Sūrya Stava-Rāja
The Stava-rāja is the chief stotra that Sāmba, the son of Śrī Kṛshṇa and Jāmbavatī, composed and sang during his twelve years of hard tapas at the Candrabhāgā tīrtha in Mitravanā. It is a guhya stotra, a secret hymn of praise. It shows Bhagavān Sūrya as the ādirūpa (first form) of all beings, the eye of all three worlds, the one Great Purusha who blazes in the Āditya-maṇḍala. It is found in the Brahma Parva of the Bhavishya Mahā Purāṇa, in Chapters 127 and 128.
The Bhavishya Purāṇa gives two forms of this stotra. One is the full Stava-rāja. The other is a short Stava-rāja of twenty-one names, which Bhagavān Sūrya gave to Sāmba in a dream.
The full Stava-rāja
Sāmba sang this stotra every day through all his tapas, even when the heat of his tapas had left his body as bones alone. The stotra opens by showing Bhagavān Sūrya as the Purusha of the whole universe.
ādireshahi bhūtānāmāditya iti saṃjñitaḥ |
trailokya cakshurevātra paramātmā prajāpatiḥ ||
He is the first form of all beings, and so he is called Āditya. He is the eye of all three worlds. He is the Paramātmā and the Prajāpati.
esha vai maṇḍale’smin purusho dīpyate mahān |
esha vishṇuracintāyātmā brahmā caiva pitāmahaḥ ||
This is the great Purusha who blazes in this maṇḍala. He is Vishṇu, whose nature cannot be thought out; he is Brahmā, the grandfather.
rudro mahendro varuṇa ākāśaṃ pṛthivī jalaṃ |
vāyuḥ śaśāṃkaḥ parjanyo dhanādhyaksho vibhāvasuḥ ||
Rudra, Mahendra, Varuṇa, space, earth, water, wind, the moon, rain, Kubera and fire: he is all of these.
The stotra then calls on the pity of Bhagavān Sūrya for those who suffer, and asks for his power to heal.
śvitra kushṭhyandha badhirān paṃgūṃścāpi tathā vibho |
prapaṇṇa vatsalo deva kurute nīrujo bhavān |
cakramaṇḍalamagrāṃśca nirdhānalpāyushastathā ||
pratyakshadarśī tvaṃ deva samuddhara sīlayā ||
O shining Bhagavān Sūrya: those with leprosy, with white-skin disease, the blind, the deaf, the lame, those caught in the wheel of rebirth, the poor and the short-lived. You see all things directly, and you lift them up with ease.
Then the singer speaks of how small his own power is before such greatness.
kāme śaktiḥ stuvaiḥ stotuṃ ārto’haṃ rogapīḍitaḥ |
stūyase tvaṃ sadā devair brahmavishṇu śivādibhiḥ ||
I wish to praise you, but I am in pain and weighed down by disease. You are always praised by the devas, by Brahmā, Vishṇu, Śiva and the rest.
The stotra ends with surrender, and names Bhagavān Sūrya as the highest object of meditation (dhyeya).
dhyānināṃ tvaṃ paraṃ dhyānaṃ mokshadvāraṃ ca mokshiṇāṃ |
ananta tejasākshobhyo’cintya avyakta nishkalaḥ ||
You are the highest dhyeya of those who meditate, and the door to moksha for those who seek moksha. You are endless in tejas (radiance), unshaken, beyond thought, unmanifest and without parts.
This is from Chapter 127 of the Brahma Parva.
The twenty-one names: the short Stava-rāja
After Bhagavān Sūrya had appeared and given his vara, Sāmba also sang the Sūrya Sahasranāma, the thousand names of Sūrya. Then Bhagavān Sūrya came to him in a dream and said:
“O Sāmba! Reciting a thousand names is not possible for all. I now give you my supremely secret, supremely pure twenty-one names as a condensed Stava-rāja. Receive them.”
vaikartano vivasvāṃśca mārtāṇḍo bhāskaro raviḥ |
lokaprakāśakaḥ śrīmāllokacakshurgaheśvaraḥ ||
lokasākshī trilokeśaḥ kartā hartā tamisrahā |
tapanas tāpanaścaiva śuciḥ saptāśvavāhanaḥ ||
gabhastihasto brahmā ca sarvadevanamaskaṛtaḥ ||
The twenty-one names are:
- Vaikartana: the trimmer (of his radiance, by Viśvakarmā)
- Vivasvān: the brilliant one
- Mārtāṇḍa: born from the aṇḍa (egg)
- Bhāskara: the maker of light
- Ravi: the sun
- Lokaprakāśaka: the one who lights all worlds
- Śrīmān: the auspicious, the glorious
- Lokacakshu: the eye of the world
- Graheśvara: the ruler of all grahas
- Lokasākshī: the witness of all worlds
- Trilokeśa: the ruler of the three worlds
- Kartā: the creator
- Hartā: the one who takes away, the destroyer
- Tamisrahā: the destroyer of darkness
- Tapana: the one who heats
- Tāpana: the one who heats fiercely
- Śuci: the pure
- Saptāśvavāhana: the one who rides the seven-horse ratha
- Gabhastihasta: the one whose hands are rays
- Brahmā: the creator (Sūrya as Brahmā)
- Sarvadevanamaskṛta: the one whom all devas salute
This is from Chapter 128 of the Brahma Parva.
The declaration of Sūrya
Bhagavān Sūrya spoke of this short Stava-rāja:
“These names I love greatly. This is known as the Stava-rāja — the King of praises. It makes the body disease-free, increases wealth and fame.”
“For those who recite this with prostration at my dawn and dusk sandhyās — all pāpa (sin) of mind, speech, and body is destroyed. This alone is my japa, homa, sandhyopāsana, bali, mantra, arghya mantra, and dhūpa mantra — all of these in one.”
This is from Chapter 128 of the Brahma Parva.
The phala of the full Stava-rāja
Sumanta Muni says:
“One who recites the Sāmba-kṛta Sūrya-stuti with bhakti at the three sandhyās — or reads it 121 times in seven days — will receive: kingdom for one who desires kingdom, wealth for one who desires wealth, and the divine, auspicious, disease-free, radiant body for one who desires health.”
This is from Chapter 127 of the Brahma Parva.
Sources
- Bhavishya Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 127
- Bhavishya Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Parva, Chapter 128