Mahimnaḥ Stotra (Brahma Purāṇa)
Mahimnaḥ Stotra · mahimnaḥ stotra, “the stotra of the greatness of Śiva”
The Mahimnaḥ Stotra is the well-known sacred stotra to Bhagavān Śiva that, the Brahma Purāṇa tells, was composed by Mahiman, the son born to King Prācīnabarhis from the splendour of Śiva’s third eye. The Purāṇa names it in the Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 83, where Brahmā tells Nārada the glory of Bhāvatīrtha on the Gautamī, the tīrtha where Bhava, Bhagavān Śiva, is himself present. The chapter gives the stotra’s name and its composer; it does not print its verses.
The composer and his birth
Brahmā tells Nārada that Bhava, present at Bhāvatīrtha, is the indwelling ātmā of the whole universe and of all living beings, of the nature of existence and knowledge. There was a glorious king of the Sūrya-vaṃśa named Prācīnabarhis, master of every holy rite, who ruled for three and a half crores of years. His vow was to give up his kingdom when his youth passed or when he was parted from his wife, his sons or his loved ones. While he ruled no one was parted from those they loved, and there was no anguish, illness, famine or quarrel among kin.
For the sake of a son the king performed a yajña on the bank of the Gautamī, and Maheśvara, pleased, offered him varas. With his wife the king said to Bhava, “Give me a son.” Bhagavān Śiva said to him lovingly, “Look at my third eye.” When the king looked at it, a son was born from the dazzling splendour of that eye, well known as Mahiman. It was Mahiman who composed the well-known sacred stotra Mahimnaḥ. What cannot be gained, Brahmā says, when Tripurāntaka, the destroyer of the three cities, is pleased? Hari, Brahmā and the other devas always follow him.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 83
The tīrtha
Having gained a son, the king asked for an excellent tīrtha which by its power would fulfil the wishes of people distressed by adversity and burdened with great pāpas, great illnesses and evil habits. Bhava gave pre-eminence to the tīrtha called Bhāvatīrtha. Because Mahiman was born there to Prācīnabarhis by the grace of Bhava, it is called Bhavatīrtha. By a holy bath and dāna there one obtains all that is desired. There are seventy tīrthas there, sacred and giving everything.
Source: Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 83
Sources
- Brahma Purāṇa, Gautamī Māhātmya, Chapter 83