[Advaita-l] The Authenticity of the Shiva Sahasra Nāma

[Venkata sriram P]

Namaste,

shrI Ananda tIrtha, omitted the pUrva pITika and phala-shruti and directly took off with very short tika. The names commence with sthira, sthANu, prabhuH.....and end with shrIvardhanaH, jagat.  

Thus, the total count comes to "1008" which has an esoteric numerical significance.

The meanings for some of the names are thought-provoking like:

guhaH = sarvasya yOgamAyA samAvrutaH = that which envelopes the Jiva with mAyA

a-yajnaH = yE sha u vA shubhAshubhaiH karma phalaiH EnaM samyOjita swayaM samyuktO bhavati = 
                 The one who is untouched by karma and stands as "sAkshi"

AdityaH = hiraNmaya sabda vAchya iti rudraH 

unmAdaH = mahAsantOsha swarUpaH 

vAmanaH = vAmaM+naH ie., one who pushes the enemies into darkness

vipaNaH = paNa iti vyavahAra stutau ; vigataH paNaH ie., one who is beyond the vyavahAra 

nItiH = nayanashIlavAn ie., sa EnA brahmagamayati ie., one who bestows the uttama gati and lOka

darpaNaH = bimbOsi pratibimba(a)smi iti pramANaH 

laghaH = manOharaH 

mahAkarNaH = brahmANDa-bhEdakaH ie., whose fame & majesty has spread the entire universe

viSNuH = one who fulfills the wishes of His devotees

Like this, there are several names for which Shri.Ananda Tirtha equates shiva with viSNu. 

Now-a-days, I am losing patience in writing long posts as I am hard-pressed in office and also growing old.  When time permits, would put forth further ....

regs,
sriram