Madhusudana

Madhusudana (Sanskrit: मधुसूदन, romanized: Madhusūdana) is an epithet of Vishnu or Krishna^[1] and is the 73rd^[2] name in the Vishnu Sahasranama.

Sculpture of Vishnu slaying Madhu and Kaitabha

Madhusudana (Vishnu) and Madhusudana Kāminī (Lakshmi)

According to Adi Sankara's commentary on the Vishnu Sahasranama, Madhusudana means the "destroyer of Madhu".

Literature

Main article: Madhu-Kaitabha

The death of Madhu and the origin of the epithet is described in the Padma Purana:^[3]

Then Madhu, screened with darkness, quickly disappeared. Through his illusion he dropped a hundred mountains on (the body of) Viṣṇu. Then in the battle, getting into the darkness, he cut off the mountains, and angrily cut off his head with his (disc called) Sudarśana. Then gods like Brahmā and Śiva made him known as ‘Madhusūdana’ in the worlds.

— Padma Purana, Section 1, Chapter 72