Sarvapāpamocana Stava

Sarvapāpamocana Stava · sarva-pāpa-mocana stava, “the stava that frees from all pāpa”

The Sarvapāpamocana Stava, “the stava that frees from all pāpa”, is a long stava (stotra of praise) to Bhagavān Vishṇu, spoken by Maheśvara, Bhagavān Śiva as Tripurāntaka, the destroyer of the three cities. Pulastya Maharshi gives it in full to Nārada Maharshi in Chapter 60 of the Vāmana Purāṇa, and says that Maheśvara made it known in the kshetra (holy place) of Vārāṇasī.

Name after name, the stava praises Bhagavān Vishṇu as Jagannātha, Vāsudeva, Nārāyaṇa, Purushottama, Keśava, Govinda, Vāmana and Madhusūdana, the thousand-headed and thousand-eyed one whose eyes are the moon, the sun and fire. It sees him as the great nyagrodha (banyan tree), whose root, trunks, branches and leaves are the four varṇas, and as the Virāṭ Purusha, from whose limbs arose the varṇas, Sūrya, the earth, the directions, Candra, the winds, Brahmā, the three-eyed Rudra, Indra and Agni. It praises him as Oṃkāra and every sacred utterance of the yajña (sacred fire rite); as the Veda, every deva, every tīrtha (holy bathing place) and every yajña; as the priests, the ladles, the mortar, the fire-sticks, the offering, the post of the yajña and the dakshiṇā (the gift to the priests); as knowledge, the knower and the known; and as the wheel of time with twelve spokes. It ends by taking refuge in him who destroys the greatest pāpas (sins) and the lesser ones, and is beyond all pāpa.

Pulastya Maharshi closes by saying that Rudra bathed in the Sitodaka tīrtha, went before Keśava and was freed of pāpa. The one who reads this stava with śraddhā (faith) is freed of pāpa, attains śānti (peace), and becomes worthy of pūjā even by the renowned devas.

The stava comes in the account that Pulastya Maharshi gave when Nārada Maharshi asked him about the stotras that the parama-bhakta (supreme devotee) Prahlāda chanted with śraddhā. It follows the account of Gajendra-mokshaṇa (Chapter 58) and the Vishṇu Sārasvata stotra (Chapter 59).

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 58–60

The stotra

The chapter opens straight with the words of the stava, with no introduction. Maheśvara is the speaker, and he addresses Bhagavān Vishṇu. In the Purāṇa each group of names closes with a salutation: praṇāma, namaskāra, namas, namovāka, johār or folded hands. Where the text explains a name in brackets, the explanation is given here.

The names

1. “O Jagannātha, praṇāma to you. Devadeva (deva of the devas), namaskāra to you. Vāsudeva, Bahurūpī (of many forms), namaskāra to you.”
2. Ekaśṛṅga (the one-horned), Vṛshākapi, Śrīnivāsa, Bhūtabhāvana (who brings beings into being): namas to you.
3. Vishvaksena, Nārāyaṇa, Dhruvaketana (whose banner is firm), Satyadhvaja (whose banner is truth): namovākas to you.
4. Yajñadhvaja (whose banner is the yajña), Dharmadhvaja (whose banner is dharma), Tāladhvaja (whose banner is the palm tree; the text explains: Balarāma), Garuḍadhvaja (whose banner bears Garuḍa): namaskāra to you.
5. Sarvottama (the highest of all), Vishṇu, Vaikuṇṭha, Purushottama, Jayanta, Vijaya, Jaya, Ananta (the endless), Parājita (the text explains: the one conquered by his bhaktas): namaskāra to you.
6. Kṛtāvarta (who turns in the form of the kalpas), Mahāvarta (the great whirlpool that draws all into itself), Mahādeva, the one who has no beginning, the one who is the beginning and the end, the one who is the middle and the end, Brahmapriya: namas to you.
7. Purañjaya (conqueror of cities), Śatruñjaya (conqueror of enemies), Śubhañjaya (master of the good), Dhanañjaya: johārs to you.
8. The abode of creation, Pavitranāma (whose name is holy), Pṛthuśravā (whose fame is great), Hiraṇyagarbha, Kamalagarbha: praṇāma to you.
9. Kamalanetra, Kālanābha (whose navel is time), Mahānābha: namas to you.
10. Vṛshṭimūla (the cause of rain), Mahāmūla (the root of all), Mūlāvāsa (the first refuge), the abode of dharma, of water and of wealth: namas to you.
11. Dharmādhyaksha (who oversees dharma), Prajādhyaksha, Lokādhyaksha, Senādhyaksha, Kālādhyaksha: johārs to you.
12. Gadādhara, bearer of the gadā; the one who rescued the Vedas; the one who holds the cakra and Lakshmī; the deva who bears the vanamālā (garland of forest flowers) and Bhūdevī; Hari: namas to you.
13. Ārcisheṇa (the great light), the one whose form is a great army, Purushṭuta (the greatly praised), Bahukalpa, Mahākalpa, the chief of all thought and design, Sarvātmā (the ātmā of all), Sarvaga (who goes everywhere), Vibhu, Viriñci, Śveta (the white), Keśava, Nīla (the dark blue), Rakta (the red), Mahānīla, Aniruddha: praṇāmas to you.
14. Kālarūpa, the form of time, who holds the twelve Ādityas in his womb; Sāmavedarūpa; Paramātmā; Ākāśarūpa (whose form is space); the auspicious high tattva (the text explains: Subrahman); Sarvajīvātmaka (the self of every living being): johārs to you.
15. Harikeśa (of tawny hair), Mahākeśa, Guḍākeśa (thick-haired), Muñjakeśa (whose hair is like muñja grass), Hṛshīkeśa, and again Hṛshīkeśa (master of the senses), Sarvanātha: namaskāra to you.
16. Sūkshmarūpa (the subtle), Mahāsūkshma, Sthūla (the gross), Mahāsthūla, Kalyāṇakārī (who does good), the one who wears garments of white, of gold and of black: salutations to you.
17. Kuśeśaya (who lies on darbha grass), Padmeśaya (who lies on the lotus), Jaleśaya (who lies on the waters), Govinda, Haṃsarūpa, Pītāmbarapriya (fond of the yellow garment), Prītikartā (giver of joy): namas to you.
18. Adhokshaja (subduer of the senses), Sīradhvaja (whose banner is the plough), Janārdana, Vāmana, Madhusūdana: praṇāmas to you.
19. Sahasraśīrsha (the thousand-headed), Brahmaśīrsha, Sahasranetra (the thousand-eyed), Candrasūryāgninetra (whose eyes are the moon, the sun and fire), Atharvaśīrsha, Mahāśīrsha, Dharmanetra, Mahānetra: namaskāras to you.
20. Sahasrapāda (the thousand-footed), the enemy of the thousand-armed one (the text explains: Bāṇa), Yajñavarāha, Mahārūpa: praṇāmas to you.
21. Viśvedeva, Viśvātmā, Viśvasambhava, Viśvarūpa: “From you alone this universe arose. Praṇāmas to you.”

The form of the nyagrodha

Maheśvara bows to Bhagavān Vishṇu in the form of the great banyan:

“Namaskāra to you in the form of the nyagrodha, resplendent with great branches and worshipped with flowers at its roots; to you who shine with trunks, leaves, sprouts, creepers and tender shoots. Your root is the brāhmaṇas; your trunks are the kshatriyas; O Brahman, the vaiśyas are your branches; your leaves are the śūdras. O Vanaspati (king of the trees), namaskāras to you.”

The Virāṭ Purusha

“Your mouth is the vipras who keep the sacred fire always; your arms are the armed kshatriyas; your thighs are the vaiśyas; the śūdras are your feet. From those limbs they arose.

“From your eyes arose Sūrya; from your feet the earth; from your ears the directions; from your navel the antariksha (the mid-region between earth and sky); Candra from your mind; the vāyus (winds) from your prāṇas (breaths); Brahmā from your kāma (will and longing).

“From your krodha arose the three-eyed Rudra; from your head the shining sky (divi); from your mouth Indra and Agni; from your mala the cattle; from your hairs the oshadhis (healing herbs). Praṇāmas to you, the Virāja Purusha.”

The sacred utterances and the Veda

• “Namas to you, whose smile is flowers and who laughs the aṭṭahāsa (the great resounding laugh).”
• “You are Oṃkāra. You are Vashaṭkāra. Vaushaṭ, Svadhā, Svāhākāra, Sudhā and Hantakāra, all are you. Praṇāmas to you.”
• “All forms are yours; you yourself have no form. You are Vedarūpī, the form of the Veda; Vedamaya, made of the Veda; Sarvadevamaya, made of all the devas; Sarvatīrthamaya, made of all the tīrthas; Sarvayajñamaya, made of all the yajñas. Praṇāmas to you.”
• “O Yajñapurusha, enjoyer of the share of the yāga, whose form is the vajra of a thousand edges and a hundred edges, praṇāmas to you.”
• “You are the lokas Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ. Namaskāra to you, giver of go (the text explains: the senses), giver of amṛta (the nectar of immortality), giver of gold and of knowledge, giver of all.”
• “You are Brahmeśvara, the first form of Brahmā, the bearer of Brahmā’s form, Parabrahma, Śabdabrahma (Brahman as sacred sound). Namaskāras to you.”

Knowledge and the yajña

• “You are vidyā (knowledge), the form of what is to be known; you are buddhi (the understanding), the one to be awakened to, and the knowledge of awakening. Namaskāras to you.”
• “You are the hotā (the priest who offers), the homa, the havya (the offering) and that which is being offered. You are Havyavāhana (the text explains: Agni), the protector, the purifier, the pure, the one to be made pure, and the praṇava (Oṃ) that is everything. Namas to you.”
• “You are the slayer and the one slain, the one carried away and the one who carries away, the nāyaka (leader), nīti (right conduct), the one to be worshipped, the first, the bearer of the universe. The sruk and the sruva (the ladles of the yajña) are your forms. You are the paramapada, the highest state.”
• “You are the kapāla (the text explains: the vessel in which the puroḍāśa cake is offered), the ulūkhala (mortar) and the araṇi (the wood churned to kindle the fire). You are the yajña vessel āraṇeya. You are that which becomes one, two and three.”
• “You are the yajña, the yajamāna (the one for whom the yajña is performed), the one worshipped, and the yājaka (the one who performs it). You are the knower, the one to be known, and knowledge. Praṇāmas to you.”
• “Jñāna-yoga, the goal of the yogīs, moksha (freedom from rebirth), dhṛti (steadfastness), sukha (happiness) and the limbs of yoga are your forms. O all-pervading Īśvara, namas to you.”
• “In the yajñaśālā (the hall of the yajña) you are the Brahmā priest, the hotā, the udgātā (the singer of the Sāma), the singing of the Sāma, the yūpa (the post of the yajña), the dakshiṇā, the dīkshā (the consecration), the puroḍāśa (the text explains: the naivedya given to Yajñeśvara), the animal of the yajña and the one who brings it: in all these forms you are manifest.”

The secret one and the wheel of time

• “You are the guhya (the secret one), Dhātā, Parama, Śiva and Nārāyaṇa. You are the multitude of people. You shine with the splendour of a thousand moons and suns. Namas to you.”
• “Folded hands to you, Purushottama, who are Bhavānīśvara (the text explains: Mahākāleśvara), the form of the kālacakra (the wheel of time) with twelve spokes, six axles, three vyūhas and two yokes.”

Īśvara of all

• “Parākrama and vikrama (might and valour), Hayagrīva, Hari and the Īśvaras: you are these. Namaskāras to you, who are Sarveśvara (the text explains: Pṛthvīpati, master of the earth), Brahmeśvara and Sūryeśvara.”
• “You are Hayamukha, the horse-faced (the text explains: kinnara); you are Mahāmedha (the great yajña); you are Śambhu; you are Indra; you are Prabhañjana (the wind); you are the mūrti of Mitra and Varuṇa; Parama, free of pāpa; Prāgvaṃśakāya (the text explains: the first lineage given form); the beginning of all beings; the great being; Acyuta, the one who never falls; Dvija; Ūrdhvakartā; Ūrdhva; Ūrdhvaretaska (whose seed is drawn upward, the perfect brahmacārī). Namas to you.”
• “Destroyer of the mahāpātakas (the greatest pāpas) and the upapātakas (the lesser pāpas), beyond all pāpas: I take refuge in you.”

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 60

How it was made known

When the stava was complete, Pulastya Maharshi said: “O Nārada, I have recited to you this supreme Sarvapāpamocana Stava. Maheśvara made it known in the Vārāṇasī kshetra.”

Then he told what came of it: Rudra bathed in the Sitodaka tīrtha, went before Keśava, and was freed of pāpa.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 60

The phalaśruti

Pulastya Maharshi gives the phalaśruti (the fruit of reciting it): this stotra, spoken by Tripurāntaka, is devoted to Bhagavān Vishṇu and is sacred. The one who reads it with śraddhā is freed from pāpa, attains śānti, and becomes worthy of pūjā even by the renowned devas.

Source: Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapter 60

Sources

• Vāmana Purāṇa, Chapters 58–60