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He is the great sacrificers, mahayajva (676) the great oblation, mahahavih (678), and the great sacrifice, mahayajnah (677). In explaining this last term, mahayajnah; Sri Sankara quotes the Bhagavad-Gita words already cited by us "Of sacrifices I am japa-yajna."
Stotra and yajna, kirtana and japa, as spiritual disciplines, are the effective means that pave the way for the plenary realization of the non-dual God-head where all distinctions are transcended.
It is as against this end in view that the importance of the Sahasranama should be understood.
There are several Sahasranamas: the m used are three:
Visnu-sahasranama, Siva- sahasranama, and Lalita-sahasranama.
The Lalita-sahasranama is a litany of a thousand names of Devi. This occurs in the 'Lalitopakhyana' section of Brahmanda-purana. To the same section belongs Lalitatrisati on which Sri Sankara has written a commentary. The Lalita Sahasranama was imparted by the Lord Hayagriva to sage Agastya.
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