Māyāstava
The Māyāstava is a stotra to Māyā, the creative power of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. Śaśidhvaja, the king of Bhallāṭanagara, sang it after he left his kingdom for the forest following the departure of Bhagavān Kalki. It is found in the Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāṃśa, chapter 15.
The stotra praises Māyā as the form of the syllable hrīṃ (hrīṃkāra-svarūpiṇī), as the mother of the Trimūrti, as Sāvitrī, Bhavānī, Lakshmī and Śacī in one, and as the power that fills the five bhūtas (elements) through their tanmātras (subtle qualities).
The setting and how the stotra came to Śaśidhvaja
Bhagavān Kalki left Bhallāṭanagara. Śaśidhvaja, who had received a vara (boon), then left his kingdom and went to the forest with his wife Suśānta to seek moksha. The Kalki Purāṇa records that at this time he sang the Māyāstava, wishing to be free from the bonds of saṃsāra.
The stotra came to him through a line of teachers. Śukadeva first gave it to the ṛshi Mārkaṇḍeya, and Mārkaṇḍeya gave it to Śaśidhvaja.
At Naimishāraṇya, Śaunaka Maharshi asked Sūta Romaharshaṇaputra about the Māyāstava. Sūta answered that hearing or reciting this stotra destroys all pāpa (sin) and tāpa (suffering) and fulfils all wishes. (Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāṃśa, chapter 15)
The stotra
The opening to Māyā as the form of hrīṃ. Śaśidhvaja begins by bowing to Māyā as the very form of the bīja syllable hrīṃ, as the essence of sattva-guṇa, and as having a perfectly pure form. She is the mother (jananī) of Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara. She can be known through the Vedas. She is the womb (kaksha) that holds the bhūtas and tanmātras. The devas, gandharvas and siddhas worship her. She is sūkshma-svāhā-rūpiṇī, the fine form of the sound svāhā that is spoken at an offering into the fire.
Her power beyond the worlds. Māyā is lokātīta, beyond the lokas, and dvaitasvarūpa, the very form of duality. Vyāsa and the great maharshis bow to her. The learned sing of her. She plays in the waves of kāla-samudra, the ocean of time. By her playful, charming glances she makes all creation fall into the bonds of saṃsāra.
She is in everything. One meditates on her when one comes near through dvaitabhāvana. She is pūrṇasvarūpiṇī, of complete form. She is the shelter of all living beings. She shines at the beginning (ādi), the middle (madhya) and the end (anta) of creation. She appears as devas, human beings (manushya), animals (paśu), birds (pakshī) and others. She is the ādhāra (support) of the whole universe, and she is brahmasvarūpiṇī. The three worlds shine with the five mahābhūtas only by her light. Without her light even Brahmā’s helping powers of kāla (time), daiva (fate) and karma lose their light.
The tanmātras in the five elements. One verse says Māyā shows herself as gandha (smell) in pṛthivī (earth), as rasa (taste) in jala (water), as rūpa (form and colour) in tejas (fire), as sparśa (touch) in vāyu (air), and as śabda (sound) in ākāśa (space). In this way she fills the whole visible world as viśvarūpiṇī through the five tanmātras.
The four great śaktis in one. Śaśidhvaja praises Māyā as all four great feminine powers at once:
- Sāvitrī, the brahmarūpiṇī, wife of Brahmā
- Bhavānī, wife of Bhūtanātha (Bhagavān Śiva)
- Lakshmī, wife of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa
- Śacī, wife of Devendra, the lord of svarga (Svargādhipati)
In all these forms she shines as the highest in all the worlds.
Her form in the three stages of life. Another verse speaks to Māyā as a child in childhood, a young woman in youth and an old woman in old age. She takes many forms as time passes. She is worshipped through yajña and other rites (yajñādi kriyā). She is jñāpātīta (beyond ordinary memory), and she appears in forms that fulfil wishes (kāmarūpiṇī).
Her many names and forms on the earth. Śaśidhvaja calls her sarvottama, the best of all and the giver of varas to her devotees. He calls her sādhvī, dhanya, honoured by all the worlds, and sukanyā. He lists her forms in different lands as Caṇḍī, Durgā, Kālikā and countless other forms and guises.
(Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāṃśa, chapter 15)
The phalaśruti
The last verse of the stotra says that those who think with bhakti (devotion) of Māyā’s lotus feet in the lotus of the heart (hṛdaya-kamalā), and those whose ears hear her name, receive dharma-sampat (the wealth of dharma) and sarva-kārya-siddhi (success in all they undertake).
(Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāṃśa, chapter 15)
What followed for Śaśidhvaja
Śaśidhvaja had received this stotra from Mārkaṇḍeya, who had it from Śukadeva. With Suśānta he went to Kokāmukha tīrtha. There he did tapas (austerity) and meditated on Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa with steady devotion. By the grace of the stotra and his firm bhakti, he was struck down by the Sudarśana cakra of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa and reached Vaikuṇṭha. (Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāṃśa, chapter 15)
Sources
- Kalki Purāṇa, Tṛtīyāṃśa, chapter 15