Courtesy: Sri.Krishnan Muralidharan
Dear All,
Greetings and Namaste. As tomorrow (Sunday, 03-Nov-2013) is the finale of Kedara Gowri Vrat, one of the most important Vrats on Lord Shiva, I am happy to share a very rare and short stotra on Lord Shiva by Lord Parashurama taken from Brahma Vaivarta Puranam, Ganapati Khanda, Chapter 29 titled Lord Parashurama's visit to Mount Kailash. Lord Parashurama mentions that one who chants this hymn with devotion gets absolved of all sins.
It is interesting to note the similarity between the claims made by Lord Parashurama on Lord Shiva in this with the stuti I sent yesterday on Lord Vishnu - they are exactly same. There are scores of such stutis in almost all purans. There is an elaborate stuti titled veda pAda stvam in Padma Purana, Chyutapuri Mahatmya where Lord Shiva is praised with verses from Vedas more importantly with Purusha Suktam (the stuti I sent yesterday also claim the same) - which is typically associated with Vishnu.
In this stuti, Lord Parashurama declares that Lord Shiva is beyond the comprehension of speech, intellect and mind (vAg buddhi manasAM durAM) and is realized only by GYAna. It is also interesting to note the humility with which he prays to Lord Shiva - he deprecates himself as mUDha dhIH (lower intellect) and is incapable of praising Lord Shiva which even Vedas can't fathom.
Let us contrast with another verse from the same purana, a few chapters earlier (Ganapati Khanda, Chapter 3, Verses 3-5), in which Lord Shiva prays to Lord Vishnu:
nadInAM ca yathA ga~NgA devAnAM ca harir yathA |
vaishNavAnAM yathA.haM ca devInAM tvaM yayA priye || 5 ||
Meaning : .... Like Ganga as the first of all rivers, I am the first and foremost Vaishnavite. (Note this, Lord Shiva corroborates that he is the first among the Vaishnavites)
Contrast this with yet another quote from the same purana in a different chapter (Brahma Khanda, Chapter 6, Verses 48-70) by Lord Krishna :
mahAdeva mahAdeva mahAdeveti vAdinaH |
paschAd yAmi mahAstotra nAma shravana lobhataH || 48 ||
Meaning : In the avarice of listening to the mahamantra Mahadeva, I go after all who chants this Mahamantra
A few stanzas later Lord Krishna declares there is none more dear to him than Lord Shiva and he does not reside in Vaikuntha but in the heart of Lord Shiva.
Contrast this with the bellicosity with which we mortals fight as Vaishnavites and Shaivites and pass off as super-GYAnis claiming to know better than Parashurama or Shiva! If Lord Parashurama could call himself mUDha-dhI, of course, we must be super-intelligent - no qualms about that - because we know something which they did not know nor asked us to do! Great Joke!
It is crazy of us to apply Michael Porter's Competitive Advantage theory to various deity forms as if they are marketable commodities that need to be differentiated (and try to establish competitive advantages on divine attributes which we can't even identify or recognize) and it is even more silly of us to presume that an organized applause here will somehow aggrandize their positions in their respective lokas! And it is even further asinine to presume this childish rivalry as a form of religiosity and religious service!!
But regardless of our conceit, are we not shown our rightful place as below in Lakshmi Narayana Hrudayam?
pApInAM ahaM ekAgro dayAlUnAM tvaM agraNIH |
dayanIyo mad anyo.asti tava ko.atra jagat-traye ||
Meaning : This is my favourite stanza from Lakshmi Narayana Hrudayam. I am the first among the sinners and you are the first among the most benevolent and therefore there is none more suitable than me for your kindness and benediction.
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