Vishṇu Stavarāja
Vishṇu Stavarāja, “the king of praises of Vishṇu”
The Vishṇu Stavarāja, the king of praises of Bhagavān Vishṇu, is named in the Uttara Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa as a stotra recited, with the Purusha Sūkta, in the Kāñcanapurī Vrata. Its words are not given.
In the Kāñcanapurī Vrata
Śrī Kṛshṇa tells of a dialogue in Śvetadvīpa. Jaganmātā Lakshmī bowed at the feet of Bhagavān Vishṇu and asked for a supreme vrata that gives beauty and saubhāgya. He answered that as the householder’s life is best among āśramas and the Gaṅgā among rivers, so the Kāñcanapurī Vrata is best among vratas; Devī Pārvatī, Sītā, Nala, the Pāṇḍavas with Draupadī and many others kept it.
On a chosen holy day the devotee fasts, bathes, and builds a vedī of four hastas with pillars of śamī wood. On a seat in its centre Bhagavān Janārdana is installed with Lakshmī, and before them a pot of water imagined as the Ocean of Milk, bearing a golden image of the Kāñcanapurī, the city of gold. Nārāyaṇa and Lakshmī are bathed with pañcāmṛta and worshipped; the guardians of the worlds, Gaṇapati and the nine grahas are worshipped; naivedya is offered and ten lamps of ghee are lit in the ten directions. Then, with garlands and sandal, the Vishṇu Stavarāja, the Purusha Sūkta and the like are recited, and sixteen brāhmaṇa couples are honoured as Lakshmī and Vishṇu.
Source: Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 147
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Uttara Parva, Chapter 147