Śukra’s Ashṭamūrti Stotra

The Ashṭamūrti Stotra is the hymn that Śukrācārya offered to Bhagavān Śiva during and after his tapas at Kāśī. It is told in Chapter 50 of the Yuddha Khaṇḍa of the Rudra Saṃhitā of the Śiva Purāṇa.

The stotra is a meditation on Bhagavān Śiva as the Ashṭamūrti, the one with eight visible forms. These eight forms are the eight parts of the cosmos: the earth, water, fire, wind, space, the knower in the field, the moon and the sun. The stotra was the high point of the tapas of Śukrācārya. Through it he received the Mṛtasañjīvanī Vidyā and was made the planet Śukra (Venus).

The setting

Śukrācārya had come out of the stomach of Bhagavān Śiva through the liṅgamārga. Devī Pārvatī had adopted him, and Bhagavān Śiva had named him Śukra. After this he decided to win the Mṛtasañjīvanī Vidyā, the science of bringing the dead back to life, through tapas done directly to Bhagavān Śiva.

He came to Kāśī and set up a liṅga there. He then did very hard tapas: five thousand years of strict austerities, and one thousand years more. He did the pūjā of Bhagavān Śiva with many named flowers: lotus, bilva leaves, dhūrttā flowers, mandāra, ketakī, kuṭaja, pārijāta, mallikā (jasmine), campaka, śephālikā and many others.

The eight forms

Bhagavān Śiva was about to appear from the liṅga and grant the prayer of Śukrācārya. At this time Śukrācārya offered the Ashṭamūrti Stotra, a step-by-step meditation on the eight cosmic forms of Bhagavān Śiva.

  1. Śarva is Pṛthivī (the earth). Bhagavān Śiva is the base and the substance of all that has form.
  2. Bhava is Jala (water). Bhagavān Śiva is the flowing element that keeps life going.
  3. Rudra is Agni (fire). Bhagavān Śiva is the fire that changes, burns and makes pure.
  4. Ugra is Vāyu (wind). Bhagavān Śiva is the breath, the movement of prāṇa in all beings.
  5. Bhīma is Ākāśa (space). Bhagavān Śiva is the endless sky that holds everything.
  6. Paśupati is Kshetrajña (the knower in the field). Bhagavān Śiva is the ātmā present in all living beings.
  7. Mahādeva is Candra (the moon). Bhagavān Śiva is the one who feeds all and the master of the mind.
  8. Īśāna is Sūrya (the sun). Bhagavān Śiva is the sun’s light that gives life.

The stotra says that these eight forms together make up the whole visible universe. All eight cosmic elements are the body of Bhagavān Śiva himself.

The vara: Mṛtasañjīvanī and the planet Śukra

Bhagavān Śiva appeared from the liṅga. He gave Śukrācārya the Mṛtasañjīvanī Vidyā, the full science and mantra for bringing the dead back to life. Śukrācārya already held part of it, and now he received it in its fullest form.

Bhagavān Śiva also made Śukrācārya the planet Śukra (Venus). He declared that Śukra is especially auspicious for marriages, for all rites done on the Nandā tithis, and for wealth and fertility.

The liṅga that Śukrācārya had set up became the Śukreśvara liṅga at Kāśī.

Sources

  • Śiva Purāṇa, Rudra Saṃhitā, Yuddha Khaṇḍa, Chapter 50