Akrūra’s Stotra on the Road to Gokula (Brahma Purāṇa)

Akrūra Mārga Stotra · akrūra mārga stotra, “Akrūra’s stotra on the road”

Akrūra‘s stotra on the road to Gokula is the praise of Hari that Akrūra spoke in his own mind as he drove his chariot from Mathurā to Nanda‘s Gokula, sent by Kaṃsa to bring Rāma and Kṛshṇa. It is found in the Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 191, in Vyāsa‘s telling of the life of Bālakṛshṇa to the munis. Eager for Kṛshṇa’s darśana, Akrūra counts himself the most blessed of men: he is about to see the face of Cakrapāṇi, the lotus-eyed one, the Yajña-purusha and Purushottama, whom Brahmā, Indra and Rudra do not know, who took the avatāras Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha and Nārasiṃha and has now taken a human form by his own will. He bows to Mādhava, whose māyā binds the world, to the one who is pure knowledge, and to Vāsudeva, the enjoyer of yajña. He closes by taking refuge in Purushottama, by the mere remembrance of whom a man becomes the vessel of every blessing. Reaching Gokula, he sees Kṛshṇa milking the cows and Balarāma behind him, and his thoughts rise into praise once more.

The setting

Akrūra set out in a swift chariot and, eager for Kṛshṇa‘s darśana, went toward Nanda‘s Gokula. On the way, he thought these things in this order.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 191

The stotra on the road

The blessing of darśana.

  • “There is no one more blessed than I.”
  • “I am about to see the lovely face of that Cakrapāṇi, bearer of the discus, who has come down as a portion of Hari.”
  • “Now my birth has become fruitful. This night has dawned most auspiciously.”
  • “I am about to have darśana of the face of Vishṇu, whose eyes are like the petals of a full-blown lotus.”
  • “I am about to see the lovely face of the lotus-eyed one, Puṇḍarīka-nayana, by remembering whom attachment departs.”
  • “I am going to see the face of Bhagavān Vishṇu, from whom all the Vedas and Vedāṅgas came forth, who is the supreme abode of all the devas.”
  • “I am about to see Jagadbhartā, the master of the world, the support of all, who in yajñas is worshipped by men as the Yajña-purusha, as Purushottama.”
  • “I am about to see Keśava, the Svāmī without end, the first one, by worshipping whom in a hundred yajñas Indra gained the rank of king of the devas.”
  • “That Hari, whose form Brahmā, Indra, Rudra, the Aśvins, the Vasus, the Ādityas and the Marut-gaṇa do not know, is about to touch me.”
  • “He who has become everything, who dwells in all beings, who is all, the Sarvavyāpī, the all-pervading one, will now be seen by me.”
  • “That deva who by yoga took the avatāras Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, Nārasiṃha and the rest will now speak to me.”
  • “The Avyaya, imperishable Hari, master of the world, has now taken a human form by his own will to dwell in Vrepalle, and has come to carry out the work of sustaining.”
  • “That Ananta who bears the earth with its peaks and all its parts, the great one who has come down to do the work of the world, will call me with his own mouth: ‘Akrūra!'”

The salutations.

  • “Namaskāra to that Mādhava, by whose māyā the world, entwined in the bonds of father, kinsman, friend, younger brother and elder brother, cannot be crossed.”
  • “Namaskāra to him who is pure knowledge, by whose entering the heart mortals cross the vast avidyā, the yoga-māyā.”
  • “I bow to that Vishṇu who is praised by the knowers of Vedānta as the Yajña-bhoktā, the enjoyer of yajña, the Yajña-purusha, Vāsudeva.”
  • “In that Paramātmā, the support of the world, the world of sat and asat is held and borne. May that Svāmī be gracious to me.”
  • “I take refuge always in that Purushottama, Hari, by the mere remembrance of whom a man becomes the vessel of every blessing.”

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 191

The phala

The stotra itself names its fruit: by the mere remembrance of Purushottama, Hari, a man becomes the vessel of every blessing.

Darśana at Gokula

Thinking of Vishṇu with a mind bowed in bhakti, Akrūra reached Gokula while a little daylight was still left. There he had darśana of Hari: Kṛshṇa was milking the cows, standing among the calves. His eyes were like the petals of a full-blown lotus, his chest marked with the Śrīvatsa, his arms reaching to the knees, his chest high and broad; his lotus face was full of a playful, gentle smile, his raised nails flashed like lightning; he wore pītāmbara, yellow silk, and an upper cloth, was adorned with the vanamālā, and wore a white lotus on his head. Behind him Akrūra saw Balabhadra, the joy of the Yadus: white like a swan, like the moon, like jasmine, wearing a dark garment, tall, long-armed, with a blooming lotus face, like another Kailāsa wrapped in a mass of clouds.

The second meditation

Seeing the two, Akrūra‘s lotus face bloomed and his whole body thrilled, and he thought:

  • “This is the supreme abode. This indeed is the supreme state. This Vāsudeva is here in two forms.”
  • “By darśana of this creator of the world may my two eyes become fruitful.”
  • “May that guileless smile of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, with which he will embrace me, be his grace, and may it be the path to the fulfilment of all my aims.”
  • “That Ananta-mūrti, by the mere touch of whose fingertip all pāpas fall away, will make my lotus-hand prosperous and radiant. By that, will Indra, the Maruts, Rudra, the Aśvins and all the devatās be gracious to me and grant varas?”
  • He remembered him as the one who broke the strength of the king of the daityas; into whose hand the water of a gift was poured, so that one on earth gained the enjoyments of the world of the immortals; by serving whom Indra gained the sovereignty of svarga, firm until the end of the manvantara. And he reproached himself, that he, though without fault, had been counted by Kaṃsa among his own.
  • “What is there in this world unknown to that Svāmī who is pure knowledge, the treasure of sattva, faultless, not easily seen by all, who dwells in the hearts of all?”
  • “So, my face bowed in bhakti, I shall go to have darśana of that mūrti, the aṃśāvatāra of Vishṇu: Viśveśvara, the Īśvara of all īśvaras, without beginning, middle or end, the unborn.”

With these thoughts the chapter ends, as Akrūra goes forward to meet Kṛshṇa.

Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 191

Sources

  • Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 191