Ashṭāvakra’s Stotra to Kṛshṇa

Ashṭāvakra’s Stotra to Kṛshṇa is a hymn of praise (stotra) sung by the great ṛshi Ashṭāvakra Muni to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and Rādhādevī in the forests of Vṛndāvana. It praises Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as the one beyond the three guṇas, the source of the Vedas, the master of all devas and the lord of Prakṛti. It is found in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 29.

Bhagavān Śrī Hari first taught this stotra to Śaṅkara (Bhagavān Śiva) in Vaikuṇṭhaloka. Śaṅkara taught it to Ashṭāvakra.

The setting

During the great Rāsa-krīḍā (the circle dance) in the forests of Vṛndāvana, some of the gopikās grew proud. They began to look on Bhagavān Kṛshṇa as a husband fully under their control, and not as the supreme Paramātmā. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa saw this mada (the intoxication of pride) in their hearts. To teach them humility through the pain of separation, He disappeared into the forests with Rādhādevī.

The gopikās searched for Him through the forests, along the river banks, in the mountain caves and on the ocean shores. The text describes Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and Rādhā playing in every beautiful and quiet place in creation.

In that same forest a remarkable ṛshi arrived. He was Ashṭāvakra Muni. The text describes him as:

• black-complexioned (kṛshṇa-varṇa)
• naked (digambara)
• with matted hair (jaṭā)
• with all eight limbs crooked (ashṭa-vakra)
• blazing with the tejas of his tapas like a living fire, his face glowing like the rising sun of tapas

He had done nirāhāra tapas (tapas without food) for sixty thousand years in the caves of the Malaya mountain. His body had burned away to ash inside through the fire of his own jāṭharāgni (the fire of digestion). He was a grandson of Brahmā: the son of Devala, who was the son of Asita, who was the son of Pracetas, who was the son of Brahmā. In spite of his great tapas he had not attained brahma-jñāna. He was a pure Hari-pāda-bhakta, a devotee of the lotus feet of Hari, and he had lived only on devotion to the lotus feet of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa.

Ashṭāvakra came upon Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and Rādhādevī seated together at the foot of a great banyan tree (vaṭa-vṛksha). Its shade spread for one yojana. The place was fragrant with flowers in bloom and cool with breezes scented with sandalwood. Rādhādevī saw the ṛshi’s twisted form and began to laugh. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa gently stopped her and explained Ashṭāvakra’s greatness to her.

Ashṭāvakra bowed to Bhagavān Kṛshṇa in namaskāra. Then, with full devotion, he sang the stotra that Śaṅkara had taught him.

The stotra

Ashṭāvakra’s stotra praises Bhagavān Kṛshṇa through a rising series of attributes.

Beyond the three guṇas. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa stands beyond sattva, rajas and tamas, the three guṇas that make up all creation. Yet He is the support (ādhāra) and the seed (bīja) of those guṇas. He is not made by the guṇas. They rest on Him. The ṛshi bows to Him as the sovereign of all yogis who hold the eight mahāsiddhis (aṇimā and the others), and as the seed of those siddhis themselves.

The source of the Vedas. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa is the seed of the Veda. He is vedajña, the knower of the Veda, and the best among all knowers of the Veda. He is the first form (ādi-rūpa), who cannot be fully known even through the Vedas. He is the supreme master of all those who know the Veda. The ṛshi bows to Him, whose nature the Vedas describe only in part.

Above all the devas. Brahmā, Ananta, Śaṅkara, Śesha, Indra, Dharma and all their gaṇas (hosts) are His servants and devotees. He is Sarvarūpa, the one of all forms, and Sarvanātha, the master of all. He is the seed of Śarva (Bhagavān Śiva) and of all the rulers of the devas. He is Sarveśvara, the sovereign over every sovereign.

Master of Prakṛti. He is Prakṛti-rūpa, whose form is Prakṛti, His power of māyā. He is Prakṛti-nātha, the master of Prakṛti. He is the supreme Purusha. The whole saṃsāra-vṛksha (the tree of worldly existence) is described in this way:

• Brahmā, Vishṇu and Maheśvara are its three main trunks (skandhas).
• The Vedas and śāstras are its branches.
• Tapas is its flowers.
• The experiences of saṃsāra are its fruits.
• Prakṛti herself is the first sprout.

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa is the foundation of this whole tree. He holds it up and has no other support Himself.

Rādhikānātha. The ṛshi calls Him Rādhikānātha, the master and beloved of Rādhikā. This name is spoken at the central moment of the stotra. It shows that the highest understanding of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa cannot be separated from understanding His relation with Rādhā.

Beyond sight and thought. Bhagavān Kṛshṇa is tejas-rūpa, a form of pure light. Eyes cannot see it and ordinary thought cannot grasp it. Yet He is also the most evident (pratyaksha) of all things, because everything that is seen is His form (ākāra). He is Svecchāmaya, ruled only by His own will, and wholly free.

How Ashṭāvakra left his body

When the stotra was done, Ashṭāvakra fell down at the lotus feet of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. In that complete surrender he gave up his prāṇas by his own will, through yoga, dying at the feet of his beloved Bhagavān Kṛshṇa. His body fell near the lotus feet of Bhagavān Kṛshṇa and Rādhā.

A blazing column of tejas rose from the body to the height of seven palm trees (tāla-vṛkshas). It came down, went round Bhagavān Kṛshṇa in pradakshiṇā, and merged into His lotus feet.

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa was deeply moved, as at the passing of a great devotee. He embraced Ashṭāvakra’s body, which sixty thousand years of tapas and jāṭharāgni had turned to ash, and He wept as an ordinary person weeps. Divine dundubhi drums sounded in the sky and flowers rained down.

Then a golden jewelled chariot (ratna-ratha) came from Goloka. Its drivers were pārshadas (attendants) who were as beautiful as Bhagavān Kṛshṇa Himself. They came down, bowed to Rādhā and Bhagavān Kṛshṇa, placed Ashṭāvakra’s sūkshma-deha (subtle body) in the chariot, and took him to Goloka.

Bhagavān Kṛshṇa then said to Rādhā: “There has never been a devotee as great as Ashṭāvakra, and there never will be. Even when all creation is destroyed at the end of the kalpa, my devotee does not perish.”

The phalaśruti

Whoever recites this stotra of Ashṭāvakra on rising in the morning reaches mokshānanda, the supreme bliss of moksha. There is no doubt of this. For those who seek moksha, this stotra is dearer than life itself.

Sources

• Brahma Vaivarta Mahā Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 29