Dear All,
Greetings and Namaste. Radhashtami is the birth anniversary of Sri Radha Devi (consort of Lord Krishna) and it falls on 26-Aug-2020 (Wednesday). In this connection I am very delighted to share a very rare and unique hymn on Sri Radha Devi known as Sri Radha Ashtadasha-shati taken from Sri Krishna Yamala Tantram and Chapter 24.
Ashtadashashati literally means eighteen hundred. The highest number of names in a hymn is typically 1000 (sahasranAma) although there may be several Sahasranamas on the same deity (e.g. there are about 30 Sahasranamas on Lord Vishnu, about 20+ on Lord Shiva, innumerable on Goddess Shakti/Devi). The attached is the only one which I have come across that contains more than 1000 within one hymn.
There is a Shiva dasha-sahasranAmavali - which, I think, is a collection of 10,000 names from different Sahasranamas on Lord Shiva in namavali form - and not a hymn consisting of 10,000 names. I have also heard that Sri. Suryanarayana Rao from Hyderabad has published 4000 names on Mata Gayatri (I have not managed to get a copy of this and I am not sure whether this is a hymn from Purans or another collection like the previous).
This 1800-nama hymn is in mala-mantra format (i.e. names in alphabetical sequence). A large number of the names are rare/new and not easily found in other sahasranamas and therefore a bit difficult to decipher the meaning (given my very basic Sanskrit knowledge). The Phalashruti interestingly includes a few stanzas in Gadya (prose) format.
The Phalashruti mentions that one who recites/listens to this hymn is absolved of all sins including Brahmahatya, gets relief from all diseases like leprosy, gets relieved from all troubles, becomes wealthy like Kubera, supreme poet, erudite like a Guru, handsome like Manmatha, royal like Indra, resplendent like Lord Agni, valorous like Lord Surya, coll/gentle like moonlight, and gets wealth/emancipation, etc. [A long list of benefits ...]
Apart from these, there are two other Sahasranamas on Sri Radha (one from Narada Pancharatram and another from Rudra Yamalam) and there is a Radhakrishna Sahasranama (consisting of 500 names of Krishna and 500 names of Radha) in Narada Pancharatram. There are many hymns on Radha predominantly in Brahma Vaivarta Puranam, Krishna Yamalam, Rudra Yamalam, Garga Samhita and Narada Pancharatram. There are a few Kavachams as well.
May We Pray To Goddess Radha on Radhashtami day with this exquisite 1800-name hymn and get Her blessings!
With best regards & Pranams,
K. Muralidharan Iyengar (Murali)
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