19 - Krishnakavacha, Shivakavacha and the description of Shivastavaraja 

Sauti said— Malavati got delighted and gave away in charity enormous riches to the Brahmana and thereafter she decorated herself with cosmetics to welcome her husband. 

Serving her husband and adoring him appropriately, that beautiful damsel enjoyed the company of her husband for a long time.

Thereafter the chaste lady enlightened her husband surprisingly of Mahapurusha, stotra, puja, kavacha and the relevant Mantras. 

In the earlier times Vasistha imparted the knowledge of the stotras to Gandharva and Malavati. 

Thereafter the compassionate Vasistha, imparted the knowledge of Shivastotra and kavacha. 

Thus the Gandharva resided delightfully in the Kubera Bhavana together with his relatives, enjoying all the royal pleasures. 

The other wives of Upabarhana also reached there and enjoyed the company of their husband. 

Saunaka said—In the earlier times you have told me that the sage Vasistha had imparted the knowledge of Pujanavidhi (the method of performing puja), to both of them. You kindly enlighten me about the same now. 

You also kindly enlighten me about the twelve letter Mantra and kavacha which Vasistha had bestowed on the Gandharva king in the earlier times. I am quite anxious to listen to the same. The kavacha of Shiva, the stotra and the Mantra remove all misfortunes. 

Sauti said—The stotra, by reciting which Malavati pleased lord Krishna was bestowed by Vasistha to the Gandharva couple. You listen to the same kavacha and the mantra. 

Salutation to the lord of the Rasmandala, this is the sixteen letter mantra which is like the kalpavruksha (wish-fulfilling tree) which was given to the couple. 

The same mantra in earlier times was given over by Brahma to Kumara in the Pushkara region and the same was bestowed by lord Krishna on Shiva in Goloka. 

It is even difficult to meditate upon lord Vishnu according to the Vedic rites, but I am telling you the same. With the aforesaid basic mantra lord Vishnu should be offered eatables and the best of other things. 

О Brahmana, I listen to the secret kavacha of the lord from my father’s mouth. The same was bestowed on my father by Shiva over the bank of the Ganga and the same was bestowed on Shiva in the Goloka during the performing of Rasamandala by lord Krishna. The same was also given out to Brahma and Dharma. I am now telling you about the kavacha. 

Brahma said—О lord of Radha, О virtuous one, О lord, the kavacha about which you have narrated for the purification of the universe, you kindly tell us. 

О lord, О bestower of the kindness to the devotees, all the three of us namely myself Mahesha and Dharma happen to be your devotees. By knowing the secret from you, we shall pass it on to our sons. 

Krishna said—О lord Brahma, О Dharma, I am revealing to you the most secret and difficult kavacha which is like my life. Therefore, the knowledge of the same should not be imparted to everyone, because, the lustre which is possessed by me in my body is also possessed by it

О Brahman, you resort to creation after knowing it, which will establish you as the creator of the universe. О Shiva, by wearing this kavacha, after destroying the entire universe, you will possess the same prowess as I do.

О Dharma, by following this kavacha you will witness the deeds of others and with the boon granted by me, you bestow the result of their tapas on all the people. 

This kavacha which is the purifier of the universe has Vishnu as the Rusi, Gayatri as the metre, Jagdisvara, (lord Krishna) happens to be the god and the Viniyoga (the application) has to be performed. О Brahma by reciting it three lakhs of times, one attains success with the kavacha. 

The one who achieves success with this kavacha equates with me in glory, intelligence and prowess. 

Pranava (omkara) should protect my head, salutation to the lord of Rasa (dancing), salutation to him. This mantra should protect my forehead. Salutation to the lord of Radha; this mantra should protect both my eyes. Lord Krishna should protect both my ears. О Hari, protect my nose. Let Svaha the wife of Agni, should protect my speech and the mantra Svaha for Krishna should protect everyone. 

The mantra Svaha for Krishna, should protect my neck and Klim salutation to Krishna, should protect the face. The mantra Klim salutation to Krishna should protect my arm and the mantra salutation to the lord of Gopis should protect both my shoulders. The mantra salutation to the lord of the Gopis should protect the teeth beside both the lips. 

The mantra of sixteen letters for salutation to the lord : should protect the chest. 

The mantra for salutation to Krishna should protect both the ears. The mantra for the lord Vishnu, should protect the cheeks. 

Om Salutation to Hari, should protect the back and the feet while the mantra Svaha for the carrier of Govardhana mountain should protect the entire body. 

Lord Krishna is lodged in the eastern direction Madhava in the Agni direction, Gopisa in the southern direction, Nanda-Nandana should protect the Nairrutya direction. 

The western region should be protected by Govinda, the Vayavya direction should be protected by the lord of Radhika and the northern direction should be protected by the lord of Rasalila. The north-east direction should be protected by Achyuta. 

Lord Narayana should himself protect all the sides. О Brahmana, this is quite a surprising kavacha, the knowledge of which has been imparted by me to you. This is like my own life. The, one who practises this kavacha, earns the merit equivalent to thousands of Asvamedha sacrifices and hundreds the Vajpeya sacrifices. 

The wise people after taking a bath give away in charity clothes, ornaments and adore the teachers regularly while practising on this kavacha. 

The Brahmanas with the use of this kavacha achieve salvation. The success in this kavacha equates one with lord Vishnu. 

Sauti said—О Saunaka, now you listen to the kavacha of Shiva and the related stotra which was bestowed by Vasistha to Gandharva. In earlier times, О Brahmana, the knowledge of this kavacha was imparted by the priest Vasistha in the Pushkara region which reads. This mantra was bestowed by the sage on Gandharva. 

The same mantra was bestowed by Brahma on Ravana and Shiva himself gave to Banasura and Durvasa.

With this basic mantra all the eatables and the best of other things should be offered. The Vedic type of meditation on this mantra is like the verse, “I adore lord Shiva always” etc. This is well-known to everyone. 

Salutation to lord Mahadeva. 

Banasura said—О lord Maheshvara, O glorious one, О lord, you bestow the knowledge of the kavacha which purifies the universe. 

Maheshvara said—О son, “I am now speaking about that wonderful kavacha. It is difficult to get. In spite of that I bestow the knowledge of the same on you. 

In the earlier times I had bestowed the knowledge of this kavacha on Durvasa for the conquering of the worlds. Therefore, whosoever owns this kavacha with great devotion he would be able to conquers the three worlds like the god. 

This kavacha is the purifier of the universe. Its Rusi is Prajapati, its metre is Gayatri, the god is Maheshvara; Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha are the applications or viniyoga for the same. 

One who recites this mantra five lakhs of times achieves success for the same. The one who succeeds in this kavacha equates me with the universe in glory, accomplishment, tapas and prowess. 

Lord Sambhu should protect my forehead, Maheshvara should protect my mouth, Nilakantha should protect the teeth and lord Shiva himself should protect my lips. 

Lord Chandracuda should protect my neck. The one whose vehicle happens to be the bull should protect my shoulders Nllkantha should protect the chest; the Digambara should protect the back. 

The Visvesa should protect all the parts of body and all directions, while sleeping or awake. 

О Bana, I have imparted the knowledge of a wonderful kavacha to you. Don’t impart its knowledge to everyone because it is quite secret. 

The merit one earns by having a bath at all he sacred places, achieve the same by the reciting of this kavacha. 

The fool who tries to recite this kavacha without understanding it and adores me, cannot achieve success even if he recites the same a hundred lakhs of times.

Sauti said—О Saunaka, I have narrated about this kavacha to you; now you listen to the mantra also which is like the kalpavruksha. The same was recited by the sage Vasistha in earlier times. 

Banasura said—I adore the best of the gods and the lord of the gods, lord Shiva who is the great yogi, the cause of the yogis and their teachers. He is the teacher of the teachers. The all-knowledgeable, the form of knowledge, the seed of knowledge, eternal, the result of the lapas he bestows all the riches. 

He is the form of tapas, the seed of tapas and the treasure of the great ascetics. He is the boon, the bestower of the boons and is adorable by siddhas, the granter of salvation and adoration. He is the one who makes the people cross the ocean of the hell. He is Asutosa, who gets pleased quickly, always has a smiling face and is the ocean of compassion. 

He is always shining bright like the ice, sandal-paste, the moon and the lotuses. He is like the divine light and showers his grace over the devotees. He is always in compassionate form according to the exigencies of the situations and represents the water, the fire, the sky, the wind, the moon and the Sun. He is the lord and the great god and he bestows his grace suitably on all. 

He is the life of the devotees, is the great lord of the devotees and he always remains anxious to bestow his grace on the devotees. Therefore, the lord whose glory even cannot be recited by the Vedas, is limitless Ishana and is beyond mind and speech; how can I praise him? 

He is clad in the skin of a tiger, mounts on the bull, remains without clothes and is the holder of a trident and a Pattisa. He wears a serene smile on his face and his forehead is adorned with a crescent. I bow in reverence to this form of Shiva. The great sage Durvasa also conducted himself with devotion accordingly. 

О sage in earlier times Vasistha had imparted the stotra of Shiva to the Gandharva. 

Such of the human being who recited this sacred stotra achieves the merit of having a bath in all the sacred places. 

He who observes self-discipline consumes pure food, recites this stotra, bows at the feet of lord Shiva as well as his teacher, achieves a son if he is without one. He gets himself relieved of the horrible leprosy or stomach-ache. If one listens to the stotra for a full year, he surely gets himself relieved of all ailments. I have heard this from the sage Vyasa. 

The one who is bound in bondages and is unable to free himself, if he recites this stotra for a month or listens to it, surely is relieved of all the bondages. 

Similarly, anyone who listens to the stotra with devotion for a month he regains his last royal position and gets back the lost riches. 

A believer who is infested with the ailment of consumption, if he recites the stotra or listens to it for a year, is relieved of the ailment with the grace of Shiva. 

О Saunaka, О Brahmana, the one who listens to it with devotion, for him nothing remains impossible in the three worlds. 

In Bharata he is never separated from his relatives and he earns immense riches. There is no doubt about it. 

One who listens to it with devotion and self discipline for a month gets a chaste wife, if he does not have one. 

The one who is a great fool and is an evil minded one, if he listens to this stotra for a month, achieves intelligence and knowledge by the grace of his Guru. 

The one who leads a miserable life and has no riches at all, if he recites this stotra for a month lord Shiva gets pleased with him and he achieves all the riches. 

The one who recites the stotra thrice in a day, achieves pleasures in the world and glory which is difficult to get. By performing many religious rites, he ultimately achieves the place of Shiva and by attaining a high position, he serves lord Shiva.