The Astaka-stotra of Vyasa

The Astaka-stotra of Vyasa [vyasastakastotram] / 261-267

vyasastaka stotram namo jnananalasikhapunjapingajatabhrte | krsnayakrsna mahase krsnadvaipayanaya te || 1 || namastejomaya smasruprabhasabalitatvise vaktravagisvaripadmarajasevoditasriye namah samdhyasamadhana nispitaravitejase | trailokyatimirocchedadipapratimacaksuse 1 ||2|| ||3|| namah sahasrasakhaya dharmopavanasakhine | sattvapratisthapuspaya nirvanaphalasaline || 4 || namah krsnajinajuse bodhanandanavasine | vyaptayevalijalena punya saurabha lipsaya ||5|| namah sasikalakara brahmasutramsusobhine | sritaya hamsakantyeva samparkarka (0tka ?) malaukasah || 6|| namo vidyanadipurnasastrabdhisakalendave | piyusarasasaraya kavivyaparavedhase ||7|| namah satyanivasaya svavikasavilasine | 6 vyasaya dhanne tapasam samsarayasaharine || 8 || ( ksemendra, bharatamanjari, kavyamala 64, prstha 850- 51, sloka 13-20 )

262 puranam - PURANA [Vol. VI., No. 2 This Vyasastaka-stotra, composed as it is by the famous Kashmirian poet Ksemendra (11th Century, A.D.), is on the lines of the Puranic Stotras, and is replete with suggestive metaphors and similes. It shows the poet's great devotion to Vyasa, and presents a vivid picture of the physical appearance of the great sage Vyasa, and at the same time eulogises his unfathomable learning as well as his immeasurable moral and spiritual height: "Vyasa's yellow matted hair resembles a mass of the flames of the fire of knowledge; he is dark in body but his splendour is free from darkness; the brilliance of his white beard has made the splendour of his body variegated ; his eyes are like burning lamps capable of destroying the darkness (ignorance) of the three worlds; he is like a thousand-branched tree of the garden of dharma (virtues), bearing fruits of nirvana; he wears the skin of a black antelope, which looks like an array of black bees eager for the fragrance of his virtues; his white brahma-sutra or the sacrificial thread, resembles the digit of the moon; he is like the full moon rising out of the ocean of Sastras filled by the rivers of Vidyas; he is like the essence of nectar and is the creator of poetry. Salutation to Vyasa, the seat of truth, the abode of austerities, and the reliever of the fatigue of transmigration (or the mundane existence)". The occasion causing the composition of the Vyasastakastotra is thus mentioned by the poet Ksemendra :- "Once a Brahmana named Ramayasas requested the poet to epitomise the Bharata-story, to which Ksemendra readily agreed and remarked that the son of Satyavati (ie. Dvaipayana Vyasa) had already imparted him the Carita in his (poet's) dreams. Saying this the poet eulogised the form of Vyasa Muni as he had seen it in his dreams, by composing this Vyasastaka-stotra before commencing to write the Bharata-Manjari, the famous epitome of the great epic Mahabharata :- ityuktva svapnadrstasya munestustava tadvapuh || 2 u0 || iti vyasastakam krtva mahabharatamanjarim | sa cakre vibudhanandasudhasyandataranginim || 22|| (Bharata-Manjari, pp. 850-51)

July, 1964] vyasastaka stotram 263 It may also be noted here that Ksemendra uses the epithet Vyasa-dasa' as his alias in the last colophon of the BharataManjar:- samapteyam mahabharatamanjari krtih kavervyasadasaparanamnah prakasendra sunoh ksemendrasya | Not only in the Bharata-Manjari, but in almost all his other works also, such as the Ramayana-Manjari, BrhatkathaManjari, Dasavatara-Carita etc., he has used the epithet 'Vyasadasa' for himself in the colophons of these works, which shows his great reverence for the Sage. A special sanctity and predilection seems to be attached to the astakas. The Rgveda has been divided into Astakas (each consisting of eight Adhyayas); not only this, but the whole Rgveda also consists of eight Astakas. The Panini-Sutras making up the Astadhyayi are also collectively called the Astaka (vide Kasika on Panini 4. 2. 65). An Astaka-stotra is a stotra consisting of eight stanzas. The Vyasastaka-stotra of Ksemendra represents the ancient tradition of the astaka-stotras which is at least as old as 11th century A. D., when Ksemendra flourished. Astaka-stotras gained favour with the writers of Stotras. There are astaka-stotras of various deities, e. g. the Gangastaka which is said to be composed by Valmiki, Narmadastaka, Ganesastaka, Suryastaka, Acyutastaka, Sivastaka, etc. Then, like the Sahasra-nama-stotras and Sata-nama-stotras we have also Namastakastotras, such as-'acyutam kesavam visnu hari satyam janardanam | hamsam narayanam caiva etannamastakam subham || ' (quoted in the Sabdakalpadruma from the Brahma-Purana, under the word astaka.). Besides the Vyasastaka-stotra of Ksemendra, two more Vyasastaka-stotras are available, viz. one by Vadiraja, a famous Kannada saint and poet of 16th century A. D. (cf. the Kannada Periodical Tattva-vada, III, 3, March 1963, pp. 17-20), and the other Vyasastaka-stotra by some Brahmananda Svamin, a comparatively modern Sadhu. This latter stotra contains a running description of the exploits and works of Vyasa. It is composed

264 puranam - PURANA [Vol. VI., No. 2 in drutavilambita metre (containing twelve syllables in a pada in the order na. bha. bha. ra. ) . The Vyasastaka-stotra of Vadiraja Yati is of a high poetical merit and is also very inspiring. It is composed in the vasantatilaka metre (each pada having fourteen syllables in the order of ta. bha. ja. ja. gu . gu .). Vadiraja was a contemporary of the great Hindi Poet, Gosvami Tulasidasa of Northern India. He was born in 1558 A. D., and lived upto the age of full 120 years. He was a great poet, philosopher and saint, and was a follower of Madhvacarya, and was a great devotee of God Hayagriva. He wrote a number of books on poetry and philosophy in Sanskrit. His Tirtha-prabandha is an excellent work giving poetic and devotional description of all the tirthas situated in all the four quarters of India, which he had visited. In this work he also describes the Madhya-vata Matha ( madhyavata matha ) of KrsnaDvaipayana Vyasa, where Madhva Acarya had installed a murti ( idol ) of Vyasa :- bhavagharmam bhavarttighnah sa mathah sevyatam sata | krsnadvaipayanaghano yatragad vayuvartmana ||27|| snehardra madhvahrdayakhyadasanusaktam mohakhyasamtamasakrntanatitrasaktim | srimadhyabatamathapauruta bhajanastham vyasapradipamidamadarato bhajadhvam || 28 || vedavyasa gunavasa vidyadhisa satam vasa | mam nirasam gataklesam kurvanasam hare'nisam ||29|| ( tirtha prabandha, pascimaprabandha ) (Scholars are requested to throw light on the identification of the Madhya-vata Matha of Sri Veda-Vyasa). Both these Vyasastaka-stotras are also given here, so that they may be compared with Ksemendra's Vyasastaka :

July, 1964] vyasastaka stotram yativadirajakrtam vyasastakam srisam vicitrakavita-rasapuritasam srisankaromakhagendrahrdabjavasam | asankamana janatrptikaroktihasam vyasam natosmi haritopalasam nikasam ||1|| vedantasatra pavanoddhrtapamcaveda- modamsatositasurarsinaradibhedam | bodhambunatalasitam sarasimagadham sridam sritosmi sukatatapadamakhedam ||2|| dvaipayano jayati yanninasaktidipah papabhivardhitakuvaditamisratapah | pana (?) khyadurbhagadasakrtitivrakopah payadrutausadhirage svasanamsarupah indradidaivatahrdakhyacakora candra- mamdamsukalpa subhanalpitapuspavrndah | vrndarakanghripalatagunaratnasandro ||3|| mandaya me phalatu krsnataruh phalam drak || 4 || mata hiteva pariraksati yena gita gitaprayabharata puranakrta vigita | vatamsamadhvavaradah sa giro mamaitah param khyatah parasarasuto vidadhatu dhata ||5|| bhavakhyanaladherbhuvanaikasaram svairam krtoruvidhavedapathapracaram | aranjitamarajanam sukhacicchariram dhiram smarami hrdi satyavatikumaram || 6|| 265

266 puranam - PURANA [Vol. VI., No. 2 bhavasritam yamanusrtya bhajanti devah sevaratasca munayah kavayo nrdevah | yo vasudevavapurasya mahanubhavan- chribadarayanaharerna grnita ko va || 7|| jnanam pradehi bhavadagamavardhyadhinam srinandanu padabhaktinadinidanam | anandatirthavaradoccapadadhvaninam dinam badaryadhipate kuru mamamanam || 8|| vasisthavamsatilakasya harermanojnam dosaughakhandanavisaradamastakam ye | dasah pathantyanudinam bhuvi vadiraja - dhisambhavam paribhavo na disasu tesam ||9|| (From stotramahodadhi, Ganapat Krishnaji Press, Bombay, Saka 1819) svamibrahmanandaviracitam vyasastakam kalimalastaviveka divakaram samavalokya tamovalitam janam | karunaya bhuvi darsitavigraham munivaram tamaham satatam bhaje ||1|| bharatavamsasamuddharanecchaya svajananivacasa parinoditah | ajanayattanayatritayam prabhuh munivaram tamaham satatam bhaje ||2|| matibaladi niriksya kalau nrnam laghutaram krpaya nigamambudheh | samakarodiha bhagamanekadha munivaram tamaham satatam bhaje ||3||

July, 1964] vyasastaka stotram sakaladharmanirupana sagaram vividhacitrakathasamalankrtam vyaracayacca puranakadambakam munivaram tamaham satatam bhaje ||4|| srutivirodhasamanvayadarpanam nikhilavadimatandhyavidaranam | grathitavanapi sutrasamuhakam munivaram tamaham satatam bhaje ||5|| yadanubhavavasena divam gatah samadhigamya mahastrasamuccayam | kurucamumanayadvinayo drutam munivaram tamaham satatam bhaje || 6 || samaravrttavibodhasamiya kuruvarena muda krtayacanah | sapadi sutamadadamaleksanam munivaram tamaham satatam bhaje ||7|| vananivasaparau kurudampati sutasuca tapasa ca vikasitau | mrtatanujaganam samadarsayat munivaram tamaham satatam bhaje ||8|| vyasastakamidam punyam brahmanandena kirtitam | yah pathenmanuno nityam sa bhavecchastraparagah || 9 267 (From brhatstotraratnakara, published - Kashi, 1963) ANAND SWARUP GUPTA