Sahasranama position 536 of the 1,072 names

Sahasra Surya Sankasha

सहस्र सूर्य संकाशा

Sahasra Sūrya Saṃkāśā

What Sahasra Surya Sankasha means

Sahasra Surya Sankasha is name 536 in the Adya Mahakali Sahasranama, the 1,072-name devotional text to Maa Kali. Resplendent with the radiance of a thousand suns, illuminating all existence.

Also spelled

  • Sahasra Surya Samkasa
  • SahasraSuryaSankasha
  • Source transliteration: SAHASRA SURYA SANGKASHHA

Sanskrit names travel into English in several romanizations. This page keeps the common spelling, the IAST form, and the source transliteration together so the same name is discoverable under each spelling readers use.

Meaning and elaboration

Meaning: Resplendent with the radiance of a thousand suns, illuminating all existence.

Elaboration

Sahasra Surya Sangkashha means "She whose brilliance is like that of a thousand suns." This epithet points to Kali's unimaginable radiance, a splendor that is at once awe-inspiring and overpowering.

Transcendent Brilliance The combined light of a thousand suns is beyond ordinary comprehension. Here it serves as an image for Kali's divine luminosity, which surpasses all lesser forms of light and shines through every layer of existence. It signifies her all-pervading consciousness (Cit-shakti), which dispels the darkness of ignorance (avidyā) and illusion (māyā).

Destroyer of Darkness Just as the blaze of a thousand suns would leave no shadow untouched, Kali's radiant presence destroys the deepest forms of spiritual darkness in the devotee and in the cosmos. She burns away obscuration, karmic impurity, and the binding force of ego, allowing true wisdom to arise.

Cosmic Manifestation and Dissolution This radiance also reflects her role at both the beginning and the end of creation. At the time of cosmic dissolution (Pralaya), the universe is said to be consumed by fires blazing with the force of a thousand suns, returning all forms to the unmanifest. Kali, as the power presiding over Pralaya, embodies that destructive and regenerative light.

Spiritual Illumination For the spiritual seeker, this name invokes Kali as the supreme source of illumination. Her radiance is not merely physical light, but the light of pure knowledge (jñāna), which reveals the true nature of the self and of reality. To meditate upon Sahasra Surya Sangkashha is to invoke the purifying fire of divine wisdom, the fire that cleanses and liberates.

Text and sources

The name list follows the Adya Mahakali Sahasranama as compiled for this project. The English meaning and elaboration are interpretive notes for devotional study, not a translation of a single critical edition.

Read the editorial method and source notes →

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