Kṛshṇa’s Stotra to Śiva in the Bāṇāsura War

This is the great hymn (mahāstotra) that Bhagavān Kṛshṇa offered to Bhagavān Śiva on the battlefield during the Bāṇāsura war. It is found in the Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Yuddha Khaṇḍa, chapter 54. In it Kṛshṇa, whom the Vaishṇava tradition regards as Parabrahman, declares Śiva to be the supreme Parabrahman and all creation to be Śiva’s own expression. After the stotra Kṛshṇa used the Jṛmbhaṇāstra, which put Śiva to sleep for a time.

The setting

Kṛshṇa led his army of twelve akshauhiṇīs against Śoṇitapura to free his grandson Aniruddha. Bhagavān Śiva himself came out to fight for Bāṇāsura, his devoted bhakta, whose protection he had personally promised.

The battle was fierce. In the jvara-yuddha (the war of the fevers) Śiva’s jvara (fever) defeated Vishṇu’s jvara. Garuḍa was overcome by the horns of Nandī. All the Yādava forces suffered. Kṛshṇa drove his chariot straight towards Śiva.

At this point Kṛshṇa did not go on fighting by force against the one he knew to be the Supreme. He paused and offered a stotra.

What the stotra teaches

Śiva as Parabrahman. Kṛshṇa declares that Śiva alone is the supreme Parabrahman, the highest reality beyond all that appears, and yet the source of all that appears.

Kāla, karma, jīva and māyā belong to Śiva. Time (kāla), action (karma), the living being (jīva) and māyā (the power that makes the world appear) are all manifestations of Śiva himself. They arise from him, work within his rule, and return to him.

Śiva as the Tṛtīya. Śiva is called the tṛtīya, “the third one”. He is the witness-consciousness beyond the two, purusha (the one who experiences) and prakṛti (what is experienced). He is the turīya, the fourth beyond the three states.

Kṛshṇa’s submission. Kṛshṇa, whom his devotees worship as Parabrahman, declares plainly that he acts within Śiva’s rule. He had made the same submission in person at Śivaloka (chapter 31). Now he repeats it on the battlefield. The Śiva Purāṇa gives Kṛshṇa’s own words as testimony to Śiva’s supremacy.

All is Śiva’s play. All of creation is Śiva’s own cosmic play (līlā). This includes the war itself, the protection of Bāṇāsura and Kṛshṇa’s own march. Kṛshṇa knows this, and offers the stotra as an act of true devotion in the middle of battle.

The Jṛmbhaṇāstra

After the stotra Kṛshṇa used the Jṛmbhaṇāstra, the weapon of yawning or stupefaction. It made Śiva fall into a divine sleep. With Śiva asleep, Kṛshṇa’s forces gathered again, and Kṛshṇa destroyed the whole army of Bāṇāsura. (Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Yuddha Khaṇḍa, chapter 54)

Sources

• Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Yuddha Khaṇḍa, chapter 54
• Śiva Purāṇa, chapter 31 (Kṛshṇa’s submission at Śivaloka)