Purūravas’s Stotra to Gaurī and Hara (Brahma Purāṇa)
Purūravas Kṛta Gaurī-Hara Stotra · purūravas kṛta gaurī-hara stotra, “the stotra to Gaurī and Hara sung by Purūravas”
Purūravas’s Stotra to Gaurī and Hara is the praise in two verses that Purūravas, son of Budha and Ilā, offered to Devī Gaurī and Bhagavān Śiva on the bank of the Gautamī, so that his mother Ilā might become King Ila again. It is found in the Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 38 (verses 114–115), where Brahmā tells it to Nārada. It was the last of three stotras: Budha praised first, then Ilā, then Purūravas. In it he takes refuge in Gaurī and Hara, the indwelling selves of the universe, from whom the whole world arises and into whom it merges, and in the two feet of Pārvatī that Śiva lovingly held at a great festival. The Devī and Śiva granted the vara, and Ila regained his manhood by a single bath in the Gautamī.
The setting
Brahmā tells Nārada that King Ila of the line of Vivasvān went hunting with a great army, sent his ministers and his purohita Vasishṭha back to the city, and stayed in the forest. In time he entered Umāvana, the forest of Umā on Himavat. Devī Pārvatī had once asked Bhagavān Śiva for a guarded place of her own, where any male but Śiva, Gaṇeśa, Kārtikeya and Nandin who entered would become a woman, and Śiva had granted it. So Ila became Ilā.
Ilā stayed in Umāvana and became the wife of Budha, son of Soma, and bore him a son. At his birth the devas cried “Victory!” and Brahmā himself came; because the child gave a loud cry, the ṛshis and devas named him Purūravas. Budha taught him the arts of a kshatriya and the dhanurveda. Seeing his mother in sorrow, Purūravas placed her feet on his head and asked what troubled her, and she told him everything and said she longed to be a man again, regain the kingdom and see her sons crowned. Budha told him: “The release will come only by the grace of Śambhu and of Umā. Go to the Gautamī, where the glorious Śiva, who removes śāpas and grants varas, dwells always with Umā.”
Purūravas bowed to Himavat, to his mother, his father and his guru, and went to the Gautamī, with Ilā and Budha following. There they bathed, performed tapas for a short while, and praised Devī Gaurī and Śaṅkara.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 38
The three stotras
Budha‘s stotra. “Let those two be my refuge, who delight in the tinkling of the jewelled girdle, who are like pure gold in colour, of beautiful form, worshipped by Skanda and Gaṇeśvara. They are worthy to be taken refuge in.”
Ilā‘s stotra. “Let Śaṅkarī and Śaṅkara be my refuge. Embodied beings scorched by the forest fire of the threefold affliction attain the highest bliss at once by meditating on these two. I am distressed and my mind is afflicted; there is no one but you to protect me. Your feet are supremely holy and worthy to be taken refuge in. Let them be my refuge.”
Purūravas‘s stotra.
- “Gaurī and Hara are worthy to be taken refuge in by the whole universe. They are the indwelling selves (antarātmā) of the universe. This whole visible universe arises from them, flourishes in them and at last merges into them. Let them be my refuge.”
- “During a great festival the devas said, ‘O Īśa, touch and hold the feet of the daughter of the lord of mountains.’ As soon as this was said, Śiva lovingly held them. Let those two feet be my refuge. They are worthy to be taken refuge in.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 38
The grace of the Devī and Śiva
The great Devī said: “What do you all wish for? What shall I grant you? You have done what is hard even for the devas. Be content, for you have done your duty.” Purūravas said: “King Ila entered your forest unknowingly, O Ambikā. Devī of the devas, forgive him and grant him manhood.” The Devī, who abides by the wish of Bhava, said “So be it”, and Bhagavān Śiva, ever devoted to the Devī’s words, said: “Let this king regain his manhood merely by taking a holy plunge here.”
As Ilā bathed, water flowed from her body, and all she had received from the Yakshiṇī, dance, song, grace and the rest, entered the Gaṅgā as the rivers Nṛtyā, Gītā and Saubhāgyā, which joined the Gaṅgā. By the grace of Gaurī and Śambhu, Ila was a man again. He performed the Vājapeya yajña, brought his purohita Vasishṭha, his wife and sons, his ministers, army and treasury, and founded a kingdom in Daṇḍaka, in the valley of the Sahya mountains, in a city named after him that surpassed the city of Mahendra. He crowned his elder sons in the kingdom of the Sūryavaṃśa, and with great love consecrated Aila, Purūravas, saying, “Let this boy be the founder of the Candravaṃśa and a glorious king.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 38
The phala
Ilātīrtha brings siddhi, purifies even those who have committed brahmahatyā and other grave pāpas, and grants every cherished wish. A holy bath and dāna at the three confluences of the Nṛtyā, Gītā and Saubhāgyā give the kingdom of the devas. Sixteen thousand tīrthas arose on both banks where Ila performed his yajñas, where he met his sons again, and where the rivers joined the Gaṅgā; there Śambhu is called Ileśvara. A holy bath, dāna and the like in these tīrthas give the fruit of all yajñas.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 38
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 38