This is the final chapter of the Vishnu Sahasranama. It opens with two celebrated Bhagavad Gita verses spoken by the Lord himself — the yoga-kshema promise (9.22) and the yuge-yuge declaration (4.8). Then come verses of total surrender: the offering of everything done by body and mind, and the request for forgiveness for any imperfection in recitation. The stotra ends with its own colophon, placing itself exactly within the Mahabharata. The thousand names are complete.
📖 Mahabharata, Anushasan Parva — Vishnu Sahasranama Stotra
101
श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम इति ।
श्रीभगवानुवाच —
अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते ।
तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥
Shreер-vijayo Bhootir-dhruvaa Neetir-matir-mama iti |
Shree Bhagavaan uvaacha —
Ananyaash-chintayanto Maam Ye Janaah Pary-upaasate |
Teshaam Nityaa-bhiyuktaanaam Yoga-kshemam Vahaamy-aham ||
अनन्याः
single-minded — without turning elsewhere
चिन्तयन्तः
contemplating
माम्
me
ये जनाः
those people who
पर्युपासते
worship — turn toward in devotion
तेषाम्
for them
नित्याभियुक्तानाम्
of those ever absorbed in me
योगक्षेमम्
yoga-kshema — securing what is not yet held, protecting what is
वहामि अहम्
I myself carry — I bear this burden
The Lord himself speaks — and what he says is quietly extraordinary. For those who think of me without turning elsewhere, who remain ever absorbed in devotion: I carry their yoga-kshema myself. Yoga-kshema means both securing what is not yet held and protecting what already is. The Lord is saying: I take on the full weight of their care. This is Bhagavad Gita 9.22, placed here as the Sahasranama draws to its close.
102
परित्राणाय साधूनां विनाशाय च दुष्कृताम् ।
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय सम्भवामि युगे युगे ॥
Paritraanaaya Saadhoоnaam Vinaashaaya cha Dushkritaam |
Dharma-samsthaapana-arthaaya Sambhavaami Yuge Yuge ||
परित्राणाय
for the protection
साधूनाम्
of the good — the righteous
विनाशाय
for the ending
दुष्कृताम्
of those who do harm
धर्मसंस्थापनार्थाय
for the establishment of dharma
सम्भवामि
I come into being — I manifest
युगे युगे
age after age — yuga after yuga
This is Bhagavad Gita 4.8 — the most widely known declaration of the Lord's purpose. For the protection of the good, for the ending of harm, for the re-establishment of dharma — I manifest again and again, age after age. Its placement here, near the close of the Sahasranama, is deliberate: after a thousand names describing who the Lord is, here he speaks of what he comes to do.
103
आर्ताः विषण्णाः शिथिलाश्च भीताः
घोरेषु च व्याधिषु वर्तमानाः ।
सङ्कीर्त्य नारायणशब्दमात्रं
विमुक्तदुःखाः सुखिनो भवन्ति ॥
Aartaah Vishannnaah Shithilaash-cha Bheetaah
Ghoreshу cha Vyaadhishu Vartamaanaah |
Sankeertyа Naaraayan-shabda-maatram
Vimukta-duhkhaah Sukhino Bhavanti ||
आर्ताः
those who are suffering
विषण्णाः
those who are dispirited — filled with sorrow
शिथिलाः
those who are exhausted — whose strength has given out
भीताः
those who are afraid
घोरेषु व्याधिषु
in the grip of terrible illness
वर्तमानाः
those who find themselves there
सङ्कीर्त्य
by singing — by giving voice to
नारायणशब्दमात्रम्
even just the word 'Narayana'
विमुक्तदुःखाः
freed from sorrow
सुखिनः भवन्ति
become at peace — become happy
This verse reaches out to the most worn-down among us: the suffering, the dispirited, the exhausted, the afraid, those struggling with serious illness. For them, the tradition offers the simplest possible practice — even just the word Narayana, spoken or sung. Not a full recitation, not a ritual. Just the name, given voice. The tradition says: that is enough.
104
कायेन वाचा मनसेन्द्रियैर्वा
बुद्ध्यात्मना वा प्रकृतेः स्वभावात् ।
करोमि यद्यत्सकलं परस्मै
नारायणायेति समर्पयामि ॥
Kaayena Vaachaa Manasendra-yair-vaa
Buddhya-aatmanaa vaa Prakriteh Svabhaavaat |
Karomi Yadyat-sakalam Parasmai
Naaraayanaaye-ti Samarpayaami ||
कायेन
by the body
वाचा
by speech
मनसा
by the mind
इन्द्रियैः
by the senses
बुद्ध्या
by the intellect
आत्मना
by the very self
प्रकृतेः स्वभावात्
or by the natural impulse of one's nature
करोमि
I do
यद्यत् सकलम्
whatever and all of it
परस्मै नारायणाय
to the Supreme Narayana
इति समर्पयामि
I offer — I surrender
This is among the most complete acts of surrender in all the stotra literature. Whatever I do — by body, speech, mind, sense, intellect, or soul; whatever arises from my deepest nature — all of it, I offer to the Supreme Narayana. Nothing held back. Not just the conscious choices, but even the automatic movements of nature. The offering is total.
105
यदक्षरपदभ्रष्टं मात्राहीनं तु यद्भवेत् ।
तत्सर्वं क्षम्यतां देव नारायण नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
Yad-akshara-pada-bhrashtam Maatraa-heenam tu Yad-bhavet |
Tat-sarvam Kshamy-ataam Deva Naaraayan Namo-astu te ||
यत्
whatever
अक्षरपदभ्रष्टम्
has gone wrong in a letter or word
मात्राहीनम्
is deficient in metre or vowel length
तु यत् भवेत्
whatever may have occurred
तत् सर्वम्
all of that
क्षम्यताम्
please forgive
देव
O Deva
नारायण
O Narayana
नमः अस्तु ते
salutations to you
After a thousand names and the phala-shruti, the stotra closes with an act of humility. If any letter was wrong, if any word slipped, if the metre or vowel-length was imperfect in any recitation — forgive all of that, O Narayana. The tradition is reminding us: the Lord is not waiting to find fault. He is waiting to receive the offering, however imperfect.
106
विसर्गबिन्दुमात्राणि पदपादाक्षराणि च ।
न्यूनानि चातिरिक्तानि क्षमस्व पुरुषोत्तम ॥
Visarga-bindu-maatraani Pada-paada-aksharaani cha |
Nyoonaani Chaatiriktaani Kshamasva Purushottama ||
विसर्गबिन्दुमात्राणि
the visarga, anusvara, and vowel marks
पदपादाक्षराणि
words, half-verses, and individual letters
न्यूनानि
whatever fell short — whatever was too few
अतिरिक्तानि
whatever was in excess — whatever was too many
क्षमस्व
please forgive — please pardon
पुरुषोत्तम
O Purushottama — the highest Purusha
Every tiny detail of recitation is named here — the visarga (the aspirated final sound), the anusvara (the nasal dot), the vowel marks, the individual letters, the half-verses. Whatever was too little, whatever was too much — O Purushottama, forgive it. The precision of the request is itself a form of devotion: I know the practice has a standard, and I know I fell short, and I offer that imperfection to you.
107
इति श्रीमहाभारते शतसाहस्र्यां संहितायाम्
वैयासिक्यामानुशासनिके पर्वणि
भीष्मयुधिष्ठिरसंवादे
श्रीविष्णोर्दिव्यसहस्रनामस्तोत्रं सम्पूर्णम् ॥
Iti Shree-Mahaabhaarate Shata-saahastryaam Samhitaayaam
Vaiyaasikya-maanushaasanike Parvani
Bheeshma-Yudhishthira-Samvaade
Shree-Vishnor-divya-sahasra-naama-stotram Sampoornam ||
श्रीमहाभारते
in the Shri Mahabharata
शतसाहस्र्यां संहितायाम्
in the collection of one hundred thousand verses
वैयासिक्याम्
composed by Vyasa
आनुशासनिके पर्वणि
in the Anushasan Parva
भीष्मयुधिष्ठिरसंवादे
in the dialogue between Bhishma and Yudhishthira
श्रीविष्णोः
of Shri Vishnu
दिव्यसहस्रनामस्तोत्रम्
the divine stotra of a thousand names
सम्पूर्णम्
is complete
The colophon. The Vishnu Sahasranama Stotra is complete — located precisely in the great one-hundred-thousand-verse Mahabharata composed by Vyasa, in the Anushasan Parva, in the dialogue between Bhishma and Yudhishthira. Every word of this closing verse is an act of attribution. The text insists on its own provenance, so the reader always knows where it came from.
References
Vishnu Sahasranama · 11 / 11