Gautama’s Ashṭamūrti Stotra
The Ashṭamūrti Stotra is a hymn that Gautama Maharshi sang to Maheśvara at Kailāsa. It is found in the Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, chapter 6. It praises Bhagavān Śiva through his eight bodies (ashṭamūrti): Earth, Water, Sun, Moon, Fire, Vāyu, Ether and the body of yajña. It then praises Umā as the ninth body and as Śiva’s Śakti. The hymn shows that all creation is nothing other than Śiva’s own form. Bhagavān Śiva was moved by it, appeared before Gautama with Umā, Gaṇeśa and his followers, and gave him Gaṅgā from his matted locks.
The setting
Scheming ṛshis had used an illusory cow to blame Gautama falsely for go-hatyā (killing a cow), and then they went away. Gautama saw the purpose behind the event. It had all been arranged to bring Gaṅgā to the Daṇḍaka region, south of the Vindhya mountains.
He set out joyfully for Kailāsa. On that great mountain he spread kuśa grass, sat in purity and began to sing this stotra. While he praised Maheśvara, a shower of flowers fell from the sky.
The eight bodies of Śiva
The stotra praises Bhagavān Śiva as taking eight bodies. Together they make up all that is manifest, and Umā is always with him.
Earth (Pṛthvī)
Bhagavān Śiva takes the body of the Earth to bring happiness through the things of pleasure it gives, to hold up the whole universe of moving and unmoving beings, and to bring growth and prosperity to the world.
Water (Āpas)
Śiva’s form as water is for the creation, keeping and ending of the Earth, and to support the Earth. Taking the form of water, calm in body, Śiva gives happiness and dharma to all beings.
Sun, Moon and Fire (Tejomūrti)
Śiva’s threefold form as the lights of the sky governs the marking of units of time, the flow of nectar from the Moon, the keeping, making and ending of living beings, and the joy, happiness and progress of all who are ruled.
Vāyu (Wind)
Īśa’s form as Vāyu is made for bringing prosperity, movement, strength, the ordering of living beings, and the fulfilment of their joys. The power of Śiva alone does all this.
Ether (Ākāśa)
Without the gaps that ākāśa gives, there could be no action and no dharma. There could be no sense of “mine” and “not mine”, no directions, no sky, no svarga (heaven) and no earth. There could be neither worldly pleasures nor moksha. So Śiva has the body of ether, which takes the form of the Word (śabda). Through it the Vedas are divided into Ṛk, Yajus and Sāman, and the world has the Gāthās, the Smṛtis and the Purāṇas.
The body of yajña (Yajñamūrti)
The many things used in yajña make up Śiva’s body of yajña. The yajña and its tools, the form of the ṛtvik (priest), time, space and the result are all Śiva. His body of yajña is the truly real thing.
Umā, the ninth body
The stotra goes on to praise Umā as Śiva’s Śakti, the cosmic feminine principle that cannot be parted from him. She is the cause of the pleasures of the mind, eyes, awareness and thought of all beings, from Brahmā downward. She is the devī of speech and the mother of the universe. Even Indra longs for her glance. She fills the universe and makes it pure. Her form is like the Moon. By her grace all rites of dharma and all worldly pleasures bear fruit. For her sake, to make the universe holy, the descent of Gaṅgā is being brought about.
The closing verses
You are everything. You are the maker, the giver, the surety, the gift, the all-knowing witness, the great Purusha, the supreme ātmā and the final reality. You are everything. What use are streams of words?
The Vedas and other sacred texts do not point you out, and neither do teachers. The mind cannot reach you. You alone are unborn and beyond measure, the Īśvara named by the word Śiva. You alone are the Truth. O Bhagavān Śiva, I bow to you.
The result
As Gautama sang, flowers fell from the sky. Bhagavān Śiva appeared before him with Umā, Gaṇeśa and all his followers, and offered him any vara (boon). Gautama asked for the river from Śiva’s jaṭā (matted locks).
Śiva gave him Gaṅgā. He also gave a series of great varas to the river. She would be the holiest of all rivers. She would give moksha to all who bathed in her, remembered her, or came within ten yojanas of her. Śiva also declared that he himself would always be present wherever the Gautamī flows.
Sources
- Brahma Mahā Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 6