Bhagīratha’s Stotra to Śiva
This is the hymn King Bhagīratha sang to Bhagavān Śiva (Śaṅkara, Mahādeva) to obtain Gaṅgā. Bhagavān Vishṇu had told him to praise Bhagavān Śaṅkara. The stotra praises Bhagavān Śiva through his endless forms and names. It is found in the Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 76.
The setting
Bhagīratha did tapas (austerity) for sixty thousand years without breathing. He held in his mind only the dhyāna (meditation) of Śrīman Nārāyaṇa. The devas heard of this tapas. They were frightened by the fire that came from his nostrils, and they took refuge at the abode of Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Bhagavān Vishṇu then appeared before Bhagīratha at Nādeśvara kshetra, where Bhagīratha lay scorched by his tapas. He had four arms and carried the śaṅkha (conch) and the cakra (discus). His face lit up the horizons. He wore the śrīvatsa and the kaustubha and a vana-mālā (garland of forest flowers). He had lotus eyes and a crown. His limbs were majestic and the Lokapālas worshipped his feet.
Bhagīratha bowed to the ground before him. Then he stood with joined hands, overcome with joy, and cried “Kṛshṇa, Kṛshṇa, Kṛshṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa.”
Bhagavān Vishṇu said to him: “O Bhagīratha, you of great spirit, your desire will be fulfilled. Your pitāmahas (forefathers) will reach my loka. Now praise Śaṅkara as well as you can. That Śaṅkara will quickly fulfil all your desire.” The ākāśavāṇī (voice from the sky) confirmed this. Then Bhagīratha offered the following stotra to Bhagavān Śaṅkara.
The stotra
Bhagīratha Mahārāja spoke:
“I bow to the Jagannātha. He destroys the ārti (distress) of those who bow to him. He is beyond all pramāṇas (means of proof). He is the form of the praṇava (Om). He is the Īśvara.
I bow to the one whose form is the world (jagad-rūpa). He has no birth. He is eternal (nitya). He makes, keeps and ends creation (sṛshṭi-sthiti-laya-kāra). He is the Viśvarūpa, the Ugra-retas, the Virūpāksha.
I bow to the Īśvara who has no beginning, middle or end. He does not decay. He gives growth and nourishment (pushṭi-vardhana). Yogins always meditate on him. He is the Paśupati and the Nīlakaṇṭha.
Namaskāra to the one whose form is caitanya (awareness), to the master of the pushṭulus, to the alpa-prkalpa, to the Bhūtapati.
Namaskāra to the Pināka-hasta, to the Śūla-hasta, to the Kapāla-hasta, to the bearer of the Pāśa.
Namaskāra to the one whose form is all beings (sarva-bhūta-svarūpa), to the Ghaṇṭā-hasta, to the Pañca-mukha, to the Kshetrapati.
Namaskāra to the first source (ādi-bhūta) of all beings, to the Bhū-bharaṇa, to the one of many forms (aneka-rūpa), to the nirguṇa (the one without qualities), to the Paramātmā.
Namaskāra to the Gaṇādhideva, to the Gaṇapati, to the Hiraṇyagarbha, to the Hiraṇyapati.
Namaskāra to the Hiraṇya-retas, to the Hiraṇyabāhu, to the one whose form is dhyāna (dhyāna-svarūpa), to the witness of dhyāna (dhyāna-sākshī), to the one who stands in dhyāna (dhyāna-saṃstha), to the one reached by dhyāna (dhyāna-gamya).
Namaskāra to the one who lights up this whole world of moving and unmoving things (cārācara-prapañca). Namaskāra to the one who has the form of Prakṛti and Purusha. Namaskāra to the self-shining one (svayam-prakāśa), to the mahātmā, to the highest light (paraṃ-jyotiḥ), to the eternal one (sanātana). The knowers of the tattvas meditate on him. He is the sun to the eyes of men.
O Umākānta, O Nandīkeśa, O Nīlakaṇṭha, O Sadāśiva, O Mṛtyuñjaya, O Mahādeva, O Parātpara, O Vibhu, O Śabda-brahma-rūpa, O alakāraṇa Śiva, I bow to you.
Namaskāra to the Kapardī, to the Sadyojāta. Namaskāra to the Bhavōdbhava, the pure one (śuddha), the eldest (jyeshṭha), the youngest (kanishṭha), the manyu, the lord of the three Vedas (trayī-pati), the Īśa.
Namaskāra to the Dik-pati, to Kāla, to the Aghorarūpa, to the Kṛśānu-retas, to the mahātmā.
From him were born the oceans, the rivers, the mountains, and the hosts of gandharvas, yakshas, asuras and siddhas. To that Sthāṇu, to the one of great form (mahad-rūpa), to the small one (alpa), to the one who moves (carishṇu), to the one who is both being and non-being (sadasad-rūpa), namaskāra.
To the one whose lotus feet yogins bow to, to the inner ruler of all (sarvāntaryāmin), to the one without form (rūpa-rahita), to the independent one (svatantra), to the very form of the quality in those who have qualities (Guṇavantānāṃ guṇa-svarūpa), to the Īśvara, namaskāra again and again.”
How Bhagavān Śiva appeared and gave Gaṅgā
Bhagavān Śaṅkara’s nature is to give śubha (good fortune) to all the worlds. He was pleased with this stotra and appeared before Bhagīratha, who was scorched by tapas. He showed his full form. He had five faces (pañcavaktra) and ten arms (daśabhuja). A crescent moon (ardha-candra) adorned his forehead. He had three eyes and noble limbs. A serpent was his sacred thread (yajñopavīta) and he wore an elephant’s skin (gajacarmāmbara). His body shone like the Himālaya, and the devas worshipped his lotus feet.
Bhagīratha fell like a rod at the feet of Bhagavān Śiva. He rose, stood before Mahādeva with joined hands and praised him again. Bhagavān Śiva understood his bhakti (devotion) and said: “O King, I am pleased with you. Ask for the vara (boon) you wish.”
Bhagīratha replied with joined hands: “O Maheśvara, if you wish to give me a vara out of your grace, give me Gaṅgā. She is the means of moksha for my forefathers.”
Śrī Śiva answered: “For the sake of your forefathers I give you Gaṅgā. I also give you the highest moksha.” Then Bhagavān Śiva vanished. From his jaṭā (matted hair) Gaṅgā, who purifies the world (loka-pāvinī), came down. She cleansed the whole world as she followed Bhagīratha. From that day the pure Gaṅgā, who destroys all dirt (mala-nāśinī), was known in the three worlds as Bhāgīrathī.
The bones and ashes of the Sagara-putras (the sons of Sagara) had been burned by Kapila’s anger. Gaṅgā’s waters touched them, and in that very moment the Sagara-putras were freed from their pāpa (sin) and delivered from naraka. Yamadharmarāja saw that they were free of pāpa. He bowed to them and said: “O sons of the king, you have been freed from this most terrible naraka. Board a vimāna (heavenly car) and go to the realm of Bhagavān Vishṇu.” The Sagara-putras now had divine bodies and reached Vishṇu-loka.
The phalaśruti
Gaṅgā was born from the foot of Bhagavān Vishṇu and has this great power. Merely remembering Gaṅgā destroys all pāpas. A person who reads or hears this Gaṅgā-māhātmya (glory of Gaṅgā) at a deva-mandira (temple) or on a river-bank receives the phala (fruit) of an Aśvamedha-yajña. A person who recites this holy account before brāhmaṇas reaches the home of Bhagavān Vishṇu (pūnarāvṛtti-rahita Vishṇu-bhavana), from which there is no return to rebirth.
Sources
- Nārada Mahā Purāṇa, Pūrvārdha, Chapter 76