Painting of Vishnu, Crafts Museum, New Delhi, India
Hari (Sanskrit: हरि) is among the primary epithets of the Hindu preserver deity Vishnu, meaning 'the one who takes away' (sins).[1] It refers to the one who removes darkness and illusion, the one who removes all obstacles to spiritual progress.
The Sanskrit word "हरि" (Hari) is derived from the Proto-Indo-European 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",[2] 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;[3] compare hara as a name of Shiva, translated as "seizer" or "destroyer".
There are multiple names of Hari mentioned in the holy scriptures of Hinduism, such as the Bhagavad Gita and Mahabharata. A few names which are used frequently are:
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.
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 tāmasa, "Dark Manu") in the Puranas.
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)[5]
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).[6]
^Sri Vishnu Sahasranama, commentary by Sri Sankaracharya, translated by Swami Tapasyananda (Ramakrishna Math Publications, Chennai)
^Sharma, B.N. Krishnamurti (2000) [1961]. History of Dvaita school of Vedanta and its Literature (3rd ed.). Bombay: Motilal Banarasidass. pp. xxxii–xxxiii, 514–516, 539. ISBN81-208-1575-0.
