Vishnu.Sahasranama.with.the.Bhasya.of.Sankaracharya_text

14. By Sudarsana Bhatta.
15. By Govinda Bhatta.
Since then some more have been discovered.
The MSS. of Sri S'ankaracharya's Bhashya are spread
throughout the length and breadth of India—an indication
of its great popularity—and many old copies of the same,
belonging to the 14th and 15th centuries, have been secured
by me and deposited in many of the libraries in which I
have worked during the last 40 years. Many doubted the
authenticity of the work, and I was myself one of them
until I commenced to prepare the first edition. I carefully
went through the work and was strongly impressed with
the remarkable coincidences between it and the other
writings of Sri S'ankara. The peculiarities of style,
diction and expression, characterising it throughout, are
peculiarly those of S'rl S'ankara ; the treatment of the whole
is very systematic and authoritative, explaining every
name mostly in the light of the Vedas, the Mahabharata,
Manusmriti, Vishnu Purana and the Bhagavad-Glta, which
are the standard classics of Hindu religious literature.
That S'rl S'ankara has chosen to comment upon these
hymns may be due to the fact that he thought it would be
more conducive to the spiritual progress of all classes of
people in the Kaliyuga. It requires, unlike any other
system of religious devotion, no ceremonies, no stated
times or places, no preparations and no unattainable quali-
fications in the devotee, as a means to reach the feet of the
Lord. A. close study of his discussion on this point in the
introductory chapter, where he supports his arguments
with references to authoritative texts, will convince
any reader.
The Text. The Sahasranama Stotras. These are prayers
addressed to some particular Deity of the Hindu pantheon
and invoke Him by the thousand names. They are found