Śiva’s Stotra to Mūla Prakṛti

This is the Prakṛti Stotra, the hymn that Bhagavān Śiva sang to Mūla Prakṛti, the supreme Devī, after Satī left her body. Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa told him to sing it. It is found in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, chapter 43.

The stotra belongs to the Kaṇva śākhā (branch of the Veda). Śiva himself had taught it to Durvāsa Muni at an earlier time. When Śiva sang it, Mūla Prakṛti, who is Satī, appeared in Śivaloka, and his grief ended.

The setting

Satī Devī could not bear Daksha’s public insult to her husband Śiva at the great yajña. She gave up her body in the fire of yoga. When Śiva heard of her death he ran to the place. He saw Satī’s body lying on the bank of the Gaṅgā. It was dressed in white and glowed like melted gold. She had a japa-mālā (prayer beads) in her hand and was very beautiful even in death. Śiva fell at once into a swoon (mūrcchā). When he woke, he lifted her body, held it to his chest and wept without comfort.

He wandered in grief across the seven dvīpas, the seven seas and all of Bharatavarsha, crying “Satī! Sādhvī!” His tears formed a sacred lake. It became a puṇya-tīrtha (a holy place of merit) that frees those who bathe in it for a hundred births. As he wandered, the parts of Satī’s body fell at different places. They became the fifty-two Śakti-pīṭhas. Each is a siddha-pīṭha (a place of attainment) that can grant all human wishes.

In time Śiva found the remaining parts and performed the agni-saṃskāra (the rite of fire). He made a mālā (garland) from her bones and wore it round his neck. He smeared her bhasma (ash) on his body with devotion. The great Parameśvara, who is himself ātmārāma (content in the Self) and pūrṇakāma (with every wish fulfilled), lost all awareness of himself in the fever of separation (viraha-jvara).

Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa arrived in a ratna-ratha (a chariot of jewels) with his pārshadas (attendants). Brahmā, Dharma and Śesha came with him. He found Śiva collapsed near a banyan tree (vaṭa-vṛksha) near Kailāśa. Nārāyaṇa held Śiva to his chest and wept with him. A sacred lake formed from their tears together in Bharatavarsha, near Astagiri, the mountain of the setting sun, near Akshayavaṭa.

Nārāyaṇa then gave a long teaching on adhyātma (knowledge of the Self) to Śiva and all the devas gathered there. He said that all happiness and sorrow come from the guṇas through māyā, that Vishṇu-māyā is supremely powerful, and that this too will pass. He explained the whole teaching of nirguṇa and saguṇa Brahman, the relation between Purusha and Prakṛti, and the two forms of Kṛshṇa, the two-armed (dvibhuja) in Goloka and the four-armed (caturbhuja) in Vaikuṇṭha.

At the end of this teaching Nārāyaṇa said to Śiva: “If you want to reach Satī, recite the Prakṛti Stotra. You yourself taught this stotra to Durvāsa. It is from the Kaṇva śākhā and is a divine stava (hymn of praise). With it, worship Jagat-prasū, the Mother of the World, Mūla Prakṛti. With my blessing your grief will end.”

Śiva bathed and bowed to Kṛshṇa and to Brahmā. His heart was full of devotion and his body thrilled with joy. He began the Prakṛti Stotra.

The stotra

Śiva’s stotra praises Mūla Prakṛti, the supreme Devī, with these attributes.

• Brahmapatnī Sarasvatī, Sanātanī: she is addressed first as Sarasvatī, the consort of Brahmā, in her form of creative wisdom. She is Sanātanī, the eternal, and Paramātma-svarūpiṇī, who has the form of Paramātmā himself. She is Bhadrā, the auspicious one, and Bhadrāṇī, the giver of all that is auspicious. She is Durgā, the remover of every durgam (difficulty).
• Ocean-crossing nāvā: she is the Prācīna-nāvā, the ancient vessel that carries beings across the saṃsāra-sāgara (the ocean of birth and death). She is Sanātanī, who exists before and after all time.
• Sarveśī, Sarvabīja: she is Sarveśī (ruler of all), Sarvabīja-bhūtā (the seed-form of everything), Sarva-ādhārā (the support of everything) and Sarva-vidyā-mūrti (the form of all knowledge). She is the giver of jaya (victory).
• Sarva-maṅgala: she is all maṅgala things (auspicious things) in their highest form, the giver of all maṅgalas (Sarva-maṅgalā), and the very ground of all that is auspicious. She is saluted as the Ādhāra-bhūmi (the foundation, the earth) of all maṅgala.
• Nidrādevī, Kshamādevī, Śraddhādevī: she is the śakti-rūpa (the form of power) of Nidrā (sacred sleep), Jāḍya (rest), Kshamā (forbearance), Śraddhā (faith in devotion), Tushṭi (contentment), Pushṭi (nourishment), Lajjā (modesty), Medhā (keen intellect), Buddhi (discerning reason) and Bhakta-vātsalyā (a mother’s love for her devotees).
• Veda-mātā: she is Veda-rūpā (the form of the Veda), Veda-dātrī (the giver of the Veda), Veda-mūla (the root of the Veda), Vedāṅga-rūpā (the form of all the Vedāṅgas) and Vedamātā (the mother of the Veda).
• Triple consort: she is at once Lakshmī in the lap of Nārāyaṇa, Sarasvatī on the chest of Brahmā, and Mahāmāyā in the lap of Śiva. The one supreme Śakti appears as the three consorts of the three great devas.
• Rādhādevī: in the highest praise of the stotra, Śiva calls Mūla Prakṛti in her highest form Rādhādevī. She is the Śakti who lives in the very chest of Kṛshṇa. She is dearer to Kṛshṇa than his own prāṇas (life-breaths), and she is Kṛshṇa-pūjitā, worshipped by Kṛshṇa himself. She is Sarva-śakti-guṇa-mūlā, the root of all divine powers and qualities.
• Kīrti, Yoga, Siddheśvarī: she is Kīrti-rūpiṇī (fame itself), the source and giver of all kīrti (fame). She is Yogīśvarī (the ruler of yoga), Yoga-svarūpiṇī, Yoga-mūlā, Yoga-śakti-dātrī and Yoga-adhishṭhāna-devatā. She is Siddheśvarī, the ruler of all siddhis, and Siddha-yoginī, Sarvāsiddhi-rūpā and Aṇimādi-sarvasiddhi-dāyinī.
• Vasundharā: she is Vasundharā, the earth herself, the support of all jewels (ratnas) and of all cārācara (all moving and unmoving beings).
• Mahāśāstra-jñā: she is addressed as the one who knows the many schools of the mahāśāstra. All of them point in the end to her as the final truth, whatever their differences seem to be.

Satī’s reply

When Śiva had finished the stotra and paused, he looked up. He saw Mūla Prakṛti, the supreme Devī, his Satī, in the sky above. She sat in a hundred-armed (śata-bhuja) form in a ratna-ratha. She shone with the light of melted gold, wore jewelled ornaments (ratna-ābharaṇas) and had a gentle smile on her kind face.

Satī spoke to Śiva: “O Mahādeva! You are my prāṇas in every birth. You are my eternal husband through all my births. I will be born as the daughter of Parvatarāja Himavat and his wife Menā, and you will have me as your wife again. Give up your fever of separation now.” Having said this, she disappeared.

Śiva’s grief melted away. The devas who had gathered urged him to be at peace. Śiva went back to Kailāśa with his gaṇas (attendants), happy.

The phalaśruti

Whoever recites this Prakṛti Stotra, sung by Śiva, receives these fruits:

• No parting from a spouse, ever: the devotee will never feel the pain of being parted from the beloved spouse in any future birth.
• Dharma, artha and kāma: in this world the devotee enjoys the three worldly purushārthas (aims of life), dharma, artha and kāma, with ease.
• Moksha and Śivaloka: at the end of life the devotee reaches moksha and Śivaloka. There is no doubt of this.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, chapter 43