Kṛshṇāmṛta Stava

The Kṛshṇāmṛta Stava (the nectar-hymn of Kṛshṇa) is a stava of the 108 names of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. Agastya told it to Paraśurāma in his āśrama at Pushkara. It is found in the Madhyama Bhāga of the Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, chapter 36. Agastya received it from Bhūdevī, the earth devī, who received it from Ādiśesha. When it was recited in front of a deer and a doe (mṛga and mṛgī), it freed the two from their animal births and took them to Vaikuṇṭha.

How the stava came down

The stava passed through three great beings.

  1. Ādiśesha (Śesha Nāga) is the thousand-headed serpent who supports the worlds and on whose coils Bhagavān Vishṇu rests. He is the constant companion and bed of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
  2. Bhūdevī (Bhūmi Devī) is the earth devī, one of the two chief śaktis of Bhagavān Vishṇu, together with Śrī Devī. She received the stava from Śesha.
  3. Agastya is the great ṛshi of the south, a holder of great tapas and of a vast store of sacred knowledge. He received the Kṛshṇāmṛta Stava from Bhūdevī. He kept it in his āśrama at Pushkara until the time came to give it to Paraśurāma.

The names

The stava has 108 names of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. The chapter gives them in this order at the start.

  1. Śrīkṛshṇa: the auspicious Kṛshṇa, the dark-complexioned one of supreme beauty
  2. Kamalanātha: the master of Kamalā (Lakshmī)
  3. Vāsudeva: son of Vasudeva, and the dwelling-place of all beings
  4. Sanātana: the eternal, the ancient, the first
  5. Vasudeva-ātmaja: born from Vasudeva
  6. Puṇya: the all-auspicious one
  7. Līlā-mānusha-vigraha: he who takes human form for divine play
  8. Śrīvatsa-kaustubha-dhara: bearer of the Śrīvatsa mark and the Kaustubha gem
  9. Yaśodā-vatsala: the one dear to Yaśodā, his foster-mother

The names go on in this way through all 108.

The setting

Agastya told the stava in his āśrama at Pushkara. The river Sarasvatī had already made the place holy: she fills the fire-pots of the āśrama with her waters, which those advanced in spirit can see.

The deer and the doe had followed Paraśurāma from the Pushkara forest to the āśrama, drawn by a lasting inner pull. They were present when Agastya told the stava. He taught it to Paraśurāma, but its power reached the animals too. It pierced the veil of their animal birth and woke the full memory of their earlier lives as brāhmaṇas.

The freeing of the deer and the doe

When Agastya finished the stava, the deer and the doe, who had sat quietly through it, were freed. Their animal bodies fell away and they rose in divine forms, free from the cycle of birth and death. Four things together had made this possible: the holiness of the tīrtha at Pushkara, the compassionate prayer of Paraśurāma, the tapas of Agastya and the divine sound of the 108 names of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.

The deer and the doe went up to Vaikuṇṭha, the eternal home of Bhagavān Vishṇu. This shows that the stava has the power to free not only those who recite it but also those who hear it when they are ready in spirit.

Its place in the Madhyama Bhāga

The Kṛshṇāmṛta Stava is in the last chapter, chapter 36, of the thirty-six chapters of the Madhyama Bhāga.

  • Chapters 1 to 8 give the great genealogies of creation.
  • Chapters 9 to 20 give the Pitṛkalpa.
  • Chapters 22 to 36 give the Paraśurāma-carita, the course of Paraśurāma from armed battle for dharma to tapas and devotion, and then to the hearing of the names of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.

The stava reached Paraśurāma from the serpent who supports Bhagavān Vishṇu, through the earth devī who sustains all life, through the ṛshi of the south.

Sources

  • Brahmāṇḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Madhyama Bhāga, chapter 36