Śaṅkara explains why Bhīṣma calls the praise of these names the highest dharma: it harms no one, it needs no money and no one’s help, and it has no rules about place or time. Anyone can do it, anywhere. Here are some ways people make it part of their lives.
How it is traditionally recited
A full recitation in a home or temple often follows this order:
- Opening verses. Śuklāmbaradharaṃ viṣṇuṃ… and verses saluting Vyāsa.
- The preface. Yudhiṣṭhira’s questions and Bhīṣma’s answer.
- The nyāsa and dhyāna. The ṛṣi, metre and deity are named, and verses for meditation are recited, beginning kṣīrodanvat-pradeśe, a picture of the Lord on the shore of the ocean of milk.
- The thousand names. The 108 ślokas.
- The phalaśruti. Ending with śrī rāma rāma rāmeti.
Chanted at an even pace, the names take about twenty minutes. With the preface and phalaśruti, a full recitation is about half an hour.
Starting small
- A group a day. This course divides the names into groups of ten ślokas. One group, chanted and understood, takes ten minutes. In eleven days you have met all thousand names.
- One śloka a day. Learn one by heart each morning. Use the Memorise button: it shows a line, then only its first letters, then nothing.
- One name a day. Pick a name, read what it means, and come back to it at odd moments of the day.
- Listen while you do something else. The recitation page plays all 108 ślokas without a break. Many people learn the Sahasranāma just by hearing it, the way children learn songs.
Using ‘Repeat after me’
On the recitation page, turn on Repeat after me. The chant pauses after each line for you to say it back. This is how the hymn has always been taught: the teacher says a line, the student repeats it.
When there is no time
The phalaśruti itself gives the short form. Kṛṣṇa says that one who wishes to praise him with the thousand names is praised by a single verse. And Śiva tells Pārvatī that the name Rāma said three times is equal to the thousand:
śrī rāma rāma rāmeti rame rāme manorame sahasranāma tattulyaṃ rāmanāma varānane
A word on the fruits
The phalaśruti promises health, courage, prosperity and freedom from fear. Many people recite the names for exactly these things, in times of illness or worry, and the tradition welcomes them. The last verses of Bhīṣma’s phalaśruti point further: to a mind free of anger, envy and greed, and to the vision of one Being holding the whole world. Recite for whatever you need. Over time, the names tend to change what you ask for.