Sushen (Hinduism)
Encyclopedia
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
cited in the epic Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
poem Vishnu sahasranāma
Vishnu sahasranama
The Vishnu sahasranama is a list of 1,000 names of Vishnu, one of the main forms of God in Hinduism and the personal supreme God for Vaishnavas . It is also one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras in Hinduism...
("the thousand names of Vishnu"), an articulated versification of 1,008 names for Vishnu.
Other people described in Hindu sacred texts also have the name Sushena. Many Hindu or Buddhist people, especially in India, China, Cambodia, The Maldives, Indonesia and Mongolia are named Suṣhēn or Suṣhēna or Suṣhєn or Suṣhєna.
Vishnu sahasranama
Vaishnavas consider that Vishnu is the supreme god in the trimurtiTrimurti
The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism "in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahmā the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Śhiva the destroyer or transformer," These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or...
or Hindu triad. Vishnu sahasranama is one of the most sacred and commonly chanted stotras
Stotras
In Hinduism, a Stotra is a hymn of praise. These hymns praise aspects of the divine, such as Devi, Siva, or Vishnu. Relating to word "stuti", coming from the same verb, stu , and basically both mean "praise"....
in Hinduism, and the version found in the Mahābhārata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
is the most popular. It lists names that each eulogise one of Vishnu's great attributes. Stanza 58 of the Vishnu sahasranama contains the name suṣhēnah:
mahāvarāho govindạh suṣhēnah kanakāngade
guhyo gabhēro gahanọ guptaśchakragadādharah
Authorities have different views of the meaning of the word suṣhēnah in this context.
The Advaita philosopher Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (IAST: pronounced , (Sanskrit: , ) (788 CE - 820 CE), also known as ' and ' was an Indian philosopher from Kalady of present day Kerala who consolidated the doctrine of advaita vedānta...
charya wrote a definitive Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
commentary on the sahasranāma in the 8th century CE which has been particularly influential for many schools of Hinduism. His commentary on Stanza 58 included: "Suṣhēnah – He who has a charming army. The army of Vishnu is called as His Ganā. They are mainly constituted of great sages and seers and hence, their compelling enchantment."
In the 13th century CE, Parasara Bhattar
Parasara Bhattar
Parasara Bhattar was a follower of Ramanuja, a 12th century Vaishnava teacher, born at the end of 12th century CE, who wrote a commentary in Tamil on Vishnu sahasranama from a Sri Vaishnavite viewpoint, in contrast to the Advaita view of Adi Sankara. He was appointed as the head of Sri Vaishnavites...
wrote a commentary in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
on Vishnu sahasranama from a Vaishnavite
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism is a tradition of Hinduism, distinguished from other schools by its worship of Vishnu, or his associated Avatars such as Rama and Krishna, as the original and supreme God....
viewpoint, giving the opinion that Bhagavan
Bhagavan
Bhagavan, also written Bhagwan or Bhagawan, from the Sanskrit nt-stem literally means "possessing fortune, blessed, prosperous" , and hence "illustrious, divine, venerable, holy", etc.In some traditions of Hinduism it is used to...
(Vishnu) has a body which is pure suddha-sattva, and the constituents of this pure body are like an army that can win over the jivas (nitya-muktas and baddha-muktas) and make them join him in mutual enjoyment of Bliss.
Other uses
- Sushena was son of KarnaKarnaKarna or Radheya is one of the central characters in the epic Mahābhārata, from ancient India. He was the King of Anga...
, one of the central characters of the Mahābhārata. He was a great car-warrior who fought in many battles but was eventually killed by NakulaNakulaNakula, also spelt "Nakul" was one of the five Pandava brothers according to the epic Mahābhārata. Nakula and Sahadeva were fraternal twins born to Madri, who had invoked the Ashvins using a mantra for a son, the mantra shared by Kunti...
, one of the PandavaPandavaIn the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, the Pandava are the five acknowledged sons of Pandu , by his two wives Kunti and Madri. Their names are Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. Although, Karna is told by Lord Krishna that according to the laws and ethics he is the first son of Kunti making...
brothers. - Sushena (सुषेन) was a monkey chief at the siege of LankaLankaSri Lanka is the name given in Hindu mythology to the island fortress capital of the legendary king Ravana in the great Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata...
, when RamaRamaRama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
formed an alliance with the monkey king SugrivaSugrivaIn the Hindu epic Ramayana, Sugriva , also spelled Sugreeva or Sugreev, was the younger brother of Bali, whom he succeeded as ruler of the vanara or monkey kingdom Kishkindha. Ruma was his wife. He was the son of Surya, the Hindu deity of the sun...
who placed an army of monkeys at Rama's disposal. - Another Sushena mentioned in the Mahābhārata was the able brother of Emperor JanamejayaJanamejayaJanamejaya was a Kuru king. He was the son of Parikshit and Madravati. He was the grandson of Abhimanyu and the great-grandson of Arjuna, the valiant warrior hero of the Mahābhārata. He was ascended to the Kuru throne following the death of his father. His significance comes as the listener of the...
, son of Maharaja Parikshit of the Kuru KingdomKuru KingdomKuru was the name of an ancient kingdom in Vedic India, and later a republican Mahajanapada state. The kingdom was located in the area of modern Haryana, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh in India. They formed the first political center of the of the Vedic India, with its capital at Hastinapur. It...
. - In the RamayanaRamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
, Sushena was the son of VarunaVarunaIn Vedic religion, Varuna is a god of the sky, of water and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld...
the God of the sea. - The Raja Vaidya (Royal Doctor) of Ravana's Kingdom was named Sushena with the 'na' – the ending na of 'ta-kara' in the varnamaala of devanagari script.
- But the most important meaning of Sushenah, as considered by some scholars explains it as: 'su' meaning good or heavenly and 'shenah' with the 'na' – the ending na of 'ta-kara', meaning vaidya or doctor. Precisely Sushenah means Good Doctor or Heavenly Doctor – which is Vishnu and hence His 540th name in Vishnu Sahasranaama is 'Sushenah'.