Bṛhaspati’s Stotra to Śiva (Brahma Purāṇa)
Bṛhaspatikṛta Śiva Stotra · bṛhaspati-kṛta śiva stotra, “the stotra to Śiva sung by Bṛhaspati”
Bṛhaspati’s Stotra to Śiva is the praise that Bṛhaspati, the guru of the devas, offered to Bhagavān Śiva as Someśvara on the bank of the Gautamī, so that Indra would no longer lose his kingdom. It is found in the Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52 (verses 74–82), where Brahmā tells Nārada the glory of Pūrṇatīrtha. In it Bṛhaspati praises Śiva as the subtle supreme light, the Oṃkāra beyond Prakṛti, knowledge and bliss, and all; he confesses that he has no means but bhakti, and asks only for unbroken devotion. It was sung together with Indra’s stotra to Bhagavān Vishṇu, and Hari and Hara, pleased, granted Indra a stable kingdom. The place where Bṛhaspati praised Maheśvara became the tīrtha called Govinda, where Bhagavān Śiva is Siddheśvara.
The setting
Brahmā tells Nārada that Indra had been ousted from his post three times: once by Nahusha after the slaying of Vṛtra, once on the slaying of Sindhusena, and once over Ahalyā. Remembering this, Indra, grieved and anxious, asked Vācaspati, Bṛhaspati, why he lost his kingdom again and again. Bṛhaspati sent him to Brahmā, the knower of past, present and future, and both bowed to Brahmā and asked what fault made the husband of Śacī fall from his kingdom.
After long meditation Brahmā named it khaṇḍa-dharma, dharma left broken or incomplete. Its causes are defects of place and time, misplaced śraddhā or wrong utterance of mantras, withholding the dakshiṇā owed, giving bad things in dāna, and slighting the devas and brāhmaṇas. Brahmā also told them of Dhanvantari, son of Āyus, and of the incidents of the previous birth. Asked how the fault could be undone, he said: “Go to the Gautamī, the divine river, and praise Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śaṅkara. In the three worlds there is no other means of purification than those two and that river.” Both went at once, bathed, had darśana of Bhagavān Vishṇu and Bhagavān Śaṅkara, and praised them with joy: Indra praised Hari, and Bṛhaspati praised Śiva.
The stotra
- “O Īśa, those who seek moksha speak of you thus: you are the subtle supreme light, in the form of the infinite. You are the Oṃkāra itself, which is beyond Prakṛti. You are knowledge and bliss (jñāna, ānanda). You are all.”
- “Even those without desire propitiate you through the five great yajñas.”
- “Those who have attained their desires enter your divine world, which lies beyond the ocean of saṃsāra and is your cosmic body.”
- “They look on all beings with an equal eye. In the six waves they stay calm. By knowledge they give up the fruits of action, and by dhyāna they enter you, Śambhu.”
- “Neither the dharmas of the varṇas, nor the Vedas and śāstras, neither the path of dhyāna nor the practice of contemplation is within my reach. It is through bhakti that I bow to Bhagavān Soma, Rudra, Śiva, Śaṅkara, of tranquil mind.”
- “Even a fool, O Śambhu, attains your body, whose nature is moksha, through devotion to your feet.”
- “The best gain of jñāna, yajñas, tapas, dhyāna and homas of great fruit is this: unbroken devotion to Someśvara.”
- “O Īśa, in whom the whole universe dwells, devotion to you is a stairway to svarga and moksha, loved by all beings, the fruit of everything seen and heard.”
- “The wise speak of no stairway for the fruit that is the attainment of your feet.”
- “So, O merciful one, let me have devotion to you. I have no means to serve your form. As befits your greatness, O Īśa, have mercy on us, who bear pāpa.”
- “I bow to Someśvara, praised thus by the Śrutis and the Purāṇas: ‘You are both the gross and the subtle. You are without beginning. You are the eternal one. You are the father and the mother. You are the existing and the non-existing (sat and asat).'”
What followed
Hari and Hara, the masters of the devas, pleased, said: “Choose whatever you desire, any vara, even one most hard to obtain.” Indra asked that the pāpa by which his kingdom was lost again and again be subdued, so that he and all that was his might stand firm for ever. Saying “So be it” (tathāstu), they granted it, and a smile spread over their faces as they looked at Indra and Bṛhaspati. Their forms were free of every lack and of every change, standing without support, the refuge of the worlds, bestowers of bhukti and mukti.
Hari and Hara said that this great tīrtha has three presiding deities, and that the Gautamī grants whatever is desired. They told Bṛhaspati to perform the ablution of Mahendra with this mantra, remembering them both for the stability of his fortune: “Whatever good and meritorious deeds have been done in this birth and in the previous one, let them reach perfection and completeness. O Godāvarī, namaskāra to you.” Whoever repeats this mantra and bathes in the Gautamī has his rite made perfect by the grace of Hari and Hara, is freed from the faults of former births, and becomes full of puṇya.
Bṛhaspati performed the great ablution (mahābhisheka) of Indra, and the river that arose from it was called Maṅgalā; its confluence with the Gaṅgā bestows auspiciousness. Indra received from Vishṇu the kingdom of the three worlds, and it was made stable through Maheśvara. The place where Bṛhaspati praised Maheśvara for the stability of Devendra’s kingdom became the tīrtha known as Govinda. Bhagavān Śiva is there as Siddheśvara, and the liṅga is worshipped by the devas.
Bath, dāna and every act of puṇya in these tīrthas bear undying fruit and are very dear to the pitṛs. One who listens to the greatness of that tīrtha, reads it or remembers it every day regains lost kingdoms.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 52