Concluding Shloka

The stotram closes the thousand names with a shloka that once more brings before our eyes the Lord with His five weapons, protecting us. It is recited at the end of the thousand names, just as the dhyana shlokas are recited at the beginning.

वनमाली गदी शार्ङ्गी शङ्खी चक्री च नन्दकी ।

श्रीमान् नारायणो विष्णुर्वासुदेवोऽभिरक्षतु ॥

vanamālī gadī śārṅgī śaṅkhī cakrī ca nandakī |

śrīmān nārāyaṇō viṣṇurvāsudēvō'bhirakṣatu ||

May the glorious Narayana, Vishnu, Vasudeva, who wears the vanamālā garland and bears the mace Kaumodaki, the bow Sharnga, the conch Panchajanya, the discus Sudarshana, and the sword Nandaka, protect us on all sides.

Sri Bhattar interprets the last eight names of the stotram (993–1000) as the Lord holding His weapons, ever ready to protect His devotees. This closing shloka gathers all of them into a single prayer: the Lord who holds these weapons is not far away from us, but is Narayana, Vishnu, and Vasudeva, who dwells in us and around us, and protects us.