Shiva Sahasranama - Versions

Versions

There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva sahasranama. The version appearing in Book 13 (Anuśāsanaparvan) of the Mahabharata is considered the kernel of this tradition. The eight versions analyzed by Ram Karan Sharma are:

1. Mahabharata 13.17.30-150 (Anuśāsanaparvan Version)

2. Linga Purana (version 1, LP 1.65.54-168) is close to the Mahabharata Anushasanaparvan version.

3. Linga Purana (version 2, LP 1.98.27-159) has some passages in common with LP version 1, but also with other sources

4. Shivapurana 4.35.1-131.

5. Mahabharata (Śāntiparvan version). The critical edition of the Mahabharata does not include this version, relegating it to Appendix 28 to Śāntiparvan. It does appear in the text of the Gita Press edition as 12.284.68-180.

6. Vayu Purana (1.30.179-284) is almost the same as the Mahabharata Śāntiparvan version.

7. Brahmanda Purana (38.1.1-100) is almost the same as the Vayu Purana version.

8. Mahābhāgavata Upapurana (67.1-125) appears to be of comparatively recent origin.

In the version that occurs in book thirteen of the Mahabharata, Krishna recites the 1,008 names of Shiva to Yudhisthira. Yudhisthira had asked Bhishma the names of Shiva but Bhishma admitted his ignorance and requested him to ask Krishna. Interestingly, the thousand names of Vishnu, or Vishnu sahasranama, also occurs in the same chapter. Some overlapping of names with the Vishnu sahasranama has led Adi Shankara to conclude that Shiva and Vishnu are both identical, as two different aspects of one cosmic reality known as Brahman.