Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram

विष्णु सहस्रनाम स्तोत्रम्

Anushasana Parva, Mahabharata Deity: Vishnu Metre: Anushtup 170 verses

After the Mahabharata war, Yudhishthira went to Bhishma, dying on a bed of arrows, and asked him the simplest, hardest question: how do you find peace? Bhishma's answer was this hymn. A thousand names of Vishnu, each one a handle you can hold onto. People have been chanting it every morning across India for centuries, and there's a reason it endures: the rhythm gets into you. Twenty minutes of these names and the noise in your head quiets down. That's not metaphor, ask anyone who's kept up the practice.

The opening verses are below. The full stotra is in ChantWise.

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Pūrvapīṭhikā

1

shuklaambaradharam vishnum shashivarnam caturbhujam

prasannavadanam dhyaayet sarvavighnopashaantaye

2

yasya dviradavaktraadyaah paarishadyaah parashshatam

vighnam nighnanti satatam vishvaksenam tamaashraye

3

vyaasam vasishthanaptaaram shakteh pautramakalmasham

paraasharaatmajam vande shukataatam taponidhim

4

vyaasaaya vishnuroopaaya vyaasaroopaaya vishnave

namo vai brahmanidhaye vaasishthaaya namo namah

5

avikaaraaya shuddhaaya nityaaya paramaatmane

sadaikarooparoopaaya vishnave sarvajishnave

Uttarapīṭhikā

170

aartaa vishannaashshithilaashca bheetaah ghoreshu ca vyaadhishu vartamaanaah

sankeertya naaraayanashabdamaatram vimuktaduhkhaassukhino bhavanti

That's the opening and the closing. The full Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram continues for 164 more verses in between.

Open it in ChantWise to chant the rest. Free, in your browser.

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