Thursday, June 26, 2008

Gajendra Moksham Sanskrit text

Here is the text of Gajendra Moksham, from Chapter 8.3 of Srimad Bhagavatham.

श्रीबादरायणिरुवाच ||

एवं व्यवसितो बुद्ध्या समाधाय मनो हृदि
जजाप परमं जाप्यं प्राग्जन्मन्यनुशिक्षितम ||

श्रीगजेन्द्र उवाच ||

ओं नमो भगवते तस्मै यत एतच्चिदात्मकम
पुरुषायादिबीजाय परेशायाभिधीमहि ||

यस्मिन्निदं यतश्चेदं येनेदं य इदं स्वयम
योऽस्मात्परस्माच्च परस्तं प्रपद्ये स्वयम्भुवम ||

यः स्वात्मनीदं निजमाययार्पितं क्वचिद्विभातं क्व च तत्तिरोहितम
अविद्धदृक्साक्ष्युभयं तदीक्षते स आत्ममूलोऽवतु मां परात्परः ||

कालेन पञ्चत्वमितेषु कृत्स्नशो लोकेषु पालेषु च सर्वहेतुषु
तमस्तदासीद्गहनं गभीरं यस्तस्य पारेऽभिविराजते विभुः ||

न यस्य देवा ऋषयः पदं विदुर्जन्तुः पुनः कोऽर्हति गन्तुमीरितुम
यथा नटस्याकृतिभिर्विचेष्टतो दुरत्ययानुक्रमणः स मावतु ||

दिदृक्षवो यस्य पदं सुमङ्गलं विमुक्तसङ्गा मुनयः सुसाधवः
चरन्त्यलोकव्रतमव्रणं वने भूतात्मभूताः सुहृदः स मे गतिः ||

न विद्यते यस्य च जन्म कर्म वा न नामरूपे गुणदोष एव वा
तथापि लोकाप्ययसम्भवाय यः स्वमायया तान्यनुकालमृच्छति ||

तस्मै नमः परेशाय ब्रह्मणेऽनन्तशक्तये
अरूपायोरुरूपाय नम आश्चर्यकर्मणे ||

नम आत्मप्रदीपाय साक्षिणे परमात्मने
नमो गिरां विदूराय मनसश्चेतसामपि ||

सत्त्वेन प्रतिलभ्याय नैष्कर्म्येण विपश्चिता
नमः कैवल्यनाथाय निर्वाणसुखसंविदे ||

नमः शान्ताय घोराय मूढाय गुणधर्मिणे
निर्विशेषाय साम्याय नमो ज्ञानघनाय च ||

क्षेत्रज्ञाय नमस्तुभ्यं सर्वाध्यक्षाय साक्षिणे
पुरुषायात्ममूलाय मूलप्रकृतये नमः ||

सर्वेन्द्रियगुणद्रष्ट्रे सर्वप्रत्ययहेतवे
असता च्छाययोक्ताय सदाभासाय ते नमः ||

नमो नमस्तेऽखिलकारणाय निष्कारणायाद्भुतकारणाय
सर्वागमाम्नायमहार्णवाय नमोऽपवर्गाय परायणाय ||

गुणारणिच्छन्नचिदुष्मपाय तत्क्षोभविस्फूर्जितमानसाय
नैष्कर्म्यभावेन विवर्जितागम स्वयंप्रकाशाय नमस्करोमि ||

मादृक्प्रपन्नपशुपाशविमोक्षणाय मुक्ताय भूरिकरुणाय नमोऽलयाय
स्वांशेन सर्वतनुभृन्मनसि प्रतीत प्रत्यग्दृशे भगवते बृहते नमस्ते ||

आत्मात्मजाप्तगृहवित्तजनेषु सक्तैर्दुष्प्रापणाय गुणसङ्गविवर्जिताय
मुक्तात्मभिः स्वहृदये परिभाविताय ज्ञानात्मने भगवते नम ईश्वराय ||

यं धर्मकामार्थविमुक्तिकामा भजन्त इष्टां गतिमाप्नुवन्ति
किं चाशिषो रात्यपि देहमव्ययं करोतु मेऽदभ्रदयो विमोक्षणम ||

एकान्तिनो यस्य न कञ्चनार्थं वाञ्छन्ति ये वै भगवत्प्रपन्नाः
अत्यद्भुतं तच्चरितं सुमङ्गलं गायन्त आनन्दसमुद्रमग्नाः ||

तमक्षरं ब्रह्म परं परेशमव्यक्तमाध्यात्मिकयोगगम्यम
अतीन्द्रियं सूक्ष्ममिवातिदूरमनन्तमाद्यं परिपूर्णमीडे ||

यस्य ब्रह्मादयो देवा वेदा लोकाश्चराचराः
नामरूपविभेदेन फल्ग्व्या च कलया कृताः ||

यथार्चिषोऽग्नेः सवितुर्गभस्तयो निर्यान्ति संयान्त्यसकृत्स्वरोचिषः
तथा यतोऽयं गुणसम्प्रवाहो बुद्धिर्मनः खानि शरीरसर्गाः ||

स वै न देवासुरमर्त्यतिर्यङ्न स्त्री न षण्ढो न पुमान्न जन्तुः
नायं गुणः कर्म न सन्न चासन्निषेधशेषो जयतादशेषः ||

जिजीविषे नाहमिहामुया किमन्तर्बहिश्चावृतयेभयोन्या
इच्छामि कालेन न यस्य विप्लवस्तस्यात्मलोकावरणस्य मोक्षम ||

सोऽहं विश्वसृजं विश्वमविश्वं विश्ववेदसम
विश्वात्मानमजं ब्रह्म प्रणतोऽस्मि परं पदम ||

योगरन्धितकर्माणो हृदि योगविभाविते
योगिनो यं प्रपश्यन्ति योगेशं तं नतोऽस्म्यहम ||

नमो नमस्तुभ्यमसह्यवेग शक्तित्रयायाखिलधीगुणाय
प्रपन्नपालाय दुरन्तशक्तये कदिन्द्रियाणामनवाप्यवर्त्मने ||

नायं वेद स्वमात्मानं यच्छक्त्याहंधिया हतम
तं दुरत्ययमाहात्म्यं भगवन्तमितोऽस्म्यहम ||

श्रीशुक उवाच ||

एवं गजेन्द्रमुपवर्णितनिर्विशेषं
ब्रह्मादयो विविधलिङ्गभिदाभिमानाः
नैते यदोपससृपुर्निखिलात्मकत्वात
तत्राखिलामरमयो हरिराविरासीत ||

तं तद्वदार्तमुपलभ्य जगन्निवासः
स्तोत्रं निशम्य दिविजैः सह संस्तुवद्भिः
छन्दोमयेन गरुडेन समुह्यमानश
चक्रायुधोऽभ्यगमदाशु यतो गजेन्द्रः ||

सोऽन्तःसरस्युरुबलेन गृहीत आर्तो
दृष्ट्वा गरुत्मति हरिं ख उपात्तचक्रम
उत्क्षिप्य साम्बुजकरं गिरमाह कृच्छ्रान
नारायणाखिलगुरो भगवन्नमस्ते ||

तं वीक्ष्य पीडितमजः सहसावतीर्य
सग्राहमाशु सरसः कृपयोज्जहार
ग्राहाद्विपाटितमुखादरिणा गजेन्द्रं
संपश्यतां हरिरमूमुचदुच्छ्रियाणाम ||

With large thanks to this great work by Shri. Avinash Chopde. The original transliteration was taken from Sanskrit docs.

You can listen to an audio rendition of the entire Gajendra Moksham Stuti by Pt. Sunder Kidambi here. Read the rest of this entry >>

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Writing is a sAdhana

In his latest post, Atanu says:

Writing is a way of learning, a process of self-discovery through an exploration of one’s thinking. The written word is a record of ephemeral and elusive thoughts, a trace of the immaterial in a material form. I often delight in the recollection that re-reading my own writing affords me. If I have one bit of advice to offer, it is this: write down what is important to you now so that you will have a reminder should you need it.


Notice the similarity of these thoughts with what the Raja Rao says in his "Writing is a sAdhana".

Hopefully the lazy one would read this often and write something in this blog, in the coming times!

PS: It will do well for any reader to read the advise by Philosopher Atanu on Writing. Read the rest of this entry >>

Friday, June 20, 2008

Puzzle verses in Bhagavad Gita

It is well known that Mahabharatha has some puzzle verses, so that Bhagavan Vyasa, the narrator of the story could keep Lord Ganesha give a break to His non-stop writing and start thinking. When Lord Ganesha paused for such a break, it is said that Bhagavan Vyasa could think about the plot line and the next verses that could come. The important question, asked by many people is, how many of these 1000 or so verses are in the Bhagavad Gita?

This link has my previous notes on the same subject.

Shri Sunder-ji of advaitin group, gives the link to a page, which has the late Kanchi Paramacharya referring to one such puzzle. Read the whole post (a from Kanchi forum), as well as Shri Sunder-ji's post on advaitin. Here is the dialog from Kanchi Forum site.


PeriyavaaL : Know that there are Guttu Shlokas in Bharatam (Mahabharata)?

Myself : These are Guttu Shlokas because they were composed to reduce the speed of PiLLaiyar's (Ganesha's) writing.

PeriyavaaL : There is a Guttu Shloka in Gita! You know?

Myself : Don't know.

PeriyavaaL : ' aj~nAnenanAvR^itaM j~nAnaM tena muhyanti jantavaH | j~nAnena tu tadaj~nAnaM yeSAM nAshitamAtmanaH || ' (5.15,16)

"Atma who is jnAnarUpam (in the form of knowledge) is veiled with ajnAnaM (ignorance). People are deluded because of that. If the ajnAnaM is destroyed by jnAnaM , Moksha will be attained."

Isn't this doctrine puzzling, confusing? How can ajnAnaM veil jnAnaM ? If it is veiled, how by that same jnAnaM will ajnAnaM be destroyed? -- is the confusion. Vinayaka blinks. In those few seconds Vyasa has readily composed the shloka s of many chapters.

For this puzzle that comes in the fifth chapter, he gives the answer in the tenth chapter!

teshAmenukampArtham ahamaj~nAnajaM tamaH |
nAshayAmi AtmabhAvastaH j~nAnadIpena bhasvatA ||

To show mercy on the bhaktA s who always sing and think only about me and melt by those acts in their hearts, I as the jnAna rUpi (form of knowledge) enter the state of mind that remains akhaNdAkAram (not fragmentary, entire, whole) and is known as AtmabhAvam (state of the soul), reach the prati-bimbam (reflection), strengthen the jnAnam and set aside (the veil) of ignorance.

(In other words, svarUpa jnAnam by itself will not set aside ignorance. It only notifies its presence. But if the same svarUpa jnAnam is reflected by the mano vRiddhi (expansion of mind) mano vRtti (a state of mind) [Correction thanks to the comment by Subbuji.] that results from continued experience of the state of meditation on the Vedanta Maha Vakhyas after studying and reflecting on them, that will immediately burn the ignorance. Even if the sun has the svabhAva (inherent nature) to burn cotton, it burns the cotton only when the rays touch it through a special lens!

In this way, PeriyavaaL has the capability to give answers for many Guttus.

Glossary:
sandarbhaH - occasion, circumstance, stringing/collecting together, arranging, mixture, union,


So, it seems that 5.15-5.16 is a puzzle that Vyasa composed to keep Ganesha busy thinking about the puzzle, while He himself could pause for thinking. The puzzle he answered in 10.11. Read the rest of this entry >>

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Gajendra Moksham

Hari Om!

vAgarthAviva sampR^iktau vAgarthapratipattaye |
jagataH pitarau vande pArvatIparameshvarau ||


A post on Gajendra Moksham. Read the rest of this entry >>