Kaśyapa’s Stotra to Parātmā

This is the stotra that Kaśyapa Maharshi offered to Bhagavān Vishṇu as Parātmā, the Supreme Self. He spoke it for the devas who had been driven out of their places. It is found in the Bhavishya Parva of the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, chapter 68.

Bhagavān Vishṇu was moved by the stotra. He gave a vara (boon) and said that he would be born as Vāmana, the son of Kaśyapa and Aditi.

The setting

Bali ruled all three worlds. The devas were in exile and had gathered in Brahmaloka.

Kaśyapa is the Prajāpati from whom both the devas and the daityas come. He is the husband of Aditi, mother of the devas, and of Diti, mother of the daityas. He was the one whose prayer might reach Bhagavān Vishṇu. He made and recited a Sanskrit stotra to Parātmā Vishṇu on behalf of the devas gathered in Brahmaloka. In it he called on Bhagavān Vishṇu through knowledge of his highest nature, addressing him as he truly is.

Bhagavān Vishṇu was moved by the purity and depth of Kaśyapa’s prayer. He appeared and gave the vara: he would descend as Vāmana, son of Kaśyapa and Aditi.

The themes of the stotra

Parātmā, the Supreme Self. Kaśyapa calls Bhagavān Vishṇu Parātmā, the Self that is highest, the ātmā of all ātmās, the inner awareness in whom all selves rest. In this stotra Bhagavān Vishṇu is the ground of all being.

Maker, keeper and dissolver. The stotra praises Bhagavān Vishṇu as the source of the three works of the cosmos. Creation (sṛshṭi) is through Brahmā. Keeping (sthiti) is by his own presence everywhere. Dissolution (laya) is through Rudra. He himself is beyond all three and is the witness of all that happens within his own being.

The refuge of those who have lost their places. The devas were driven from their rightful homes. Kaśyapa’s stotra turns to Bhagavān Vishṇu as the one who brings order back. He is the one who always sets the three worlds right when they are disturbed, through the śakti of dharma that is his own nature.

Father and source. Kaśyapa is himself a father of the whole creation, the Prajāpati from whom both sides have come. Now he asks Bhagavān Vishṇu to become his son. The stotra therefore holds within it the seed of the Vāmana avatāra. Kaśyapa praises Bhagavān Vishṇu as the one who can be born from any womb, who is there before all births and after all deaths, and whose coming as a son is the highest grace a father can receive.

What followed

Bhagavān Vishṇu’s answer to the stotra was the Vāmana avatāra. The Bhavishya Parva of the Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa gives Kaśyapa’s Sanskrit stotra as the direct cause of the avatāra. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa account gives Aditi’s Payovrata, her vow, as the cause.

Sources

• Hari Vaṃśa Purāṇa, Bhavishya Parva, chapter 68
• Bhāgavata Purāṇa (the account of Aditi’s Payovrata)