The method
How you learn a verse
This is the order a pathashala teacher follows, in the traditional school where the chants are taught by ear: hear it, say it with help, then say it alone. Every new verse goes through four steps.
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Listen
The verse plays as it is chanted, with the words in Devanagari and in Roman letters beside it. Slow it to half speed if a line runs too fast; the pitch stays true.
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Say it with hints
The words go, and only the first sound of each one stays. viśvaṃ viṣṇurvaṣaṭkāro becomes vi… vi… Enough to remind you, not enough to read from.
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Say it from memory
Recite the whole verse aloud with nothing on the screen. Then check yourself against the text. Missed a word? Back to the hints, and try again.
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It comes back
A learned verse returns the next day, then after two days, four days, a week, two weeks, a month and two months. Each time it comes just before you would forget it. Miss a word, and it starts its climb again.
The joins
Where a chant breaks
People who chant from memory seldom forget a verse. They forget what comes after it. So every join is practised on its own: you see the last line of one verse, and say the first line of the next.
Once a week
Chant along from the start
Once you know two verses, chant along with the recording from the very first verse to the last one you have learned. It holds the verses together in their order, the way the stotra is recited.
What you will learn
173 verses, in three parts
- The opening 32 verses
- From śuklāmbaradharaṃ viṣṇuṃ, through Yudhishthira's questions to Bhishma, to the dhyāna verses, which picture Vishnu for meditation.
- The names 108 shlokas
- From viśvaṃ viṣṇurvaṣaṭkāraḥ to vanamālī gadī śārṅgī: the thousand names themselves.
- The closing 33 verses
- The phalashruti, the fruits of the chant, ending with kāyena vācā.
At one verse a day, the whole chant takes about six months.
Questions
Before you begin
How long does it take to learn the Vishnu Sahasranama by heart?
About six months at one new verse a day, with a few minutes a day for the verses that come back. You can learn more than one a day if you want to go faster.
Do I need to sign in?
No. Your progress is kept in this browser. Sign in with Google if you want to keep your place on your phone and your computer alike.
Is it free?
Yes. Every verse, every recording and every review.
I cannot read Devanagari. Can I still learn it?
Yes. Every verse is also written in Roman letters, with marks that show how each sound is said.
What if I miss a day?
Nothing is lost. The verses wait for you, and the oldest come first when you return.
Which text is this?
The chant as it is recited in homes and temples, with its opening and closing prayers. The names quiz on this site follows the Critical Edition of the Mahabharata, which counts 107 shlokas of names; the chant has 108.
Want to know what each name means?
All the names, with their meanings in English, are on the Vishnu Sahasranama page.