Rare Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram - Skanda Puranam

Courtesy: Sri.Krishnan Muralidharan

Dear All,

 

Greetings and Namaste.

 

I am happy to share a very rare (more or less unheard of) Vishnu Sahasranama Stotram from Skanda Puranam, Avanti Khanda, Chapter 74 (as part of Vamana Kunda Mahima). I chanced upon this a few years ago when I was actually scanning the entire Skanda Purana for Varaha Sahasranama and have since been chanting this off and on.

 

Though this is a very rare one, looking at the Phalashruti one can understand that this is no less in importance and efficacy to that of the commonly used Vishnu Sahasranama from Mahabharata. The Sahasranama also gives a special prescription for immense benefits - to chant this 100 times in holy places like Badarikashrama, Dwaraka, Ujjan (Mahakaleshwar), etc. Perhaps those who are visiting such places (and have the liberty of time could set aside a few days for performing this feat - I guess it would take at least 2-3 days..

 

The fact that the prescription is to chant this Vishnu Sahasranama in Mahakaleshwar (one of the 12 Jyotirlinga) stands proof to the point I have been repeatedly seeing in Purans - that the Shiva/Vishnu Beda/rivalry is purely imaginary that has absolutely no religious basis as far as I have seen. It ought to be a case of "God created man and man created politics".

 

With respect to Vishnu Sahasranamas, there are plenty of them. I have so far collected about 20+ Vishnu Sahasranams (if we include Devis/forms, Hanuman, etc. it will cross 30), and I know many more exist and are still looking for them - for example, Parashurama Sahasranama (said to be from Agni Puranam), Pitambara Sahasranama, Satyanarayana Sahasranama, another Nrusimha Sahasranama, a couple of other Rama Sahasranamas, Janaki Sahasranama, Dhanvantari Sahasranama, etc.

 

A couple of years ago, I started making them into a compilation but it is still an unfinished project (There is a joke in my IT field - the IT projects start fast and quickly reach 90% and it remain 90% forever!! Mine is stuck at 50% for long time!!). Though I could console myself with lot of lame excuses, laziness one of the prime reasons apart from my work. Hopefully I will see some fructification in the months ahead.

 

There is an equally large pool of Sahasranamas on Lord Shiva (I might have at least 10-20). As everyone knows, the number of Sahasranamas on Devi/forms will run into hundreds.

 

May Lord Narayana bless us all,