Viśravā’s Vedic Stotras to Hanumān
Viśravā Hanumat Stotra · viśravā-hanumat-stotra, “Viśravā’s stotras to Hanumān”
Viśravā’s Vedic stotras to Hanumān are the hymns with which Viśravā Ṛshi pleased Hanumān and won the release of his son Rāvaṇa. The account is told in the Pratisarga Parva of the Bhavishya Purāṇa, in Bṛhaspati‘s words to Devendra.
The setting
Bhagavān Śaṅkara, by his aṃśa, took avatāra as Hanumān from the womb of Añjanā, wife of Keśarī. Seeing the red rising Sūrya and taking it for a fruit, Hanumān swallowed it, and Indra struck his chin with the vajra. Rāvaṇa caught his tail and hung from it, yet still Hanumān did not let go of the Sūrya. Their fight with fists went on for a year, until Rāvaṇa, exhausted and afraid of Rudra-formed Hanumān, fled here and there.
The stotras
At this time Viśravā Ṛshi came there and pleased Hanumān with Vedic stotras in parā vāṇī, the highest speech.
What followed
Pleased, Rudra-formed Hanumān released Rāvaṇa. Then the mighty son of Keśarī lived on the bank at Pampāpura, and because he stood there motionless he became famous as Sthāṇu.
Sources
- Bhavishya Purāṇa, Pratisarga Parva, Khaṇḍa 4, Chapter 13