Brahmā Stotra to Rāma

This episode is in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. Rāvaṇa was dead, and Sītā had entered the fire to prove she was pure. Brahmā, Kubera, Yama, Indra, Varuṇa, Śiva and the other great devas came down in their shining vimānas (flying chariots) to the shore of Laṅkā and stood before Rāma. They asked how Rāma, who is Śrī Mahānārāyaṇa, could let Sītā enter the fire. Brahmā then declared, in the hearing of all the devas, in the plainest words, that Śrī Rāma is Śrī Mahāvishṇu, the eternal Paramātmā, come down in human form.

The occasion

Rāvaṇa had been killed and his funeral rites (antyeshṭi) had been done. Śrī Rāma stood with all the gathered vānara and rākshasa forces. He ordered Vibhīshaṇa to bring Sītā to him. Sītā came dressed in fine clothes, surrounded by rākshasa women. Then Śrī Rāma spoke hard words to her before the whole crowd. He said he doubted her purity after her long stay in Rāvaṇa’s women’s quarters (antaḥpura). He said he could not take her back without pramāṇa (proof) of her spotless character.

Sītā had lived all her life in the dharma of a faithful wife (pativratā). She had lived through her captivity in the Aśoka grove. She trembled with grief at these words. She turned to Lakshmaṇa and asked him to build a citā (funeral fire). She said she would enter the fire (agni). If she was pure, Agni-deva, the witness of all the worlds, would protect her. If her pātivratya (faithfulness to her husband) had never been broken, the devas themselves would bear witness to it. (Yuddha Kāṇḍa, chapters 118–119)

Śrī Rāma looked down and said nothing. Lakshmaṇa read the unspoken wish of Śrī Rāma. He understood that this was the Avatāra’s own chosen way to declare Sītā’s purity before all three worlds. He built the citā. Sītā walked around Rāma in pradakshiṇa (a circle keeping him on her right), prayed to Agni as her witness, and entered the flames. The crowds of vānaras, rākshasas and humans cried out in horror. (Yuddha Kāṇḍa, chapter 119)

The descent of the devas

The cry of alarm rose through the three worlds. The great devas heard it and came down in their vimānas, bright as the sun, and gathered at Laṅkā. There was Kubera, the king of the yakshas. There was Yama, the ruler of dharma. There was Sahasrāksha Devendra (Indra of the thousand eyes) and Varuṇa. There was Vṛshabhadhvaja Śaṅkara, the three-eyed one, giver of all prosperity (sampat). And there was Brahmā, the greatest among those who know brahma and the maker of all the lokas. All the ṛshis of the higher worlds came with them. They all stood before Śrī Rāma with their long, ornamented arms folded in prāñjali (hands joined in respect). (Yuddha Kāṇḍa, chapter 120)

The devas’ question

The devas spoke to Śrī Rāma: “O Rāma! You are the maker of all the lokas. You are the best of all, the foremost among all who know. How then do you stand by while Sītā Devī enters the fire? You are Śrīman Nārāyaṇa, greater even than Brahmā among the devas. How do you not know this yourself? You are Prajāpati among the Vasus, as Ṛtudhāma. You are svayambhu (self-born), the first maker of these three worlds. You are the eighth of the Rudras (Mahādeva). You are the fifth of the Sādhyas. The Aśvinī devas are your ears. Sūrya and Candra are your eyes. O Paramtapa! You existed before creation and you will exist at pralaya (the dissolution). You are beyond birth and death. You know all, you have all power, you are the master of all. Then why do you stand like an ordinary man (pāmara mānava) and let Sītā, the daughter of the king of Videha, enter the fire?” (Yuddha Kāṇḍa, chapter 120)

Śrī Rāma’s answer

Rāghava heard the words of the devas and answered them: “I know myself as Rāma, the son of Mahārāja Daśaratha, an ordinary man (sāmānya mānava). Who am I truly? Whose am I? How did I come here? What is my own nature (svarūpa)? How am I related to the lokas? What is the purpose of my being here? Let Brahmā Deva explain this to me.” (Yuddha Kāṇḍa, chapter 120)

Śrī Rāma asked for a formal declaration from Brahmā and did not proclaim it himself.

Brahmā’s declaration

Brahmā Deva, the greatest among those who know brahma, then spoke with full authority. In the presence of all the devas he stated who Śrī Rāma is, and said that he is one with Śrī Mahāvishṇu.

“O Satya-parākrama Rāma! I will tell you the truth. Listen. You are Nārāyaṇa, the cause of all the jagat (world). You are Bhagavān Mahāvishṇu himself. You are the Ādi-Purusha (the first Purusha), who existed before all creation. You are the eternal upholder of dharma. Your Bhagavattva (divine lordship) goes beyond every limit. You have the six divine qualities (shaḍ-guṇaiśvarya). This whole jagat is your līlā-parikara (the company of your play). Lakshmī Devī lives always on your chest (vakshaḥ-sthala). The peerless Sudarśana Cakra is your weapon (āyudha). You are all-pervading (sarva-vyāpaka). You became Varāha Mūrti with one tusk (śṛṅga) and lifted up the earth (bhūmaṇḍala). In all ages you destroy the thorns of the world (loka-kaṇṭakas). You cannot be destroyed. You are Parabrahma. You are free of the six changes (shaḍ-bhāva-vikāras): birth, existence, growth, change, decay and death, the six changes of all created things. You have no beginning, middle or end (nitya). You are dharma itself, and you give the highest good (śreyas) to all lokas. You are Jagannātha. You give all four purushārthas: dharma, artha, kāma and moksha.

“You bear the Śārṅga bow. You have conquered the senses (indriyas). You live in the heart of every being. You are beyond both the lasting and the passing: you are Paramātmā. In your protection of those who take refuge in you there is no failure (bhaṅgapāṭu). You bear the Nandaka sword. You pervade the whole viśva (universe). You are the rest of the jagat, and its protector. You are the greatly strong one, the master of the armies of the devas (Kumāra). You guide all beings. You tell what is real (sat) from what is not (asat). You are pure sattva in your own nature. You forgive the faults (aparādhas) of those who take refuge in you. You hold the senses in control. You are the place from which the jagat arises and in which it dissolves.

“You are Upendra, born as the younger brother of Indra. You are the slayer of the asura Madhu. You make even Indra. You have a power that has no equal (niratīśaya aiśvarya). You bear the lotus in your navel, from which I was born, so you are my father (janaka). In battle you destroy your enemies. You give fearlessness (abhaya) to the afflicted. The great ṛshis led by Sanaka call you ‘Śaraṇāgata-vatsalaḥ’ (loving to those who take refuge). You are the very form of the Sāmaveda with its thousand branches. The Vedas praise you. You move people to do the daily rites (nitya), the occasional rites (naimittika) and the rites done for a wish (kāmya). You are the highest, the maker of all three worlds. You are fully independent (paramī-svatantra). You are the refuge of the liberated (muktas) and of those who seek (sādhaka-bhaktas). You existed before creation. You are the form of yajña, honoured by the seventeen-syllable saṃpuṭa (joined formula) ‘āśrāvāya, astu śraushaṭ, yaja, yeyajāmahe, yaja.’ You are the form of Oṃkāra. You are reached through the highest tapas. Your coming into view (avir-bhāva) and your hiding (tiro-bhāva) are known to no one. Neither the Vedas nor those who know the Vedas know your true nature (svarūpa) and your way of being (svabhāva). Because you are the inner ruler of all (sarvāntaryāmī), you fill brāhmaṇas, cows, all living beings, all directions, the sky, the mountains and the forests.

“You have countless heads, eyes and serpent forms. You are the home of Lakshmī. You are the support of all creatures and of the whole earth. At pralaya, when all the worlds become water, you rest on Śesha (śesha-śāyana) and give darśana to the long-lived ones such as Mārkaṇḍeya Maharshi. Between the cycles of creation you rest on Ādi-Śesha (Śesha-śāyin). You are the Nārāyaṇa who is the ground of all created things. You hold up the three lokas together with the devas, gandharvas and dānavas. O Śrī Rāma! I am your heart (hṛdaya) and Sarasvatī is your tongue. O Prabhu Rāma! The devatās are the hairs on the body of your Parabrahma form. When you close your eyes, night comes. When you open them, day comes. Your in-breath and out-breath are the Vedas. In short, there is nothing that is not you. Everything is you.

“The whole jagat is your body (śarīra). The whole earth (pṛthvī) is your steady form. The heat of Agni is your anger (krodha). The joy (āhlāda) of Candra is your grace (anugraha). You bear the Śrīvatsa mark. You are Śrīman Nārāyaṇa. It was you, as Vāmana, who took three strides and covered the three worlds. You are Trivikrama. You are Matsya and Kūrma. You subdued the asura king Bali Cakravartī and gave back Mahendra’s svarga.

“Sītā Sādhvī is Lakshmī Devī. She is Mahālakshmī, the eternal consort of Mahāvishṇu, who appeared in human form from the furrow of Janaka’s plough. You are Śrī Mahāvishṇu. It is you who will come down again in the coming Dvāpara Yuga as Śrī Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, to destroy the wicked and protect the good. You came down in human form on this earth (bhūloka) to kill Rāvaṇa, the thorn of the world. You have done what even the devas could not do, for Rāvaṇa had a vara (boon) that made him unconquerable by all except humans. That is why you appeared in human form. O you who are able to establish dharma (dharma-saṃsthāpana)! Rāma! You have killed Rāvaṇa and fulfilled our purpose. So, as is your own wish (saṃkalpa), go to your highest abode (paraṃdhāma), Vaikuṇṭha. O Raghu-rāma! Your splendour, strength and valour never fail (amogha). To see you is full of power (prabhāvānvita). By praising you, all blessings and the fruits of the other worlds are gained. All the wishes of those who serve you with undivided devotion (ananya-bhakti) will be fulfilled.

“Rāma! You are the Purāṇa-purusha, Purushottama, eternal (nitya), Parabrahma. Those who serve you with deep bhakti get every worldly enjoyment and also moksha. This Śrī Rāma stava is founded on the Veda (veda-pratishṭhita), spoken by ṛshis (ṛshi-prokta), eternal (śāśvata), ancient (purātana), an itihāsa. Those who sing it will not be born again (punarāvṛtti, punarjanma). They will reach kaivalya (final freedom).” (Yuddha Kāṇḍa, chapter 120)

What the stotra names

Brahmā’s stotra names Śrī Rāma as Śrī Mahānārāyaṇa, who bears the Śrīvatsa mark, the Sudarśana Cakra, the Śārṅga bow and the Nandaka sword. It names him the Ādi-Purusha and the one who rests on Ādi-Śesha. It names Sītā as Lakshmī Devī, Mahālakshmī, the eternal consort of Mahāvishṇu, whose captivity in Laṅkā and the war fought for her were the work of Śrī and Purusha in the Tretā Yuga. It names Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, Vāmana (Trivikrama), Rāma and the coming Kṛshṇa as avatāras of Vishṇu, and says that Vishṇu came as a man because of the vara that protected Rāvaṇa from all but humans. It speaks of Bhagavān Rāma as loving to those who take refuge in him (śaraṇāgata-vatsala), all-pervading (sarva-vyāpaka) and full of the six divine qualities (shaḍ-guṇaiśvarya). It ends by promising kaivalya and the end of rebirth to those who sing it.

Agni-deva brings Sītā out

As soon as Brahmā finished speaking, Agni-deva himself rose from the fire with Sītā Devī in his arms. The fire had not consumed her, and she was unharmed. He declared her perfect purity before everyone and gave her to Śrī Rāma.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, chapters 118–119 (the occasion and Sītā’s agni-praveśa)
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, chapter 120 (the descent of the devas, their question, Rāma’s answer and Brahmā’s stotra)