Knowra Sahasranama Sahasranama A Hindu litany or hymn that praises a deity through a thousand names. Sahasranamas are recited as devotional practices and appear in several religious traditions and texts.
Nama-japa : A devotional practice of repeating a divine name, aloud or silently. Sahasranamas extend name-repetition into a litany of many names.
Vishnu Sahasranama : A hymn listing one thousand names of Vishnu, found in the Mahabharata. It is among the best-known sahasranamas and a central example of the form.
Namavali : A sequence or list of names of a deity, commonly used in Hindu worship. A sahasranama is an especially extensive, hymn-like form of a divine name list.
Mahabharata : An ancient Sanskrit epic centered on a dynastic conflict and the Kurukshetra war. The Vishnu Sahasranama appears in its Anushasana Parva.
Dharma : A concept of order, duty, and right conduct central to Indian religious and philosophical traditions. Names in the Vishnu Sahasranama connect divine praise with questions of righteous living.
Bhakti : A Hindu path of devotion expressed through love and dedication to a deity. Reciting a sahasranama is one way devotional attachment is practiced.
Lalita Sahasranama : A hymn of one thousand names praising the goddess Lalita Tripurasundari. Its names portray the goddess through theological, poetic, and devotional imagery.
Anushtubh : A Sanskrit poetic meter commonly formed from four eight-syllable quarters. The Vishnu Sahasranama is largely composed in this familiar meter.
Anushasana Parva : The thirteenth book of the Mahabharata, containing teachings on duty, ethics, and rule. Bhishma's recitation of the Vishnu Sahasranama occurs in this book.
Nirguna Brahman : The ultimate reality understood as beyond qualities and attributes in some Vedanta traditions. A thousand descriptive names praise the deity through attributes, unlike this emphasis on transcendence.
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