Sushena (

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: Suṣhēna; ) is an epithet of

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 t ...

, cited in the epic

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

hymn Vishnu Sahasranama (The thousand names of Vishnu). Several characters described in the

Hindu texts Hindu texts are manuscripts and voluminous historical literature which are related to any of the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A few of these texts are shared across these traditions and they are broadly considered Hindu scriptures. These ...

also have the name Sushena.

Literature

Stanza 58 of the Vishnu Sahasranama contains the name ''suṣhēnah'': ''mahāvarāho govindạh suṣhēnah kanakāngade'' ''guhyo gabhēro gahanọ guptaśchakragadādharah'' The

Advaita ''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' (lit ...

philosopher

Adi Shankara Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shanka ...

charya wrote a definitive

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

commentary on the Sahasranama in the eighth 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 (also transliterated as Parashara Bhattarya) was a follower of Ramanuja, a 12th-century Vaishnava teacher 062-1174 A.D He was the son of Koorathazhwan. His works include ''Srirangarajastavam''. He wrote a commentary in Sanskrit on ...

wrote a commentary in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

on Vishnu Sahasranama from a

Vaishnavite 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 ...

viewpoint, giving the opinion that

Bhagavan Bhagavan ( sa, भगवान्, Bhagavān; pi, Bhagavā, italics=yes), also spelt Bhagwan (sometimes translated in English as "Lord"), is an epithet within Indian religions used to denote figures of religious worship. In Hinduism it is us ...

(Vishnu) has a body that is pure ''suddha-sattva'', and the constituents of this pure body are like an army that can win over the

jiva ''Jiva'' ( sa, जीव, IAST: ) is a living being or any entity imbued with a life force in Hinduism and Jīva (Jainism), Jainism. The word itself originates from the Sanskrit verb-root ''jīv'', which translates as 'to breathe' or 'to live'. ...

s (nitya-muktas and baddha-muktas) and make them join him in mutual enjoyment of bliss.

Other uses

* Sushena was a son of

Karna Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-raja, and Radheya, is one of the main protagonists of the Hindu epic '' Mahābhārata''. He is the son of the sun god Surya and princess Kunti (mother of the ...

, one of the central characters of the Mahābhārata. He was a great car-warrior who fought in the

Kurukshetra Kurukshetra (, ) is a city and administrative headquarter of Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is also known as Dharmakshetra ("Realm of duty ") and as the "Land of the Bhagavad Gita". Legends According to the Pura ...

war, and defeated many warriors, but was finally killed by

Nakula In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, ''Nakula'' (Sanskrit: नकुल) was fourth of the five Pandava brothers. Nakula and Sahadeva were twins blessed to Madri, by Ashwini Kumaras, the divine physicians. Their parents Pandu and Madri - died earl ...

, one of the

Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, IAST: Pāṇḍava) refers to the five legendary brothers— Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva—who are the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. They are acknowledg ...

brothers, on the final day of the war. * Sushena (सुषेन) was a

vanara In Hindu, Vanara ( sa, वानर, , forest-dwellers) are either monkeys, apes, or a race of forest-dwelling people. In the epic the ''Ramayana'', the Vanaras help Rama defeat Ravana. They are generally depicted as humanoid apes, or human-l ...

chief at the siege of

Lanka Lanka (, ) is the name given in Hindu epics to the island fortress capital of the legendary asura king Ravana in the epics of the ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata''. The fortress was situated on a plateau between three mountain peaks known ...

, when

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 Bein ...

formed an alliance with the vanara king

Sugriva ''This character is about the vanara, in the Ramayana.'' Sugriva ( sa, सुग्रीव, , ) is a character In the ancient Indian epic Ramayana. He is the younger brother of Vali, whom he succeeded as ruler of the vanara kingdom of Kishk ...

, who placed an army of vanaras at Rama's disposal. * Another Sushena mentioned in the Mahābhārata was the able brother of Emperor

Janamejaya Janamejaya ( sa, जनमेजय) was a Kuru king who reigned during the Middle Vedic period. Along with his father and predecessor Parikshit, he played a decisive role in the consolidation of the Kuru state, the arrangement of Vedic hymns i ...

, son of Maharaja

Parikshit Parikshit ( sa, परीक्षित्, ) was a Kuru king who reigned during the Middle Vedic period (12th-10th centuries BCE). Along with his son and successor, Janamejaya, he played a decisive role in the consolidation of the Kuru state, ...

, of the

Kuru Kingdom Kuru (Sanskrit: ) was a Vedic Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan tribal union in northern Iron Age India, Iron Age India, encompassing parts of the modern-day states of Haryana, Delhi, and some parts of western Uttar Pradesh, which appeared in the M ...

. * The Raja Vaidya (Royal Doctor) of Ravana's Kingdom was named Sushena, with the 'na' – the ending na of 'ta-kara' in the varnamala of the Devanagari script.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sushen (Name) Names of Vishnu