Hari

In Hinduism, "Hari" (Sanskrit: हरि) is another name of and , and appears as the 650th name in the Vishnu sahasranama of Mahabharata. In Sanskrit 'Hari' sometimes refers to a colour, yellow, or fawn-coloured/khaki (it is the colour of the Sun and that of Soma).

Religious usage
the Harivamsha 'lineage of Hari' is a text within both the Puranic and Itihasa traditions.
Within Sikhism it is stated that one of the names of God is Hari. The Harmandir SahibGolden Temple, the most sacred temple in Sikhism is also called Harimandir or 'Temple of God.' According to Sikhism God is formless and Sikhs do not believe 'Hari' has any connection with Krishna or Vishnu.
In Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition Hari is a name of both Krishna or Vishnu meaning 'he who steals, or takes away'- referring to how Krishna takes away all distress and anxieties, and lovingly robs the heart of His devotee. During religious festivals it is a common occurrence to hear people call out 'Haribol ! Haribol !' meaning 'please call out the name Hari; the Hare Krishna mantra contains the name in the vocative.
According to Adi Sankara' s commentary on the Vishnu sahasranama, Hari means 'One who destroys samsara, which is the entanglement in the cycle of birth and death, along with ignorance, its cause.
In the Ravidasi religion it is the holy symbol consisting of the three letters in Gurmukhi with the character for 'i' being made into a flame. It adorns all Ravidasi temples, known as Gurdehras.

In the Philippines, Hari is the generic word for 'king,' as in the word for rainbow: 'bahaghari' the king's garment. Historically, however, Filipino rulers from the precolonial era seem to have carried the title 'raja.'

Influences
The Avestan cognate is 'zari', sometimes incorrectly identified as the first part of the name of Zarathustra. The English languageEnglish words 'gold' and 'yellow' are probably also both cognates of 'hari'. They all derive from the hypothetical Proto-Indo-European languageProto-Indo-European root ghel-, meaning 'to shine'. Many words in other unrelated languages in Asia are also derived from the word; due to the influence of Sanskrit as a language of learning in the region. For example: the word for 'daylight' in Indonesian languageIndonesian, the word for 'day' in Malay languageMalay and the word for 'king' in Tagalog languageTagalog, all of which are 'hari'. It is also a commonly used name in many Indian languages.

References
Cited from 'Sri Vishnu Sahasranama', commentary by Sri Sankaracharya, translated by Swami Tapasyananda ((Ramakrishna Math Publications, Chennai))


See also
Gauranga
Hari Tuma Haro
Hari Nama Keerthanam
Harikatha
Hari (director)
Hara: A name for Shiva.

External links

All about Krishna.



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