Pracetas’ Stotra to Vishṇu

When Bhagavān Vishṇu appeared before the ten Pracetas in the deep waters of the ocean, after ten thousand years of their tapas (austerity), the brothers sang this stotra to him. It praises him as the cause of all that exists, who has no cause himself. He is the innermost ātmā of every being, the highest light beyond the three guṇas, and the eternal Purusha in whom the whole world rests. It is found in the Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Prathamāṃśa, chapter 14.

The setting

The ten Pracetas were the sons of Pracīna-barhish. He was the son of Priyavrata, who was the son of Manu Svāyambhuva. The Pracetas had gone into the ocean and done hard tapas for ten thousand years, meditating on Vishṇu.

Bhagavān Vishṇu was moved by the depth and purity of their devotion. He appeared before them in the waters. He carried his four divine signs, the śaṅkha (conch), cakra (discus), gadā (mace) and padma (lotus), and shone with the highest splendour.

The Pracetas were filled with joy and respect at seeing him, and they poured out this praise.

The stotra

The Pracetas praised Bhagavān Vishṇu in these ways.

The uncaused cause

He is the one from whom everything rises, and he himself has no cause. He is the base of Prakṛti, and yet he is beyond it. He is the witness of Purusha, and yet he is not bound by it. He moves Kāla (Time), and yet he is beyond time.

The inner ātmā of all beings

Bhagavān Vishṇu lives as the antarātmā (inner self) in every creature, from the smallest insect to the highest deva. He is what makes each being alive, aware and present. He is not made less by being present in all. He is like the sky, which holds all things and is held by none.

The supreme Brahman beyond speech and thought

The Pracetas said that their own stotra was held back by the tool of language, and that what they praised was beyond every word they could use. He is aprameya, beyond all measure. He is avyakta, beyond all form that shows. He is what the Vedas try to describe but cannot fully hold.

The param jyoti, the highest light that shines by itself

He does not shine by borrowed light. He is the source from which all light flows: the light of the sun, the moon, fire and consciousness itself. He lights all things and is lit by nothing else.

Beyond the three guṇas

Sattva, rajas and tamas are his creation, his play and his tool. He stands apart from them as their witness and ruler. He is the nirguṇa Brahman (without guṇas), and also the saguṇa Bhagavān Vishṇu (with form) who shows himself in form before them.

The eternal Purusha

He is the twenty-fifth tattva of Sāṃkhya, the pure awareness in which the twenty-four tattvas of Prakṛti arise and dissolve. He is the thread on which the jewels of all that exists are strung. The world rests in him as garlands rest on a pillar, held up by what itself does not move.

The giver of moksha

The Pracetas ended their stotra with a prayer. They asked Bhagavān Vishṇu to accept their devotion and, when their duties in the world were done, to lead them to moksha. They described moksha as the lasting end of the sense of being separate, and the knowing that one is the same as the supreme ātmā.

The reply of Bhagavān Vishṇu

Bhagavān Vishṇu was moved by the stotra. He told the Pracetas that they had seen him truly. He blessed them and said that they had gathered great puṇya (merit) through their tapas. He told them to go back to the world and do the duty of raising children, with the wife who would come to them, Mārisha. After this duty was done, they would reach the moksha they sought. Their son Daksha would carry on the work of creation.

Sources

• Vishṇu Mahā Purāṇa, Prathamāṃśa, chapter 14