Who speaks, who is named

Daśaratha दशरथः

Rāma’s father, named in the commentators’ readings of three names.

King of Ayodhyā and father of Rāma. The commentary reading the name Śauri as “son of valiant fathers” names him with Vasudēva as the valiant fathers whose son the Lord is, and has the Rāmāyaṇa say that Daśaratha obtained Rāma as the gods obtain nectar. In the name “of four forms” the four brothers arise from the single portion of pāyasam given at his sacrifice.

• In the ties of Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata, Śatrughna and Rāma

Verses: Śloka 37, Śloka 54, Śloka 82

Names: śauriḥ, sōmaḥ, caturmūrtiḥ

Bhīṣma भीष्मः

Also śāntanava, gāṅgēya, dēvavrata

The grandsire on the bed of arrows who answers Yudhiṣṭhira and speaks the whole thousand names and their fruits.

Son of King Śantanu and the river goddess Gaṅgā, born as Dēvavrata, Bhīṣma was, the tellings say, one of the eight Vasus born as a man under a sage’s curse. He gave up the throne and took a lifelong vow of celibacy so that his father could marry Satyavatī; for that deed he was called Bhīṣma, “the terrible”, and was given the boon of dying only when he wished. Felled in the great war by Arjuna’s arrows, he lay at Kurukṣētra waiting for the sun to turn north, and there, with Kṛṣṇa, Vyāsa and many sages around him, he taught Yudhiṣṭhira; the Sahasranāma is his answer. The last śloka’s name “wheel in hand” is read as Kṛṣṇa taking up a chariot wheel in the war to keep Bhīṣma’s vow.

• Son of Śantanu
• Son of Gaṅgā
• Half-brother of Vicitravīrya Sons of one father.
• Stepson of Satyavatī
• Stepbrother of Vyāsa Satyavatī, Vyāsa’s mother, was Śantanu’s queen and so Bhīṣma’s stepmother: Bhīṣma and Vyāsa belong to one household.
• Great-uncle of Yudhiṣṭhira The epic has Yudhiṣṭhira call him grandsire.
• Answers Yudhiṣṭhira
• Granted a boon by Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa grants Bhīṣma freedom from pain and clouding of mind. The Śrīvaiṣṇava tradition also tells that Kṛṣṇa took up a chariot wheel in the war to keep Bhīṣma’s vow.
• Granted death at will by Śantanu

Verses: The Frame 1, The Frame 4 to 13, Śloka 107, The Fruits of Reciting 1 to 23

Names: rathāṅgapāṇiḥ

Yudhiṣṭhira युधिष्ठिरः

Also kauntēya, pāṇḍava

The eldest Pāṇḍava, who asks Bhīṣma the five questions that Bhīṣma answers with the thousand names.

Eldest of the five Pāṇḍavas, born to Kuntī by the god Dharma according to the tellings, and king at Hastināpura after the war. Kṛṣṇa told him that Bhīṣma, lying on his bed of arrows, would soon leave the world and that knowledge of duty would go with him, so he went to learn. He asks: the one god, the one refuge, whom to praise and worship, the highest dharma, and what recitation frees from the bond of birth. Bhīṣma’s answer is the hymn, and one reading of the name Dēvakīnandana has Bhīṣma showing him that the Lord of the names is his own kinsman Kṛṣṇa.

• Son of Kuntī
• Son of Pāṇḍu Pāṇḍu’s son in law; the tellings say he was given by the god Dharma.
• Brother of Bhīma
• Brother of Arjuna
• Brother of Nakula
• Brother of Sahadēva
• Grandson of Vyāsa Through his son Pāṇḍu.
• Asks Bhīṣma
• Pupil of Kṛpa Kṛpa is called the preceptor of the Bharata princes, and after the war Yudhiṣṭhira honours him as one.

Verses: The Frame 1 to 3, The Frame 12, Śloka 106

Names: dēvakīnandanaḥ

Janamējaya जनमेजयः

The king who hears the whole telling from Vaiśampāyana, and so the first listener of this hymn within the epic.

Great-grandson of Arjuna and king of the Kurus after his father Parīkṣit. When Parīkṣit died of a serpent’s bite, Janamējaya, stirred by the sage Utaṅka, began a sacrifice to destroy the serpents, and in its pauses he asked Vyāsa for the story of his forefathers. Vyāsa bade his pupil Vaiśampāyana tell it, and the Sahasranāma is part of that telling. The edition never names the king, but he is the listener behind its first line; tradition says the young sage Āstīka at last brought the sacrifice to an end.

• Son of Parīkṣit
• Son of Madravatī
• Husband of Vapuṣṭamā
• Great-grandson of Arjuna
• Great-grandnephew of Yudhiṣṭhira The king calls Yudhiṣṭhira his great-grandsire.
• Descendant of Vyāsa The epic itself calls Vyāsa the king’s grandfather and great-grandfather, loosely.
• Asks Vaiśampāyana He asks Vaiśampāyana what came next.

Parīkṣit परीक्षित्

Janamējaya’s father, whose death by serpent-bite is why the sacrifice begins.

Born dead to Uttarā, burned by Aśvatthāman’s weapon, Parīkṣit was revived by Kṛṣṇa, who gave him his name. As king he hunted a deer into the forest and hung a dead snake about the neck of a silent sage; the sage’s son Śṛṅgin cursed him to die of Takṣaka’s bite in seven days. He died by that bite, and his son Janamējaya later held the serpent sacrifice.

• Son of Abhimanyu
• Son of Uttarā
• Husband of Madravatī
• Revived by Kṛṣṇa
• Killed by Takṣaka

Sātyaki सात्यकिः

Kṛṣṇa’s companion who rides with Him to Bhīṣma’s bed.

A Yādava warrior, Sātyaki sits beside Kṛṣṇa when He is urged to go to Bhīṣma. He has the chariot made ready and rides with Him, and with Kṛpa and Sañjaya bows to the sages around the bed.

• Rides with Kṛṣṇa He sits beside Kṛṣṇa, has the chariot made ready and goes with Him to Bhīṣma.

Kṛpa कृपः

Also śāradvata

A surviving Kuru elder who goes with Kṛṣṇa and Yudhiṣṭhira to Bhīṣma.

Yudhiṣṭhira honours Kṛpa as a preceptor after the war. He is counted among those who come to Bhīṣma’s bed with Kṛṣṇa and Sañjaya.

• In the ties of Yudhiṣṭhira

Arjuna अर्जुनः

Also pārtha, pāṇḍava, dhanañjaya

The Pāṇḍava who asks the Lord for His protection in the first closing verse, great-grandfather of the king who hears the telling.

Third of the Pāṇḍavas, son of Kuntī by Indra, Kṛṣṇa’s cousin and, by marrying Subhadrā, His brother-in-law. His grandson’s son was Janamējaya. In the closing verses he prays to Padmanābha and Janārdana, protector of the devoted, and the Lord replies that anyone who wishes to praise Him with the thousand names is already praised by one verse. In the edition’s last lines Sañjaya names him, as Pārtha with the bow, beside Kṛṣṇa, and one reading of the name Pragraha hears the Lord as the reins that guide Arjuna’s chariot.

• Son of Kuntī
• Son of Pāṇḍu Pāṇḍu’s son in law; the tellings say he was given by Indra.
• Grandson of Vyāsa Through his son Pāṇḍu.
• Husband of Subhadrā
• Asks Kṛṣṇa

Verses: Śloka 81, Closing Verses 1 to 2, Closing Verses 11

Names: pragrahaḥ

Śantanu शन्तनुः

Bhīṣma’s father, whose name stands in the edition as the patronymic of the speaker.

King of the Bharata line at Hastināpura, Śantanu wed Gaṅgā, who let seven of their sons go back to the water at their own request and kept the eighth, Dēvavrata. Later he wished to marry Satyavatī, and Dēvavrata’s vow made it possible; Śantanu gave him the boon of dying at will. Satyavatī bore him Citrāṅgada and Vicitravīrya.

• Husband of Gaṅgā
• Husband of Satyavatī

Verses: The Frame 1

Satyavatī सत्यवती

Also gandhavatī, yōjanagandhā

The link that makes Bhīṣma and Vyāsa one household: Bhīṣma’s stepmother and Vyāsa’s mother.

Raised among fishermen and plying a ferry on the Yamunā, she bore Vyāsa to the sage Parāśara before her marriage. She married Śantanu after Dēvavrata’s vow, bore Citrāṅgada and Vicitravīrya, and when Vicitravīrya died childless she asked Bhīṣma, and then Vyāsa, to raise up the line.

• In the ties of Vyāsa, Śantanu, Vicitravīrya and Bhīṣma

Dhṛtarāṣṭra धृतराष्ट्रः

The blind king to whom, in the Gītā, Sañjaya reports the war; the one to whom Sañjaya’s verse in the closing group is addressed.

Son of Vyāsa and Ambikā, born blind from his mother’s fear, he was father of a hundred sons by Gāndhārī and one more by a Vaiśya wife. When Vyāsa offered to give him sight to watch the battle he said he had no wish to see the slaughter of kin and chose to hear of it, so Vyāsa gave the vision to Sañjaya. After the war Yudhiṣṭhira keeps him in honour and places him and Gāndhārī at the head of the company that returns to the city from Bhīṣma’s bed.

• Son of Vyāsa
• Son of Ambikā
• Brother of Pāṇḍu
• Brother of Vidura
• Husband of Gāndhārī

Pāṇḍu पाण्डुः

The father, in law and by tradition, of the five Pāṇḍavas.

The pale son of Vyāsa and Ambālikā, Pāṇḍu married Kuntī and Mādrī, withdrew to the forest, and had five sons given by the gods for the line’s sake. The Pāṇḍavas, and “Pāṇḍava” as a name for Arjuna, come from him.

• Son of Vyāsa
• Son of Ambālikā
• Brother of Vidura
• Husband of Kuntī
• Husband of Mādrī

Verses: Closing Verses 2

Kuntī कुन्ती

Also pṛthā

The mother of three Pāṇḍavas and Kṛṣṇa’s father’s sister, the tie that makes Kṛṣṇa the Pāṇḍavas’ cousin.

Daughter of the Yādava chief Śūra and sister of Vasudēva, she was given as a child to her childless cousin Kuntibhōja. A sage’s gift of a mantra let her call the gods, and by the tellings she bore Karṇa to the Sun, and Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma and Arjuna to Dharma, Vāyu and Indra. She wed Pāṇḍu. In the tellings she is among the women who weep when Parīkṣit is born dead and rejoice when Kṛṣṇa revives him.

• Daughter of Śūra
• Adopted daughter of Kuntibhōja
• Sister of Vasudēva

Verses: Closing Verses 11

Vicitravīrya विचित्रवीर्यः

The younger son of Śantanu and Satyavatī, whose widows carry the Kuru line on through Vyāsa.

Bhīṣma won the princesses of Kāśī at their self-choice for him; Vicitravīrya married two of them, Ambikā and Ambālikā, and died childless. By the custom of the time Vyāsa raised sons on his widows.

• Son of Śantanu
• Son of Satyavatī
• Husband of Ambikā
• Husband of Ambālikā

Ambikā अम्बिका

Vicitravīrya’s widow, mother of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

Daughter of the king of Kāśī, Ambikā was afraid of Vyāsa’s dark look and closed her eyes, so her son Dhṛtarāṣṭra was born blind. She sent a maid to Vyāsa the third time, and the maid bore Vidura.

• In the ties of Vicitravīrya and Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Ambālikā अम्बालिका

Vicitravīrya’s widow, mother of Pāṇḍu.

Daughter of the king of Kāśī, Ambālikā went pale at the sight of Vyāsa, so her son was Pāṇḍu, “the pale one”. Through him she is grandmother of the five Pāṇḍavas.

• In the ties of Vicitravīrya and Pāṇḍu

Gāndhārī गान्धारी

Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s wife, mother of the hundred sons.

Daughter of Suvala, Gāndhārī was devoted to her husband Dhṛtarāṣṭra and is mother of his hundred sons. After the war Yudhiṣṭhira honours her and places her with Dhṛtarāṣṭra at the head of the company that returns to the city from Bhīṣma’s bed.

• In the ties of Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Mādrī माद्री

Pāṇḍu’s second wife, mother of Nakula and Sahadēva.

A princess of Madra, sought for Pāṇḍu by Bhīṣma himself from her brother the king of Madra. She called on the twin Aśvins and bore the twins.

• In the ties of Pāṇḍu, Nakula and Sahadēva

Bhīma भीमसेनः

Also bhīmasēna

The second Pāṇḍava, who rides behind Kṛṣṇa to Bhīṣma’s bed.

Bhīma is Kuntī’s son by Vāyu, the Wind, and the second of the Pāṇḍavas. He rides behind Kṛṣṇa and Yudhiṣṭhira to Bhīṣma’s bed and stands there with his brothers.

• Son of Kuntī
• Son of Pāṇḍu Pāṇḍu’s son in law; the tellings say he was given by Vāyu, the Wind.
• Brother of Arjuna
• Grandson of Vyāsa Through his son Pāṇḍu.

Nakula नकुलः

One of the twin Pāṇḍavas, Mādrī’s son by the Aśvins.

Nakula and his twin Sahadēva were born to Mādrī by the Aśvins. He stands around Bhīṣma’s bed with his eldest brother.

• Son of Mādrī
• Son of Pāṇḍu Pāṇḍu’s son in law; the tellings say he was given by the twin Aśvins.
• Twin of Sahadēva
• Grandson of Vyāsa Through his son Pāṇḍu.

Sahadēva सहदेवः

One of the twin Pāṇḍavas, Mādrī’s son by the Aśvins.

Sahadēva and his twin Nakula were born to Mādrī by the Aśvins. He stands around Bhīṣma’s bed with his eldest brother.

• Son of Mādrī
• Son of Pāṇḍu Pāṇḍu’s son in law; the tellings say he was given by the twin Aśvins.
• Grandson of Vyāsa Through his son Pāṇḍu.

Abhimanyu अभिमन्युः

Arjuna’s son, the perpetuator of the family, father of Parīkṣit.

Born of Arjuna and Subhadrā and dear to Kṛṣṇa, Abhimanyu married Uttarā. Their son was Parīkṣit, father of Janamējaya.

• Son of Arjuna
• Son of Subhadrā
• Husband of Uttarā

Uttarā उत्तरा

Abhimanyu’s wife, daughter of Virāṭa, mother of Parīkṣit.

Daughter of Virāṭa and wife of Abhimanyu, Uttarā bore a child who was born dead, burned by Aśvatthāman’s weapon. Kṛṣṇa revived him and named him Parīkṣit.

• In the ties of Abhimanyu and Parīkṣit

Madravatī मद्रवती

Janamējaya’s mother.

Madravatī married Parīkṣit, Arjuna’s grandson, and bore Janamējaya. Her son is the king who hears the telling from Vaiśampāyana.

• In the ties of Parīkṣit and Janamējaya

Vapuṣṭamā वपुष्टमा

Janamējaya’s wife.

Vapuṣṭamā was the wife of King Janamējaya, who hears the telling from Vaiśampāyana. She bore him two sons, Śatānīka and Śaṅkukarṇa.

• In the ties of Janamējaya

Dēvakī देवकी

Kṛṣṇa’s mother, whose name the nyāsa gives to the stotram’s deity and its śakti.

Wife of Vasudēva and sister, or cousin, of Kaṃsa, Dēvakī is the mother in whose womb the Lord took birth among the Yadus. Tradition tells that Kaṃsa killed her first six sons, that her seventh child was moved into Rōhiṇī’s womb and became Balarāma, and that Kṛṣṇa was born as her eighth. The teaching just before the thousand names includes Nārada’s talk with her on gifts, in which she is the one who asks. The commentary reads the name Dēvakīnandana as Bhīṣma showing Yudhiṣṭhira that the Lord whose names he has given is Dēvakī’s son, sitting close by.

• Born earlier as Aditi In one reading of the name Āditya, Dēvakī was Aditi in an earlier birth.

Verses: Nyāsa 1 to 2, Nyāsa 5, Śloka 60, Śloka 106

Names: ādityaḥ, dēvakīnandanaḥ

Vasudēva वसुदेवः

Kṛṣṇa’s father, a Yādava king and Kuntī’s brother.

Son of Śūra, husband of Dēvakī and of Rōhiṇī among others, Vasudēva is father of Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Subhadrā. His sister Pṛthā, who became Kuntī, married Pāṇḍu, and through him the Lord’s birth among the Yadus is tied to the Pāṇḍavas by blood. The stotram’s name Vāsudēva is the Lord’s, and the tradition reads it both as the One in whom all dwell and as “son of Vasudēva”.

• Son of Śūra
• Husband of Dēvakī
• Husband of Rōhiṇī

Verses: Ślokas 36 to 37, Śloka 69, Śloka 74, Śloka 76

Names: vāsudēvaḥ, śauriḥ, śauriḥ, vāsudēvaḥ, vāsudēvaḥ

Subhadrā सुभद्रा

Kṛṣṇa’s sister and Arjuna’s wife, the knot that ties the Yadu house to the Pāṇḍava line.

Subhadrā, the sweet-spoken sister of Kṛṣṇa, was taken away by Arjuna and became his wife. She bore Abhimanyu, who was dear to Kṛṣṇa, and so is grandmother of Parīkṣit and great-grandmother of Janamējaya.

• Sister of Kṛṣṇa Said to be Rōhiṇī’s daughter, so half-sister of Kṛṣṇa.
• Daughter of Rōhiṇī

Śūra शूरः

Also śūrasēna

Father of Vasudēva and Pṛthā, so Kṛṣṇa’s grandfather and Kuntī’s father.

Foremost of the Yadus, Śūra gave his first daughter Pṛthā to his childless cousin Kuntibhōja, as he had promised. Some tellings call him Śūrasēna. The name Śauri, “of Śūra’s line”, is a usual title of Kṛṣṇa.

• In the ties of Kuntī, Vasudēva and Kuntibhōja

Verses: Śloka 37, Śloka 69

Names: śauriḥ, śauriḥ

Kuntibhōja कुन्तिभोजः

Kuntī’s adoptive father.

Kuntibhōja was a kinsman of Śūra, son of Śūra’s paternal aunt, and had no child. Śūra gave him Pṛthā as he had promised, and she took the name Kuntī in his house.

• Cousin of Śūra

Rōhiṇī रोहिणी

Vasudēva’s wife, in whose womb Balarāma was carried.

A wife of Vasudēva, Rōhiṇī carried Balarāma, whose embryo was moved to her from Dēvakī’s womb. She is also named as mother of Subhadrā and others.

• In the ties of Vasudēva, Balarāma and Subhadrā