Shloka 84

Gajendra's Deliverance — Gajendra’s Deliverance and the Protective Power of Remembrance (Japa)

Devanagari script

पुलस्त्य उवाच एतत् तवोक्तं प्रवरं स्तवानां स्तवं मुरारेर्वरनागकीर्तनम् यं कीर्त्य संश्रुत्य तथा विचिन्त्य पापापनोदं पुरुषो लभेत

Transliteration

pulastya uvāca etat tavoktaṃ pravaraṃ stavānāṃ stavaṃ murārervaranāgakīrtanam yaṃ kīrtya saṃśrutya tathā vicintya pāpāpanodaṃ puruṣo labheta

Translation

iti: thus (colophon marker); (aṣṭa-pañcāśaḥ) adhyāyaḥ: the fifty-eighth chapter (colophon formula; note: the following narrative begins at Adhyāya 59 despite the colophon wording); dvija: ‘twice-born’ (Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, Vaiśya); drogdha/droghin: betrayer, injurer, one who commits treachery; piśuna: slanderer, malicious informer; kṣatriya-adhama: the worst among kṣatriyas; para-pīḍā-ruci: one who takes pleasure (ruci) in harming/afflicting others (pīḍā); kṣudra: base, mean, petty; svabhāvāt api: even by innate disposition; nirghṛṇa: without compassion/mercy.

Speakers

• Pulastya to Nārada (standard Vāmana Purāṇa dialogue frame: Pulastya instructs Nārada).

Primary Deities

• Viṣṇu (Murāri)
• Pulastya
• Nārada

Key Themes

• Phalaśruti (fruit of recitation/hearing)
• Sin-removal (pāpa-kṣaya)
• Śravaṇa–kīrtana–manana (hearing, chanting, reflection)
• Authority of sage transmission

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Why are “reciting, hearing, and reflecting” all mentioned together?

The triad maps to a classical soteriological method: kīrtana (active praise), śravaṇa (receptive listening), and manana/vicintana (internal assimilation). The verse asserts that merit is not merely mechanical recitation but deepened by attentive reception and contemplation.

What is the significance of “vara-nāga-kīrtanam”?

Nāgas are archetypal guardians of hidden treasures and esoteric knowledge; calling the hymn ‘praised by the best Nāgas’ heightens its prestige and suggests it is renowned across cosmic communities, not only among humans.

Is this a general claim about all hymns or specific to the preceding stava?

It is specific: Pulastya is endorsing the immediately preceding stuti as ‘foremost among hymns’ and attaching a phalaśruti—sin-removal—typical of Purāṇic liturgical units.