Chanting a single name or 108 names or 1008 names of Lord
Vishnu is of great importance in Hinduism. One who praises Lord Vishnu with his
names will overcome all sorrow. The name of Vishnu is equal to the gift of ten
million cows (Mahabharata 12.135.6; Stotranava, Vishnu Purana 15.5).
The repetition of any or all of the names, both with or
without rosary, constitutes an important part of daily worship and is
considered to be highly meritorious. These names are based on guanas or
attributes (Mahabharata 12.135.13a)
The devotees of Shiva eulogize the one thousand and eight
epithets of Shiva (Mahabharata 13.17). The devotees of Vishnu eulogize the one
thousand epithets (Mahabharata 12.135), which are popularly known as Vishnu
Sahasranama Stotra. Adi Shankaracharya’s commentary is available on this.
This is a dialogue between Bhishma and Yudhisthira in the
Anusasana Parva. It consists of 142 shlokas excluding thirteen shlokas at the
beginning and 22 at the end, the remaining 107 shlokas contain one thousand
epithets of Vishnu. With each epithet in the dative case, the words om and
namah are added.
Bhagavata Purana (7.5.23-24) speaks of nine aspects of
devotion and it includes hearing the names in praise of Lord Vishnu, to chant
them and to remember him.
Devotion through chanting the names of Vishnu is regarded as
the highest form of learning. To bring about this condition of intense
religious fervor, various practices like incessant repetition of name of
Vishnu, singing, dancing or moving the body allied to dancing are also
practiced by devotees.
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu taught that the great aim of every
worshipper of Krishna ought to be to lose self-consciousness in ecstatic union
with Krishna by chanting his various names.