Stotra to Ananta Saṃkarshaṇa

This is the praise of Bhagavān Ananta, also called Saṃkarshaṇa, in the twenty-fifth chapter of the fifth Skanda of the Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa. Bhagavān Ananta lives thirty thousand yojanas below the seven pātāla worlds, at the very base of the world. The chapter describes His form and His work, the praise given to Him by the nāga kings and His devotees, the birth of Rudra from between His brows, and the worship of the nāga maidens. It ends with a short stotra that says His greatness cannot be fully told. Bhagavān Ananta carries the whole universe on one of His thousand hoods, like a mustard seed.

Where He lives

Below the seven pātāla worlds, Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talātala, Mahātala, Rasātala and Pātāla, at a depth of thirty thousand yojanas from the lowest pātāla, lives the most ancient of forms: Bhagavān Ananta. This is the mūla-sthāna (root-dwelling) of the form of Bhagavān Vishṇu in which tamo-guṇa rules. This form fills the ground on which all the worlds rest.

The name Saṃkarshaṇa

The Bhāgavata explains the name Saṃkarshaṇa in this place. The form is called Saṃkarshaṇa because it is of the nature of ahaṃkāra, the sense of “I”. Karshaṇa means drawing together. It joins the one who sees (drashṭā) and what is seen (dṛśya) into one sense of identity. This is the root of saṃsāra: the false idea that the one who experiences is the same as what is experienced.

Those who are firm in sattva-guṇa and pure devotion call this form Saṃkarshaṇa. They know it not as the principle of bondage but as the divine form that, when rightly understood and worshipped, dissolves ahaṃkāra and leads to moksha.

The form of Ananta

The form of Bhagavān Ananta is described with great majesty.

• He has a thousand hoods. Each one could carry the whole universe as easily as a mustard seed set on a broad palm.
• He is decked with jewels, garlands and divine ornaments.
• His colour shines like the white mountain, Kailāsa.
• He wears dark-blue clothes and a single golden earring.
• He holds the plough (nāgali, the weapon known as Balarāma’s own) on one shoulder.
• His body is so vast that the whole bhū-maṇḍala, with all its mountains, rivers, oceans and beings, looks on one hood like less than a mustard seed.

He is the highest support, the ground beneath all grounds and the base beneath all bases.

The birth of Rudra from His brows

The chapter tells that at pralaya (the dissolution of the world), when Bhagavān Ananta wishes to dissolve the universe, He draws His fair brows together in a slight frown, showing what He intends. At that moment Rudra appears from between His brows, in eleven forms (ekādaśa Rudra), with his trident held high. This Rudra is called Sāṃkarshaṇa, “born from Saṃkarshaṇa”. His chief work is to finish the dissolution that the will of Ananta begins.

The worship of the nāga kings and the nāga maidens

The nāga kings and the siddhas worship Bhagavān Ananta without rest, with ananya-bhakti (devotion to Him alone). They bow their heads to His lotus foot. When they bow, the jewels on their hoods light up the clear, round toenails of His feet like a row of rubies. In those shining nails the devotees see the reflections of their own fair faces, bright with the glow of their jewelled earrings. The sight of their own faces in those divine nails fills their hearts with joy.

The nāga-kanyās (daughters of the nāga kings) wish their desires to be fulfilled. They rub the silver-white arms of Bhagavān Ananta with paste of agaru, chandana (sandalwood) and kuṅkuma. When their soft hands touch those noble arms, their hearts are overcome with love and their gentle smiles grow lovelier. They look at Him with eyes full of affection, joy and the intoxication of madana (desire). In return Bhagavān Ananta looks at them with eyes red and wandering with divine joy, and His kind, loving look makes their hearts overflow with love.

The devotees’ stotra

The chapter ends with a short but strong statement of the mahimā (greatness) of Bhagavān Ananta.

• Those who seek moksha hear of Bhagavān Ananta and meditate on Him. He appears in their hearts and quickly destroys the knot of avidyā (ignorance) there.
• This knot is woven from the threads of karmavāsanā (the tendencies built up by karma) that have no beginning. It is made of the vikāras (changes) of sattva, rajas and tamas, and it is the root of all bondage. At the moment He appears in the heart of the sādhaka (seeker), the knot is cut.
• Nārada himself once praised the greatness of Ananta in the assembly of Brahmā, together with Tumburu. The praise was vast. The powers of Ananta have no limit. Even a thousand tongues cannot count all His glories. Even His greatest deed, carrying the whole universe on one hood, is a small thing for One whose nature is beyond all measure.
• The chapter ends with a simple question: who can count the powers of Him who carries mountains, rivers, oceans and all living beings on a single hood as a mere speck?

The phala of remembering

The Bhāgavata says that the name of Bhagavān Ananta destroys at once all the pāpa (sin) one has gathered. This holds even when the name is heard by chance, even in jest, even by one in distress, and even by a fallen person. For one who seeks moksha there is no other refuge than this highest, boundless and most ancient Bhagavān Ananta.

Sources

• Bhāgavata Mahā Purāṇa, 5th Skanda, Chapter 25