Kauṇḍinya’s Prayer to Ananta
Kauṇḍinya’s Prayer to Ananta · kauṇḍinya ananta prārthanā, “Kauṇḍinya’s prayer to Ananta”
Kauṇḍinya’s prayer to Ananta is the verse and a half with which Kauṇḍinya Muni prayed to Bhagavān Ananta and asked forgiveness when Ananta gave him darśana in the forest. Śrī Kṛshṇa tells it to Yudhishṭhira in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, in the account of the Ananta Caturdaśī.
The setting
By the Ananta vrata his wife Śīlā kept, Kauṇḍinya’s home became full of wealth, grain and cattle. One day in anger he broke the Ananta doraka tied on her hand, and all their Lakshmī was lost: thieves took the cattle, quarrels broke out, friends cut off ties and poverty ruled the house, because Bhagavān Ananta had been dishonoured. In sorrow Kauṇḍinya went into a dense forest, kept the vrata of Bhagavān Ananta without food and in brahmacarya, and did japa of his names. He asked a mango tree, a cow with her calf, a bull, two ponds, a donkey and an elephant whether they had seen Ananta, and all said no. In despair he fell on the earth. At that moment, in grace, Bhagavān Ananta appeared before him as an old brāhmaṇa, and then gave him darśana of his divine four-armed Viśvarūpa. Kauṇḍinya, full of joy, prayed.
The prayer
No Hindi meaning is printed. From the words: “I am pāpa, my acts are pāpa, my self is pāpa, I am born of pāpa. Protect me, O lotus-eyed one, and be the remover of all pāpa.” The last half-verse:
अद्य मे सफलं जन्म जीवितं च सुजीवितम्।
adya me saphalaṃ janma jīvitaṃ ca sujīvitam|
Today my birth has borne fruit, and my life is well lived.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 94
Bhagavān Ananta’s answer
Bhagavān Ananta told him who the beings of the forest had been: the mango tree a learned brāhmaṇa who gave no vidyā to disciples; the cow barren earth; the bull Dharma himself; the two ponds two sisters who disputed over dharma and gave nothing; the donkey a man of great anger; the elephant a corrupter of dharma. He told Kauṇḍinya to go home and keep the Ananta vrata, and gave him a vara: sons, grandsons and happiness in the world, the place of an excellent nakshatra, and at the end moksha. Kauṇḍinya and Śīlā kept the vrata, gained the highest happiness, and at the end were established in svarga as the nakshatra Punarvasu.
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 94