Aditi’s Stuti to Śrī Kṛshṇa (Brahma Purāṇa)
Aditi Kṛtā Bhagavat Stuti · aditi kṛtā bhagavat stuti, “the stuti of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa made by Aditi”
Kalpavṛksha has other meanings too: see all meanings of Kalpavṛksha.
Aditi’s stuti to Śrī Kṛshṇa, which the Purāṇa itself calls the Aditi-kṛtā Bhagavat-stutiḥ, “the stuti of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa made by Aditi“, is the praise that Aditi, mother of the devas, offered Bhagavān Kṛshṇa in svarga when he came to return her divine kuṇḍalas (earrings) after slaying Naraka. It fills the opening of the Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 203, which takes its name from it, and Vyāsa tells it to the munis. It opens “Puṇḍarīkāksha! Bhaktābhaya-prada! Sanātana-svarūpa!”, “Lotus-eyed one, giver of fearlessness to devotees, you of eternal form!” In it Aditi praises Kṛshṇa as the form of time and the elements, the mover of mind and senses, and the one who pervades all through the forms of Brahmā and the others; she teaches how all beings fall into the whirlpool of Vishṇu-māyā and cross it only by worshipping him; and she asks that her own ignorance be destroyed. Praised so, Śrī Kṛshṇa smiled and asked her for a vara, and she declared him unconquerable.
The setting
Indra came to Dvāravatī and told Kṛshṇa of the deeds of Naraka, the son of Bhūmi and lord of Prāgjyotisha, who among other wrongs had taken the amṛta-flowing kuṇḍalas of Indra’s mother Aditi. Kṛshṇa went to Prāgjyotisha on Garuḍa with Satyabhāmā, cut the nooses round the city with the Sudarśana, ended Mura and his seven thousand sons and Hayagrīva, and cut Naraka in two with the cakra. Bhūdevī then brought him the kuṇḍalas of Aditi. With the umbrella of Varuṇa and the gem mountain set on Garuḍa, Kṛshṇa flew with Satyabhāmā to the city of the devas to give the kuṇḍalas back.
At the gate of svarga Hari blew his conch, and the devas came to meet him with the arghya vessel. Worshipped by them, he entered the house of Aditi, whose peaks were like white clouds. With Indra he bowed to her, gave her the gem kuṇḍalas and told her that Naraka was destroyed. Aditi, mother of the world, deeply pleased, fixed her mind on Hari, the maker of the world, and without faltering praised him.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 202–203
The stuti
The names. Aditi calls him, in this order:
- Puṇḍarīkāksha, lotus-eyed;
- Bhaktābhaya-prada, giver of fearlessness to devotees;
- Sanātana-svarūpa, of eternal form;
- Sarva-bhūta-bhāvana, who brings all beings into being;
- Mano-buddhi-indriya-preraka, mover of mind, intellect and the senses;
- Hrasva-dīrghādi-vikalpa-rahita, free of distinctions such as short and long;
- Janmādi-rahita, free of birth and the rest;
- Svapnādy-avasthā-traya-varjita, beyond the three states, dream and the others.
His forms. “You are the form of time, the sandhyās and the rest. You are the form of the five elements, earth and the rest. Mind, intellect, citta and ahaṃkāra are you. You are the maker of creation and the rest, and the ruler of the makers. Through the forms made by māyā, Brahmā and the others, you pervade the whole world of moving and unmoving things.”
Vishṇu-māyā. “To take as self what is not self is your māyā; from it arise ‘I’ and ‘mine’. All this in saṃsāra is the play of your māyā. Those devoted to their own dharma worship you, and they cross this māyā. Brahmā and the others, humans and animals, all fall into the whirlpool called Vishṇu-māyā and are wrapped in the thick darkness of delusion. Worshipping you they gain their desires, cross existence and reach your feet.”
The wish-granting tree. “I worshipped you out of desire for sons and for the destruction of enemies, not for moksha. This is the play of māyā. It is like asking a kalpavṛksha, the wish-granting tree, for a loincloth. Those who have not done puṇya-karma bring on themselves this fault of desiring such fruits.”
The prayer. “Parātpara, higher than the highest, who bewilder the whole world by māyā, be gracious to me. You are pure knowledge and being; destroy my ignorance. Śārṅga-cakra-gadā-hasta, you who hold the divine Śārṅga bow, the cakra and the gadā, namaskāra to you. I see only this form of yours, shining with outward marks; I do not know your pure reality. Be gracious.”
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 203
What followed
Praised thus, Vishṇu smiled gently at Aditi, whom Vyāsa here calls Surāraṇi: as the araṇi is the wood from which fire is born, she is the source from which the devas arise. Kṛshṇa said: “Devī, you are our mother. Show compassion. Be a giver of varas to us.” Aditi answered: “Let your wish be so. You will be unconquerable by suras and asuras, and you will dwell in the world of men.”
Then Satyabhāmā bowed to Aditi, who was with Śacī Devī, and begged again and again, “Be gracious to us.” Aditi blessed her: “By my grace old age and change of form will not come to you, and you will gain the fulfilment of all desires.” With Aditi’s leave, Devendra worshipped Hari with honour, as prescribed, and Kṛshṇa went with Satyabhāmā to see the gardens of the devas, where the account of the Pārijāta begins.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Chapter 203
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Chapters 202–203