chanted by Bengalis.
Jainism
Jina-sahasranama is a stotra text of Jainism, with thousand names of Jinasena, Ashadhara and Banarasidas, Arhannamasahasrasamuccaya by Acarya Hemacandra.
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 Rama and Krishna. This 17th-century Sikh text is entirely dedicated to bhakti themes along the lines of "Sri Rama Krishna Waheguru Miharvan", unlike Dasam Granth that focussed on warfare and sovereignty.