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{{Short description|One of the names of Lord Vishnu in Hinduism.}}
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{{Hinduism}}
[[File:Shree Hari Vishnu Statue.jpg|250x250px|thumb|Hari Vishnu statue in Kumbeswara temple]]
'''Hari''' ([[Sanskrit]]: हरि, [[IAST]]: ''Hari'') is a name for the supreme absolute in the [[Vedas]]. It refers to the one who removes darkness and illusion, God who takes away all the sorrows of his devotees. In the [[Rigveda|''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]] is [[Brahman]]). The second and alternative name of the supreme being is [[Narayana]] according to [[Narayana sukta]] of the ''[[Yajurveda]]''. Within the Hindu tradition, it is often used interchangeably with [[Vishnu]] to such an extent that they are considered to be one and the same.

The name "Hari" also appears as the 656th name of [[Vishnu]] in the [[Vishnu sahasranama]] of the [[Mahabharata]] and is considered to be of great significance in [[Vaishnavism]]. In the [[Vedas]], 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 Sukta|''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 (disambiguation)|Sharangapani]]'' as he also wields a bow named as [[Sharanga]].

==Etymology==

The [[Sanskrit]] word "[[wikt:हरि#Sanskrit|हरि]]" (Hari) is derived from the [[Proto-Indo-European]] root "*''[[wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ǵʰelh₃-|ǵʰel-]]'' to shine; to flourish; green; yellow" which also gave rise to the [[Persian language|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 ''[[wikt:हरिद्रा#Sanskrit|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",<ref>Monier-Williams, ''A Sanskrit Dictionary'' (1899):</ref> 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;<ref>''Sri Vishnu Sahasranama'', commentary by Sri Sankaracharya, translated by Swami Tapasyananda (Ramakrishna Math Publications, Chennai)</ref> compare ''hara'' as a name of [[Shiva]], translated as "seizer" or "destroyer".

===Other names of Hari===

There are multiple names of Lord Hari mentioned in the holy scriptures of [[Hinduism]] such as the [[Bhagavad Gita]] and [[Mahabharata]]. A few names which are used quite frequently,

* [[Vishnu]]
* [[Narayana]]
* [[Rama]]
* [[Krishna]]
* [[List of names of Vishnu]]
* [[Madhava (Vishnu)|Madhav]]
* [[Damodar (name of Krishna)|Damodar]]
* [[Govind]]
* Gopal

==In Indian religion==

=== In Hinduism ===
*The [[Harivamsha]] ("lineage of Hari") is a text in both the [[Puranic]] and [[Itihasa]] traditions.
* As the name of tawny-colored animals, ''hari'' may refer to lions (also a name of the [[Leo (astrology)|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 (Hinduism)|Manu]] (''manu tāmasa'', "Dark Manu") in the Puranas.
* In the [[Gaudiya Vaishnava]] tradition, Hari is a name of both [[Krishna]] and [[Vishnu]], invoked in the [[Hare Krishna Maha(mantra)|Hare Krishna]] [[mantra]] (Hare could be a vocative form of Harih, used in mahamantra).

=== In Sikhism ===
The name "ਹਰਿ" (Har) is frequently used as a name for [[Waheguru]] in the [[Guru Granth Sahib|''Sri Guru Granth Sahib'']]:<blockquote>ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਹਰਿ ਨਾਮੁ ਹੈ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਿ ਪਾਵੈ ਕੋਇ ॥<br>

Har, Har, Har, Har is the Name (of the Lord); rare are those who, as [[Gurmukh]], obtain it. (SGGS, Ang.1313)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sri Guru Granth Sahib|url=http://srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?Action=Page&g=1&h=1&r=1&t=1&p=0&k=0&Param=1313|url-status=live|access-date=2021-06-12|website=srigranth.org|page=1313}}</ref></blockquote>In the ''[[Varan Bhai Gurdas]]'', an early explanation and interpretation of Sikh theology, [[Bhai Gurdas]] also associates the name "ਹਰਿ" (Har) with the letter "ਹ" (h) in "ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ" (Waheguru).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://searchgurbani.com/bhai-gurdas-vaaran/vaar/1/pauri/49/line/1|title=Bhai Gurdas Vaaran|pages=|at=Vaar 1, Pauri 49}}</ref>

However, in the context of the ''Sri Guru Granth Sahib'', the name "Har" refers to the [[Ik Onkar|one monotheistic God]] of [[Sikhism]] rather than to one of the Hindu deities such as Vishnu.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rohi|first=Rajinder Kaur|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/41412328|title=Semitic and Sikh monotheism : a comparative study|date=1999|publisher=Publication Bureau, Punjabi University|isbn=81-7380-550-4|location=Patiala|pages=105|oclc=41412328}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Vishnu]]
* [[Narayana]]
* [[Hari Nama Keerthanam]]
* [[Hari Tuma Haro]]
* [[Harikatha]]
* [[Harijan]]
* [[Krishna]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Rigveda]]
[[Category:Shades of yellow]]
[[Category:Titles and names of Krishna]]

Hari - Revision history

>FrescoBot at 09:14, 5 July 2021