Thirty Stutis of Nārāyaṇa
The Brahma Khaṇḍa of the Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa, in chapters 5 to 9, holds thirty stutis (praises) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. They are sung by devas and ṛshis who came out of Vishṇu’s own being at creation. Śrī Kṛshṇa tells Garuḍa what each stuti says. Each singer speaks from his or her own bond with Vishṇu, confesses how small he or she is before his endless greatness, and asks for one gift: a kind of bhakti (devotion), or moksha (liberation).
The setting
Nārāyaṇa gave Brahmā the power of vaikṛta sṛshṭi, the second creation. All the beings who then came into being, devas, ṛshis, manus and others, learned that they had come from Vishṇu. One by one they sang stutis to Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa.
Śrī Kṛshṇa tells these stutis to Garuḍa as examples of the ways in which jīvas (living beings) can come to Nārāyaṇa in praise. Bhagavān Vishṇu received each stuti by giving the one who sang it a place of refuge inside his own divine body (śarīre āśrayaṃ kalpinciṃcāḍu).
The thirty stutis
1. Lakshmī Devī
Lakshmī says that no power of hers is enough to praise the qualities of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa fully. She lives with her head bowed at his lotus feet and knows nothing but his caraṇas (feet). She asks for a lasting place inside his own body. She says: “Devadeva, none other than you is worthy of my vandana.”
2. Brahmā
Brahmā calls himself ajñāna (ignorant) before the great ocean of knowledge of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, and alpajñā (of little knowledge). He asks for the grace of serving him always, and above all for the destruction of ahaṃkāra (the sense of “I”) and mamakāra (the sense of “mine”) within himself. He prays that his senses, which turn toward wrong paths, may always be turned back to the lotus feet of Vishṇu.
3. Vāyu
Vāyu says that all devas are servants of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa and that to be near his lotus feet is very hard to gain (paramadurlabha). He tells how Vishṇu comes down in avatāras to protect cows, brāhmaṇas and devas. He asks for firm bhakti like that of the greatest bhakta. He prays that his sleep may become vandana (bowing), every action pradakshiṇa (walking around the mūrti in respect), and every conversation a stuti of Hari. He says: “Whatever I see, let it appear to me as the image of Hari.”
4. Sarasvatī
Sarasvatī says that the greatness of Vishṇu is beyond all language and poetry. She tells how true devotees, when they hear his praise (guṇānuvāda), forget all attachment to home, wife or husband, children and worldly things. She asks for a bhakti so complete that she forgets herself while singing the qualities of Hari.
5. Ādiśesha
Ādiśesha says that he is bahunna (far lesser). Brahmā and Rudra could not fully grasp the greatness of the feet of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, so how could he? He says: “Protect me.”
6. Rudra
Rudra says that he does not even know how to offer a stuti. He asks for firm bhakti at the auspicious lotus feet of Vishṇu and for a place within Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa.
7. Indra
Indra says that what the devas can see of Vishṇu is only a small part of his true form. The real form is hundreds of thousands of times greater, and even when it is shown it cannot be understood. He reasons that the purpose of a stuti is to make the name of Hari rise on the tongue, and that this alone purifies. He says: “Though we cannot reach your true form, we will always sing your nāma.”
8. Śacīdevī
Śacī says that her thought always rests on the lotus feet of Vishṇu, which carry the marks of the vajra (thunderbolt), the aṅkuśa (elephant goad), the dhvaja (banner) and the lotus. She always meditates on the dust of his feet (caraṇa-raja).
9. Ratī
Ratī gazes at the lotus face of Vishṇu and says she will meditate on it for ever. It is a face adorned with curling hair, praised by Brahmā, Lakshmī and Rudra, and equal in beauty to the home of Śrī. She prays for protection as his bhakta.
10. Daksha Prajāpati
Daksha meditates on the pāda-caraṇodaka (the holy water of the feet) of Vishṇu. He tells how even Brahmā and other devas bow to it, how it became the Gaṅgā, and how even Parameśvara proudly carries it on his head as Gaṅgādhara. He asks for the power to offer a stuti that is good enough.
11. Bṛhaspati
Bṛhaspati asks that his mind, fixed on the beautiful face of Vishṇu, be given virāgya (turning away) from worldly matters: sons, friends, wife, cattle and wealth, all of which pass away. He says the whole world is filled with duḥkha (sorrow) and asks to be freed from the wheel of saṃsāra.
12. Aniruddha
Aniruddha gives a warning inside his stuti. A person who sets his mind on the form of a woman, and not on the sweet account of the qualities of Hari, is mandaluddhi and like a pig (sūkara-samāna). He prays to be freed from birth and death and for the grace to praise the lotus feet of Vishṇu always.
13. Svāyambhuva Manu
Svāyambhuva Manu says that merely trying to sing a stuti of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa ends the suffering of rebirth (punarjanma). He thanks Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa for the highest place worthy of worship (paramapūjyapadavī). He prays for protection while he does his kartavya (duty).
14. Varuṇa
Varuṇa tells how jīvas enter the house of the body, which was made by the will of Vishṇu. There they grow moha (attachment) to children, spouse, wealth and their own name, and sink into sorrow through ahaṃkāra and mamakāra. He prays to be protected from such a fate and asks for the gift of dāsya (service) at the feet of Vishṇu.
15. Nārada
Nārada says he wants nothing but to hear and sing the name of Hari. He has no other world and no other life. He prays that the name of Hari may always rest on his tongue and that the form of Hari may always appear to his closed eyes.
16. Bhṛgu
Bhṛgu praises Vishṇu as one whose companions are all high. The Kaustubha maṇi (jewel) has no equal as a gem, Lakshmī has no equal as a consort, and Sarasvatī has no equal as ātmabandhujñāna (knowledge that is the friend of the self). He thanks Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa for the honour of being among his crores of bhaktas and offers a hundred crore namaskāras (bows).
17. Agni
Agni says that his own tejas (brightness) came from a part of the tejas of Vishṇu. He became the havyavāhana (carrier of offerings) through the havya (offering) sprinkled with ghee (ājya) that was given by the will of Vishṇu. As jaṭharāgni (the fire of digestion) he lives in the bodies of men to keep them alive. All this is only by the anugraha (grace) of Vishṇu. He says: “Without your grace, this agni would not exist.”
18. Prasūti
Prasūti says that great maharshis, Māndhatā, Dhruva, Nārada, Bhṛgu and Vaivasvata Manu, could not offer a complete stuti of Vishṇu. She was brought to this state of devotion by the dayā (kindness) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa himself.
19. Vasishṭha
Vasishṭha bows to Vidhātā Purusha, who destroys what is asat (unreal). He says he will always bow his head at the lotus feet of Vishṇu. He says: “O Bhagavān Vāsudeva, always protect me.”
20. Marīci
Marīci makes a similar request, praying for a lasting home in the anugraha of Vishṇu.
21. Atri
Atri offers a stuti in the same spirit, praying for the prasannatā (gladness) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa.
22. Aṅgiras
Aṅgiras says that he cannot even see the true form of Vishṇu, with its endless arms, endless eyes and endless heads, adorned with thousands of crowns and priceless ornaments, a form that is endless light. He says: “I cannot offer a stuti that is good enough. Protect me.”
23. Pulastya
Pulastya asks to be shown the form that brings good fortune to the world, which Vishṇu wears for the sake of those who worship him (upāsakas). He prays for protection from naraka and says that a stuti of Vishṇu gives good fortune (maṅgaladāyaka).
24. Pulaha
Pulaha is a nirguṇopāsaka (one who worships Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa without form or qualities). He says he has no power for the rites of the saguṇa worship: the bath, the cloth, the milk, the fruit, the flowers and the food offerings. Instead he offers his own jīvanajyoti (the light of his life), with a mind free of desire (nishkāma-buddhi), to the form of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa that is free of desire.
25. Kratu
Kratu prays that at the moment when the breath leaves the body, only the memory of the name of Vishṇu may be there. He says this can destroy the pāpas gathered over many births and give mukti. Even those who hear only a part of the name of Hari, without knowing what bhakti is, will reach moksha (liberation).
ye bhaktyāviva śo vishṇo nāma mātraika-jalpakāḥ
te ‘pi muktiṃ prayāntyāśu kimu dhyāyinaḥ sadā
This verse is from the Brahma Khaṇḍa, chapter 8.
26. Viśvāmitra
Viśvāmitra confesses that he has not meditated on the lotus feet of Vishṇu, has not done sandhyāvandana (the prayer at the joints of the day) each day, has not kept dharma and karma properly, and has not been absorbed in hearing the kathās (accounts) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa. Yet Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa is known to show karuṇā (compassion) even to the anātha (helpless) and to those who have nothing. He says: “Protect me too.”
27. Mitra
Mitra, the Vedic deva of covenants, prays to Vishṇu as the one who cuts the bonds of saṃsāra for jīvas and gives mukti. He says that the true form of Vishṇu cannot be reached even by Agni, Brahmā and Rudra, and cannot be understood even by the most powerful tapasvis (people of tapas). He says: “You alone, Vāsudeva, are all-knowing. You alone can protect me for ever.”
28. Tārā
Tārā prays for the same protection that Vishṇu gives to those with ananya-bhakti (devotion to him alone). They give up all karma for him. They even leave relatives and family in their longing for him. They live only by listening to and sharing his kathās.
29. Nirṛti
Nirṛti describes the path. Those who bind themselves to Vishṇu through yoga and bhakti, who serve him with śraddhā (faith), who grow free of attachment (anāsakti) to worldly objects, and who practise cittanigraha (control of the mind), reach the paramapada (highest state) of Vishṇu. She says: “Bring me too to your paramapada.”
30. Vishvaksena
Vishvaksena is the doorkeeper of Vaikuṇṭha and always sees Vishṇu. He tells how, by the kṛpā (grace) of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa, he gained parabhakti (highest devotion) that takes the form of direct realisation (aparoksha-sādhana-rūpa). He has served all sādhus, starting from the guru, with honest devotion (nishkapaṭa-bhakti). He has unbroken love (prīti) for Tulasī, who leads to Vishṇu. He says: “One blessing from you, that is all I need.”
Sources
- Garuḍa Mahā Purāṇa, Brahma Khaṇḍa, chapters 5 to 9