Durvāsa’s Stotra to Vishṇu
This is the stotra (hymn of praise) that Durvāsa Maharshi sang to Bhagavān Vishṇu at Vaikuṇṭha. He sang it in fear, while the Sudarśana Cakra chased him on behalf of Ambarisha, a devotee he had wronged. It is found in the Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 25.
The Purāṇa says the stotra is drawn from the Sāmaveda, in the Kaudhuma tradition. Durvāsa had fled from Brahmaloka to Kailāsa and then to Vaikuṇṭha. In the stotra he praises Bhagavān Vishṇu as the supreme reality beyond all qualities, and he accepts that Bhagavān Vishṇu guards his devotees before all else.
The setting: Ambarisha and Durvāsa
Durvāsa came to the palace of King Ambarisha on Dvādaśī (the twelfth day of the lunar fortnight). He was angry to learn that the king had taken pādodaka (foot-water of the mūrti), as a small pāraṇa (breaking of the fast), before serving the guest in full. The king had done this on the advice of Vasishṭha. In his anger Durvāsa made a terrible fire-being from a lock of his matted hair and sent it to kill the king.
Ambarisha gave himself wholly to Bhagavān Vishṇu. The Sudarśana Cakra, which Vishṇu had given to Ambarisha as a sign of his great bhakti, appeared. It destroyed the fire-being and then began to chase Durvāsa without rest.
Durvāsa fled across the whole cosmos. At Brahmaloka, Brahmā refused him shelter and said even his own realm would burn. At Kailāsa he was refused, and Kailāsa began to burn. At last he came to Vaikuṇṭha, fell at the feet of Bhagavān Vishṇu and offered this stotra.
The assembly at Vaikuṇṭha
Before Durvāsa’s stotra, the Purāṇa tells that the whole assembly of devatas gathered at Vaikuṇṭha to plead for him. They were Brahmā, Mahādeva, Pārvatī, Dharma-deva, Indra, the various Rudras, the ashṭa-dikpālakas (the eight guardians of the directions), the navagrahas (the nine planets), great munis, Atri, Lakshmī, Sarasvatī, the pārshadas (attendants) of Bhagavān Vishṇu, and nartakas (heavenly dancers).
The stotra: its main themes
Bhagavān Vishṇu as Nirguṇa Brahman
Durvāsa begins by addressing Bhagavān Vishṇu as the supreme Parāt-para Brahman. He is nirguṇa (beyond all guṇas), nirākāra (beyond any fixed form) and anādi (without beginning), the ground of all that exists. Durvāsa says that the one before him is beyond sat and asat (what is and what is not), beyond the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep, and beyond the three planes of Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva. Bhagavān Vishṇu is at once the supreme Nirguṇa Brahman and the Bhagavān Vishṇu who listens, answers and protects.
The creator of all worlds
Durvāsa praises Bhagavān Vishṇu as the creator of the whole cosmos. The creating work of Brahmā, the dissolving work of Śiva and the preserving work of Vishṇu are all expressions of the one supreme will. Even the creator and the destroyer, who refused him shelter, come from this one supreme reality. Durvāsa names Vishṇu in words that include Brahmā and Śiva within his rule, and so he accepts the full Parabrahman nature of the one before whom he lies.
The four-yuga forms
Durvāsa’s hymn names the forms Bhagavān Vishṇu takes in the four yugas: white in Kṛta yuga, red in Tretā, yellow in Dvāpara and dark (kṛshṇa) in Kali yuga. The Parāt-para Brahman who is worshipped in Goloka as Kṛshṇa is the same one who has appeared in all four ages and will go on doing so.
The place of the bhaktas
The deepest teaching of the stotra is that the bhaktas of Bhagavān Vishṇu hold the highest place in all creation. Durvāsa has now learned this by his own experience, chased by the Sudarśana. In the stotra he says that Bhagavān Vishṇu’s love for his devotees is above every other concern. Even a ṛshi of Durvāsa’s great tapas-power and fearful name cannot harm a true bhakta without drawing the direct answer of Bhagavān Vishṇu himself.
Sorrow and prayer
Durvāsa ends the stotra with a prayer for forgiveness and for release from the chase of the Sudarśana Cakra. He says that his own anger, a fault that has caused suffering to many, brought about his present state, and he shows true regret. He prays that Bhagavān Vishṇu, an ocean of compassion (karuṇā-sindhu), will show that compassion to one who has erred through pride and rage.
Bhagavān Vishṇu’s answer: the word on bhaktas
After the stotra Bhagavān Vishṇu answered Durvāsa with the declaration that is the centre of the whole episode. He received the stotra kindly and explained his position:
“My bhaktas are dearer to me than Brahmā, than Śiva, than Lakshmī, than all else. My heart lives in the hearts of my bhaktas. When someone wrongs my bhakta, the wrong reaches me directly. I cannot forgive on a devotee’s behalf. That power belongs to the devotee alone. Go back to Ambarisha. Bow before him. Ask his forgiveness. When he forgives you, the Sudarśana will stand down.”
Durvāsa’s words on the greatness of Vaishṇavas
Afterwards Ambarisha at once and wholeheartedly forgave Durvāsa, the Sudarśana stood down, and Ambarisha fed Durvāsa with great honour. Durvāsa then spoke openly in wonder at what he had seen. He spoke of the greatness of Vaishṇava devotees (Vaishṇava māhātmya). He said that a man whose bhakti is so complete that Vishṇu sends his own cakra to guard him, and who yet holds no anger but only forgiveness and welcome, has a greatness that even the most powerful ṛshi must honour.
Nanda’s stotra to Indra
Chapter 21 of the same Khaṇḍa also keeps a stotra that Nanda sang in praise of Indra, when Indra’s armies first threatened Gokula. This stotra is linked with the Kaudhuma ṛshi tradition and is described as drawn from the Sāmaveda. It holds forty-six names of Indra. They include Surāpati, Śakra, Diti-putra, Sapta-marut-agraja, Sahasrāksha, Kaśyapāṅgaja, Suna-sīra, Marutvanta, Pākaśāsana, Śrīmanta, Śacī-nātha, Daitya-sūdana, Vajra-hasta, Kāma-sakha, Vāsava, Purandara, Diva-spati, Śata-makha, Sutrāmā and Gotra-bhedaka, and others.
The phalaśruti (the promise of what reciting it gives) of this stotra says that one who recites it every day is protected by Indra himself from too much rain, hailstorms and lightning. This stotra came before the Govinda stotra.
Sources
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 21
- Brahma Vaivarta Purāṇa, Śrī Kṛshṇa Janana Khaṇḍa, Chapter 25