Dhanvantarī's Stotra to Manasādevī

This is the stotra that Bhagavān Dhanvantarī, the great teacher of āyurveda, sang to Bhagavatī Manasādevī, the queen of the nāgas (serpents). It is found in the Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, chapter 51. Bhagavān Dhanvantarī sang it after a great battle with Manasādevī, when Bhagavān Brahmā told him to worship her.

The setting

Bhagavān Dhanvantarī arose from the churning of the ocean (samudra-manthana). He is a direct aṃśa (part) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. He was a student of Garuḍa, and through Garuḍa a grand-disciple (upaśishya) of Bhagavān Śaṅkara. He was travelling to Kailāśa with a thousand disciples.

Takshaka is overcome

On the road, one of Dhanvantarī’s skilled disciples met the mighty serpent-king Takshaka. Takshaka looked like a spiny porcupine, his venom was fierce, and a hundred thousand nāgas surrounded him. He was rushing at them to swallow Dhanvantarī. The disciple used the power of mantra (mantra-śakti) and paralysed Takshaka. He drew out Takshaka’s venom, took the precious jewel (maṇi-ratna) from his head, swung him around and threw him to one side.

Takshaka lay as if dead. The nāgas who were with him ran to Vāsuki and told him of the shame.

Vāsuki’s army

Vāsuki was angry. He sent his five great serpent commanders, Droṇa, Kāliya, Karkoṭaka, Puṇḍarīka and Dhanañjaya, with countless serpents, to fight Dhanvantarī. The breath of the serpents alone made Dhanvantarī’s disciples fall unconscious. Dhanvantarī brought them back with a rain of amṛta and the power of mantra. Then he paralysed all the nāgas in return.

Manasādevī comes to the battle

Vāsuki knew all that had happened to his nāga armies (he is sarvajña, all-knowing). He called on his sister Manasādevī, the wisdom-formed (jñāna-rūpiṇī) mother of the world (Jagad-dhātrī), to protect the nāgas. Manasā accepted without any doubt. She said she could defeat all foes, even the forces of Bhagavān Brahmā if needed, by the power of the Nārāyaṇa Kavaca that her guru Śesha had given her.

Manasā came to the battlefield. With one look she brought all the fallen nāgas back to life. Then she paralysed all of Dhanvantarī’s disciples with her poison-gaze (visha-dṛshṭi). Dhanvantarī used all his mantra-powers but could not wake his disciples.

The battle

The two great masters of healing and mantra then fought. They threw astras at each other:

Manasā’s mantrikā padma (enchanted lotus) was burned to ash by Dhanvantarī’s breath.
Her śakty-āyudha (spear of śakti) was cut by Dhanvantarī’s śūla (trident), which Bhagavān Vishṇu had given him.
Her nāgapāśa (serpent-noose) was eaten by Garuḍa, who came when Dhanvantarī called him.
Her bhasma-mushṭi (fist of ash), which was Bhagavān Śiva’s own, was scattered by the wind of Garuḍa’s wings.

Brahmā and Śaṅkara arrive

Manasā then took up the Śiva-śūla, which no one can overcome. It blazed with the tejas of a hundred suns, equal to pralayāgni (the fire of dissolution). Bhagavān Brahmā and Bhagavān Śaṅkara both came to the battlefield so that the two would not destroy each other. Manasā saw her guru Śiva and Brahmā coming. She put down the śūla and bowed to both. Dhanvantarī and Garuḍa also bowed to the two great devas.

Bhagavān Brahmā then spoke to Dhanvantarī. He said: “O Dhanvantarī! This battle is not equal. This Devī has Śiva’s śūla, and with it she could turn all three worlds to ash. Worship her instead. Recite the stotra of Āstīka Muni. With this pūjā and stotra she will be pleased and will give you a vara.” Bhagavān Śaṅkara agreed. Garuḍa also gave Dhanvantarī warm advice.

Dhanvantarī heard all their counsel. He bathed and made himself pure, put on fresh clothes and the tilaka mark, and made Bhagavān Brahmā himself his pūjā-purohita (officiating priest). Then he worshipped Manasādevī with the full Shoḍaśopacāra pūjā (worship with sixteen offerings) of the Sāmaveda, Kauthuma śākhā.

The dhyāna of Manasādevī

Before the pūjā, Dhanvantarī meditated on Manasādevī in this way, from the Kauthuma śākhā of the Sāmaveda.

Her colour is that of the Campaka flower, a beautiful golden-yellow.
All her limbs are very beautiful.
Her face has a gentle, pleasant smile.
She wears thin, fine clothes (sūkshma-vastra) that add to her radiance.
Her hair is tied in a beautiful braid (sundara veṇī).
She wears ornaments set with jewels (ratna-ābharaṇa).
With one hand she gives abhaya (freedom from fear). It is her nature to bless her devotees quickly.
She is master of all vidyās (sarva-vidyā-viśāradā) and giver of all vidyās (sarva-vidyā-dātrī).
She is peaceful and calm (śānta-svarūpiṇī).
Her vāhana (mount) is a great elephant (gaja-rāja), so she is called Gaja-vāhana.
She is Nāgeśvarī, the queen and ruler of all serpents.

The stotra

After the full Shoḍaśopacāra pūjā, Dhanvantarī praised Manasādevī by these names and attributes.

Siddha-svarūpa-dātrī. She gives her devotees a perfected spiritual form. By her grace the sādhaka reaches siddhi, the perfected state of spiritual attainment.
Kaśyapa-putrī. She is the daughter of Kaśyapa Prajāpati. This tells of her high birth in the line of the ṛshis.
Śaṅkara-putrikā-samā. By the discipline of learning she is like a daughter to Bhagavān Śaṅkara himself. She is his student, and that bond is as close as a daughter’s.
Nāgeśvarī. She is the supreme ruler and queen of all the nāgas. All the serpent-kings, Vāsuki, Takshaka, Karkoṭaka and all the others, are under her rule. She protects them and has authority over them.
Gaja-vāhana. She rides a great elephant (gaja), which suits her royal and powerful nature as a mahādevī who is respected even by hardened warriors.
Āstīka-muni-mātā. She is the mother of the great ṛshi Āstīka Muni, who was born to her from the great ṛshi Jagatkaraṇa. Āstīka is the muni who stepped in to save the nāgas at Janamejaya’s sarpasattra (serpent yajña).
Jagat-mātā. She is the mother of the whole world, and even those who fight her say so.
Jagatkaraṇa-ṛshi-patnī. She is the wife of the great ṛshi Jagatkaraṇa, one of the great ṛshis in the line of tapas.
Nāga-rājā-svasor. She is the sister of the nāga-rājas, above all of Vāsuki. This is why she came to their defence with such resolve.
Yoginī. She is a Yoginī of the highest order. She is skilled in every kind of yoga and is the mistress of yoga-śakti.
Cirākāla-tapasvinī. She is a tapasvinī who has done tapas for a very long time (cirākāla). This is the root of her great power.
Tapa-svarūpā. She is not only one who does tapas. She is tapas itself, its very svarūpa (essential form). Tapas finds its highest form in her.
Tapa-phala-dātrī. She gives the fruits of tapas. Whatever tapas should bring, she gives to those who worship her with devotion.
Śīla-sādhvī-śānta-rūpiṇī. She is śīla (of good character), sādhvī (chaste and righteous) and śānta-rūpiṇī (her form is peace itself). Though she is fierce in battle, her deepest nature is peace (śānti) and the virtue of dharma.

What came after

Dhanvantarī finished the Shoḍaśopacāra pūjā and this stotra with full devotion and a bowed head. Manasādevī was fully pleased (tushṭā). She gave him her vara and went back to her own realm. Bhagavān Brahmā, Bhagavān Śaṅkara and Garuḍa went to their own homes. Dhanvantarī, who is a part of Bhagavān Vishṇu, also went back to his own home. The nāga-rājas, their jewels shining again with restored power and honour, returned in peace and joy to their own lands.

Later, Āstīka Muni came home after his great deed of saving the serpents at Janamejaya’s sarpasattra. His mother Manasā received his service with joy and gave her full blessing to her son.

The phalaśruti

Whoever recites this stotra of Dhanvantarī to Manasādevī with bhakti gets this fruit.

He and all his descendants (vaṃśa) will never again fear serpents, snakebite or any danger from serpents, for all time. The Purāṇa declares this to be satya (truth), without any saṃśaya (doubt).

Sources

Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 51

Dhanvantarī’s Stotra to Manasādevī