Brahmā’s and Kardama’s Stotras to Vishṇu
The third skandha of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa holds two well-known stotras to Bhagavān Vishṇu. The first is Brahmā’s stotra in chapter 9. Brahmā sang it after he came out of the lotus that grew from the navel of Bhagavān Vishṇu and saw Vaikuṇṭha. The second is Kardama Prajāpati’s stotra in chapter 21. Kardama sang it at the end of his ten thousand years of tapas (austerity) at Bindu-sara, when he saw Bhagavān Vishṇu.
Both stotras speak of Bhagavān Vishṇu as kāla (time), of his māyā-śakti (the power by which creation is held up), and of his grace to those who come to him with bhakti (devotion). Together they give the devotional frame for the teaching on creation in this skandha.
Brahmā’s stotra: the setting
Brahmā came out of the lotus of Bhagavān Vishṇu’s navel. He did not at first know where he came from or what his work was. He went down into the stem of the lotus and searched its length for the root. He found nothing and came back up. Only then, in stillness, did he receive the instruction of Bhagavān Vishṇu to do tapas.
After many years of tapas, Bhagavān Vishṇu showed himself to Brahmā in Vaikuṇṭha, the world beyond the guṇas. Brahmā saw that highest form and sang this stotra before he was given the authority to create.
Brahmā’s stotra: what it praises
Bhagavān Vishṇu is the ground of all creation
All the ṛshis, prajāpatis and devas have whatever wisdom they have only by the grace of Bhagavān Vishṇu. They are instruments of his will. They are not makers on their own. Without his grace they would not even know what to do next.
His form is beyond the guṇas
Even the shining form of Vaikuṇṭha that Brahmā saw is a coming down of Bhagavān Vishṇu to be seen. His real svarūpa (own form) is beyond all limiting qualities. Great ṛshis meditate on his names and qualities through all the ages of creation, and they never come to the end of his glory.
The riddle of creation
Brahmā speaks of the riddle in his own being. He is the creator, yet he is himself created. He holds the whole world in his mind, yet he was born from the lotus without knowing. The riddle is answered when Brahmā sees that the real creator is Bhagavān Vishṇu and not Brahmā.
The prayer for steady understanding
Brahmā ends by asking for an unfailing power to tell right from wrong. He asks to see the presence of Bhagavān Vishṇu in all his work, to see Bhagavān Vishṇu as the real doer of all creation, and to offer all his work to Bhagavān Vishṇu as a yajña (offering).
Kardama’s stotra: the setting
Kardama Prajāpati finished ten thousand years of tapas at Bindu-sara. Then he saw Bhagavān Vishṇu seated on Garuḍa. Bhagavān Vishṇu carried the four āyudhas (weapons and signs): the śaṅkha (conch), the cakra (discus), the gadā (mace) and the padma (lotus). Śrī Lakshmī shone on his chest, and the Kaustubha jewel was at his throat. Kardama bowed to the ground at this sight and sang his stotra.
Kardama’s stotra: what it praises
Bhagavān Vishṇu as time
Kardama praises Bhagavān Vishṇu as the wheel of time (kāla-cakra), the one who turns the round of creation, keeping and dissolution. All beings are caught in the turning of this wheel and none can stop it. Yet whoever takes refuge at the feet of Bhagavān Vishṇu stands outside the wheel.
His māyā-śakti
Kardama praises the power by which Bhagavān Vishṇu makes the world as a spider makes its web from itself. Bhagavān Vishṇu uses his own śakti as the material. He brings out the worlds from his own nature and in the end draws them back in. All creation is his own expression.
His grace to his devotees
Kardama praises the grace, beyond understanding, by which Bhagavān Vishṇu shows himself to those who come to him with true devotion. He does not do so because they have earned it, nor only by the power of their tapas. It is the nature of Bhagavān Vishṇu to answer true love. Kardama says that Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared to him not because he earned it but because this is who Bhagavān Vishṇu is.
Bhagavān Vishṇu’s promise
Kardama speaks of the promise that Bhagavān Vishṇu had already kept. He gave Kardama the daughter of Svāyambhuva Manu as his wife. He would then come down as their son to set up again the teaching of Sāṅkhya.
Sources
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, third skandha, chapters 8 and 9 (Brahmā’s stotra)
- Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, third skandha, chapter 21 (Kardama’s stotra)