Śukrācārya’s Eye Restored

The Narasiṃha Purāṇa tells this episode in its 55th chapter. Śukrācārya was the guru of the daityas. He lost an eye when Bhagavān Vāmana pierced his water-vessel with a blade of kuśa grass at the yajña of Bali. Later he went to many tīrthas, stood in the Gaṅgā and made a Sanskrit stotra to Bhagavān Vishṇu in nine verses. In it he calls Bhagavān Vishṇu by the names Vāmana, Nārāyaṇa and Narasiṃha. Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared before him, and touched his lost eye with the Pāñcajanya conch. At once a perfect eye, the same as the first, was formed.

What had happened before

In the Vāmana avatāra, Bhagavān Vishṇu came to Bali’s great yajña as the brāhmaṇa boy Vāmana. Śukrācārya knew him at once as Bhagavān Vishṇu in disguise. He could not stop Bali from giving the gift. So he made his body small by his hidden powers and went into the spout of the kalaśa (the water-vessel used in the formal ceremony of giving). He hoped to block the flow of water so that the gift could not be completed. Vāmana knew of this block and put a blade of kuśa grass into the spout to clear it. The kuśa blade struck Śukrācārya’s eye and blinded him in that eye. From then on Śukrācārya was known as the one-eyed, and he carried this mark of his meeting with Bhagavān Vishṇu. (Chapter 55; the Vāmana avatāra is told on its own page.)

The tīrtha yātrā

After the Vāmana avatāra, Śukrācārya kept the memory of his lost eye. He set out on a long tīrtha yātrā (journey to sacred places) and visited many sacred waters across the earth, in sorrow and in repentance. When the long journey was over, he stood in the waters of the Gaṅgā with his arms raised. In his heart he meditated on Bhagavān Narasiṃha, the eternal bearer of conch, discus and mace, and he made a stotra to Bhagavān Vishṇu. (Chapter 55)

The Śukrācārya-kṛta Śrī Mahāvishṇu Stotra

Standing in the Gaṅgā with his arms raised, Śukrācārya made this stotra in Sanskrit. The Purāṇa opens it with this verse.

Vāmanena saviddhāksho bahutīrdeshu Bhārgavaḥ
Jāhnavī salile sthitvā devam abhyarcya Vāmanam
Ūrdhvabāhuḥ sadeveśaṃ śaṅkhacakragadādharaṃ
Hṛdi saṃcintya tushṭāva Narasiṃhaṃ sanātanam

Bhārgava (Śukrācārya), whose eye had been pierced by Vāmana, stood in the water of the Jāhnavī (the Gaṅgā) after visiting many tīrthas. He honoured Deva Vāmana. With his arms raised he held in his heart the master of the devas, who bears the conch, discus and mace, and he praised Narasiṃha, the eternal.

Namāmi devaṃ viśveśaṃ Vāmanaṃ Vishṇurūpiṇam
Balidarpaharaṃ śāntaṃ śāśvataṃ Purushottamam

I bow to Deva Vāmana, the master of the universe, who has the form of Vishṇu. He took away Bali’s pride. He is peaceful and eternal, the Purushottama.

Dhīraṃ śūraṃ mahādevaṃ sargagaṃ sarvabhāvanaṃ
Anādim ajaraṃ nityaṃ namāmi Garuḍadhvajam

I bow to the steady and brave Mahādeva, who is present in creation and from whom all things come. He is Garuḍadhvaja (the one whose banner bears Garuḍa), without beginning, ageless and ever the same.

Surāsuraiḥ bhaktimadbhiḥ stuto Nārāyaṇaḥ sadā
Pūjitaṃ ca Hṛshīkeśaṃ taṃ namāmi Jagadgurum

Nārāyaṇa is always praised by devas and asuras who are full of bhakti. I bow to Hṛshīkeśa, the Jagadguru (teacher of the world), who is honoured with pūjā.

Hṛdi saṃkalpya yadrūpaṃ saṃdhyāyanti yatayaḥ sadā
Jyotirūpam anaupamyaṃ Narasiṃhaṃ namāmy aham

I bow to Narasiṃha, whose form is light and has no equal. The yatis (ascetics) always meditate on this form, which they hold in the heart.

Na jānanti paraṃ rūpaṃ Brahmādyā devatāgaṇāḥ
Yasyāvatārarūpāṇi samarcanti namāmi tam

Brahmā and the other hosts of devas do not know his highest form. They honour his forms as avatāras. I bow to him.

Etat samastaṃ yenādau spashṭaṃ dushṭavadhāt punaḥ
Trātaṃ yatra jagallīnaṃ taṃ namāmi Janārdanam

I bow to Janārdana. By him all this was first brought forth. By slaying the wicked he again protected the world that had been lost.

Bhaktair abhyarcito yastu nityaṃ bhaktapriyohi yaḥ
Taṃ devam amalaṃ divyaṃ praṇamāmi Jagatpatim

I bow to that pure and divine Deva, the Jagatpati (master of the world). His devotees always honour him with pūjā, and he is dear to his devotees.

Durlabhaṃ cāpi bhaktānāṃ yaḥ prayacchati toshitaḥ
Taṃ sarvasākshiṇaṃ Vishṇuṃ praṇamāmi sanātanam

I bow to Vishṇu, the eternal witness of all. When he is pleased, he gives his devotees even what is hard to gain.

Taken together, the stotra praises Bhagavān Vishṇu as the eternal Purushottama who humbled Bali’s pride. It praises him as Garuḍadhvaja, ever young and without beginning. It names him Jagadguru, always praised by devas and asuras alike, and Jyotirūpa, the form of light that yogins meditate on in the heart. It says that even Brahmā cannot grasp his true form. It calls him Janārdana, who made and protects the whole universe, and the pure and divine Jagatpati, dear to his devotees. It names him Sarvasākshī, the witness of all, who gives what even the rarest devotee wishes for.

Bhagavān Vishṇu appears and restores the eye

The stotra moved Bhagavān Vishṇu, who bears the conch, discus and mace, the Jagannātha. He appeared before Śukrācārya on the bank of the Gaṅgā. He asked Śukrācārya why he had made this stotra. Śukrācārya answered with humility: “O Devadeva! In the past I made a grave mistake. I am offering this stotra to seek a remedy for that wrong.”

Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa smiled and said: “Because you earned my displeasure, you lost one eye. I am pleased with your stotra now.” With these words Bhagavān Vishṇu took his divine Pāñcajanya, the sacred conch, and gently touched it to Śukrācārya’s lost eye. By the touch of the Pāñcajanya alone, a perfect new eye was formed at once. It was the same in every way as Śukrācārya’s first eye. Bhagavān Vishṇu then accepted Śukrācārya’s pūjā and became unseen. (Chapter 55)

Sources

• Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 55
• Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 45, for the Vāmana avatāra to which this episode refers