Hari ( sa, हरि) is among the primary epithets of the Hindu preserver deity

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within ...

, meaning 'the one who takes away' (sins). It refers to the one who removes darkness and illusion, the one who removes all obstacles to spiritual progress. In the ''Rigveda’s'' Purusha Sukta (praise of the supreme cosmic being), Hari is the first and most important name of the supreme Divine Being (whose Sanskrit

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical e ...

is Brahman). The second and alternative name of the supreme being is Narayana according to Narayana sukta of the ''

Yajurveda The ''Yajurveda'' ( sa, यजुर्वेद, ', from ' meaning "worship", and ''veda'' meaning "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell C ...

''. Within the Hindu tradition, it is often used interchangeably with

to such an extent that they are considered to be one and the same. The name "Hari" also appears as the 656th name of

in the Vishnu Sahasranama of the

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the struggle between two groups of cousins in the K ...

and is considered to be of great significance in

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

. In the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

, it is required to use the mantra "Harih om" before any recitation, just to declare that every ritual we perform is an offering to that supreme Divine Being; even if the hymn praises some one or the other demigods. The idea of demigods as found in Hinduism is very different from that found within Greco-Roman mythology. This has to be borne in mind while understanding how, within Hinduism, all beings including demigods are inseparable from Hari. Hari in ''Purusha Suktam'', Narayana Suktam and Rudra Suktam is usually depicted as having a form with countless heads, limbs and arms (a way of saying that the Supreme Being is everywhere and cannot be limited by conditional aspects of time and space). Lord Hari is also called '' Sharangapani'' as he also wields a bow named as Sharanga.

Etymology

The

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

word " हरि" (Hari) is derived from the

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo- ...

root "*'' ǵʰel-'' to shine; to flourish; green; yellow" which also gave rise to the Persian terms ''zar'' 'gold', Greek ''khloros'' 'green', Slavic ''zelen'' 'green' and ''zolto'' 'gold', as well as the English words ''yellow'' and ''gold''. The same root occurs in other Sanskrit words like '' haridrā'', ' turmeric', named for its yellow color. In Hinduism, beginning with Adi Sankara's commentary on the Vishnu sahasranama, ''hari'' became etymologized as derived from the verbal root ''hṛ'' "to grab, seize, steal", in the context of Vaishnavism interpreted as "to take away or remove evil or sin", and the name of Vishnu rendered as "he who destroys samsara", which is the entanglement in the cycle of birth and death, along with ignorance, its cause; compare ''hara'' as a name of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...

, translated as "seizer" or "destroyer".

Other names of Hari

There are multiple names of Hari mentioned in the holy scriptures of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or ''dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global po ...

, such as the Bhagavad Gita and

. A few names which are used quite frequently are: *

* Narayana *

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is on ...

* Madhava * Damodar * Govinda * Gopala

In Indian religions

In Hinduism

*The Harivamsha ("lineage of Hari") is a text in both the Purana and Itihasa traditions. * As the name of tawny-colored animals, ''hari'' may refer to lions (also a name of the zodiacal sign Leo), bay horses, or monkeys. The feminine ''Harī '' is the name of the mythological "mother of monkeys" in the

Sanskrit epics Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called ''Kavya'' (or ''Kāvya''; Sanskrit: काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá''). The ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata'', which were originally composed in ...

. * Harihara is the name of a fused deity form of both Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara) in Hinduism. * Hari is the name of a class of gods under the fourth

Manu Manu may refer to: Geography *Manú Province, a province of Peru, in the Madre de Dios Region ** Manú National Park, Peru **Manú River, in southeastern Peru * Manu River (Tripura), which originates in India and flows into Bangladesh *Manu Temp ...

(''manu tāmasa'', "Dark Manu") in the Puranas. * Haridasa is the Hari-centered bhakti movement from

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...

. * In the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, Hari is a name of both

and

, invoked in the Hare Krishna mahamantra (Hare could be a vocative form of Hari). * Sri Hari an avatar of Vishnu liberated Gajendra in the puranic literature.

In Sikhism

The name "ਹਰਿ" (Hari) is frequently used as a name for Waheguru in the ''Sri Guru Granth Sahib'':

ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਹੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਪਾਵੈ ਕੋਇ ॥
Hari, Hari, Hari, Hari is the Name (of the Lord); rare are those who, as Gurmukh, obtain it. (SGGS, Ang.1313)

In the '' Varan Bhai Gurdas'', an early explanation and interpretation of Sikh theology, Bhai Gurdas also associates the name "ਹਰਿ" (Hari) in the form of Hari Krishan in the Dwapur Yuga with the letter "ਹ" (h) in "ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ" (Waheguru). However, in the context of the ''Sri Guru Granth Sahib'', the name "Hari" refers to the one monotheistic God of Sikhism. Hari is the same god in Sikhism that is also known in Hinduism as well.

References