Ganesha Sahasranama - Thousand Names of Ganesha: Translated Based on Bhaskara Raya Makhin's Khadyota Bhashya

The hymn Ganesha sahasranama is found in the Ganesha purāna. It is taught to lord Shiva by lord Ganesha himself. The story is given in detail in poorvapeethika that when lord Shiva wanted to destroy the tripurāsura - the demon king with three flying cities, but could not succeed even after enormous efforts, lord Shiva meditated on Ganesha. Then Ganesa appeared before Shiva in his five faced form (panchamukha Ganesha) and initiated lord Shiva with this hymn. This thousand name hymn of ganesha ( ganesha sahasranama ) is one among the powerful hymns on lord Ganesha and it has great importance in the Gānāpatya tradition.Bhāskara rāya mākhin a great shākta scholar and devotee of the mother goddess, a scholar in Vedas, purānas and mantra shāstras had written a wonderful commentary on the hymn. The commentary is called khadyota (that which enlightens the sky) It is named so as it puts light on the deeper meanings of the names of this thousand names hymn (sahasranāma stotra) I have explained every name of this thousand names hymn based on the khadyota commentary and I have also quoted shlokas from the Vedas, purānas and tantras.Some names of the sahasranāma refer to various forms and incarnations of lord Ganesha. I have quoted the dhyāna shloka (verses describing forms of ganesha to be meditated on) of those forms from the tantra and āgama shāstras and also explained their meanings.The sahasranamavali (list of names from the sahasranama) starting with one and ending with namah (salutation) is also given for the perpose of chanting. the book has two indexes first index containing index of all names in the order in which it occurs in the hymn and the second index is alphabetical.