Haṃsaguhya Stotra of Daksha

The Haṃsaguhya Stotra is the prayer of Daksha Prajāpati to Bhagavān Śrī Hari at the Aghamarshaṇa tīrtha, on the slopes of the Vindhya mountains. It is found in the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapter 4. The name means “the secret of the paramahaṃsas”.

Daksha sang it after his creation by mental resolve alone had not given him the children he wished for. The stotra is a deep prayer on the nature of Brahman: the supreme consciousness beyond all the guṇas of māyā, the inner Ātman that neither the senses nor the mind can grasp, and the one second-less reality into which every name and form of the world finally dissolves. Bhagavān Hari appeared to Daksha on Garuḍa with eight arms and gave him the vara of marrying Asiknī and having many children.

The setting

Daksha Prajāpati saw that his creation of devas, asuras and human beings by mental resolve had not grown as he wished. He decided to practise tapas (austerity). He went to the foot of the Vindhya mountains and came to the Aghamarshaṇa tīrtha. This is a great tīrtha that destroys pāpa (sin). There he bathed three times a day and practised hard tapas to please Bhagavān Śrī Hari, who is beyond all the means of knowing.

The stotra

Verse 1: on māyā and the relation of jīva and Īśvara

The stotra opens by saying that the chaitanya-śakti (power of consciousness) of Bhagavān Hari, which is beyond the three guṇas, gave rise to the triguṇātmikā māyā (māyā made of the three guṇas). In the body, senses and mind, which are the product of māyā, the reflection of that consciousness is the jīva. So Bhagavān Hari is the niyāmaka (governor) of both the power of māyā and the jīva. Those who think the world made of the guṇas is finally real cannot see his true nature. He is not seen by the usual pramāṇas (means of knowing), such as perception and inference. He is svayam-prakāśa (self-luminous). “To such a Parameśvara, I bow.”

Verse 2: jīva and Īśvara dwell together in the body-city

The jīva and Īśvara are friends for ever. In the city called the body, Īśvara lives beside the jīva as the witness of the whole world (sarvajagat-sākshī). Yet the jīva does not know its companion. The ears and other senses light up sound and the other objects of sense, and not the other way round. In the same way the jīva, who is nitya-dṛk (the seer for ever), cannot make Īśvara an object of its own knowledge. “To that Sarveśvara, I bow.”

Verse 3: beyond all the parts of the body

The body, the prāṇas (life-breaths), the senses, the changes of the mind, space, air, fire, water and the five mahābhūtas (great elements) are together one saṃghāta (aggregate). The jīva is the drashṭā (seer) who stands beyond this aggregate and sees sattva, rajas and tamas and the pleasure, pain and confusion they bring. Yet that same jīva cannot make the limitless, all-knowing Īśvara, who is beyond all limits of place and time (deśa-kāla-pariccheda), an object of its own seeing. “I praise such an Īśvara.”

Verse 4: by holding back the senses and the mind

When the work of the senses and the mind is fully held back, the mind, which knows names and forms (nāmarūpas), dissolves into its own source. Then the jīva rests in its own advaita-Ātman (non-dual Ātman). So the jīva can reach Īśvara as the Ātman. “I bow to that all-knowing Īśvara who shines as the Ātman in a purified antaḥkaraṇa (inner instrument).”

Verse 5: the nine śakti-tattvas and fire in wood

Avyakta (the root Prakṛti), mahat (the power of buddhi), ahaṃkāra, manas and the five sūkshma-bhūtas (subtle elements) are the nine products of the three-guṇa powers of Parameśvara. Through all of these Īśvara lives hidden deep in the human heart. Scholars of the Veda draw out the fire hidden in wood by churning it with fifteen sāmidhenī mantras. In the same way great ones who have mastered mano-nigraha (control of the mind) pick out Īśvara from this aggregate with the discerning mind (viveka-buddhi) and see him as the Ātman.

Verse 6: the setting aside of the world, and bliss

When the world made by māyā, with all its differences, is set aside, a pure and undisturbed ānanda-anubhava (experience of bliss) arises in the heart, untouched by pain. That is Īśvara. All the names and forms of this world are that Īśvara alone, who has his anirvacanīya māyā-śakti (power of māyā that cannot be described). “May he be pleased with me.”

Verse 7: what words, senses and mind cannot reach

Whatever is pointed to by speech, and whatever is known by the senses, the mind or the buddhi, is only the product of the three guṇas. It is not the svarūpa (own nature) of Īśvara. Īśvara is the ground of sṛshṭi-sthiti-laya (creation, keeping and dissolution). He can be known only as the limit (avadhi) where the setting aside of the world stops. This is how the world serves as his taṭastha-lakshaṇa (outer mark).

Verse 8: Parabrahman is one and self-evident

Parabrahman shows forth this world from himself, in himself, by himself and for himself. He does all and causes all. Even the act of doing is Parabrahman itself. He is svayaṃsiddha (self-established) before every cause and effect, and he is the hetu (cause) of all cause and effect. That Parabrahman is akhaṇḍa (undivided) and advaita (without a second).

Verse 9: māyā-śakti is the root of all debate

The root of all the arguments and counter-arguments of debaters is the māyā-śaktis of Parameśvara himself. These powers bring confusion (vyāmoha) again and again to the minds of all who dispute. “To that Parameśvara, who has endless guṇas and fills all things, namaskāra.”

Verse 10: yoga and jñāna joined

Yoga-śāstra (selfless action and bhakti) seems to say that Īśvara has name and form. Jñāna-yoga seems to say that he has none. The two seem to disagree. But both yoga and jñāna in the end point to one and the same paramātma-tattva as their tātparya (true meaning). At their root is one tattva that fits both paths and is common to both. It is the Ātman, known as the limit beyond which all denial of bhāva and abhāva (being and not-being) stops. That is Parabrahman.

Verse 11: the avatāra for the sake of bhaktas

To bless his devotees who take refuge at his feet, Bhagavān Hari, who is beyond name and form and beyond limits of place and time, comes down, performs līlās (divine play) and takes names and forms. Yet he stays for ever beyond them. “May that Bhagavān Hari be pleased with me.”

Verse 12: appearing in the form that is worshipped

Īśvara lives as the Ātman in the bodies of all beings. Yet people worship him through ordinary upāsanās (forms of worship) in the shapes of various devatas. Air, while remaining air, seems to have the scent of the earth it carries. In the same way Bhagavān Hari seems to take on those forms as the object of those upāsanās. “May that Parameśvara fulfil my inner wish.”

Bhagavān Hari’s appearance

Bhagavān Śrī Hari, who is bhaktavatsala (loving to his devotees), heard the stotra and appeared to Daksha. He stood on the shoulders of Garuḍa. His eight great arms held the weapons cakra, śaṅkha (conch), khaḍga (sword), kheṭaka (shield), bāṇa (arrow), dhanus (bow), pāśa (noose) and gadā (mace).

He was dark as a rain-cloud, with a calm face and calm eyes. He wore a vanamālā (garland of forest flowers). On his chest shone the Śrīvatsa mark and the Kaustubha gem. He wore yellow cloth, a great crown, bracelets, makarakuṇḍalas (shark-shaped earrings), an oddhāṇa (waist ornament), rings, a kaṇṭhahāra (necklace), kāliyas (anklets) and bhujākīrtis (arm ornaments).

Nārada, Nanda and other attendants, and the lokapālas, stood around him on every side. Behind him the Siddhas, Gandharvas and Cāraṇas sang his glory.

Bhagavān Hari’s vara to Daksha

Bhagavān Hari said, “O Mahānubhāva, son of the Pracetasas! You have gained excellent siddhi through your tapas, for you have ananya-śraddhā (single-minded faith) and supreme bhakti toward me. O Prajāpati! You practised tapas for the growth of the world, and I am pleased, because it is my wish too that beings should flourish. Brahmā, Śiva, all of you Prajāpatis, Manus and lokapālas: you are all my vibhūtis (powers), the causes of the growth of beings.”

He then told Daksha to marry Asiknī, the daughter of Pañcajana Prajāpati, and to have many children by her. After speaking, Bhagavān Hari vanished from before Daksha as quickly as something seen in a dream.

Sources

Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, Skanda 6, Chapter 4