॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Srimad Bhagavatam - Skandha XII.08 Part B, Saturday, 19 August 2023 - Sage Markandeya's prayer to Nara-Narayana Rishis.
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Let's pause and rewind in our minds what we have read so far. Given to a few, by virtue of their past good deeds of Dharma and Mumukshatva (seeking Bhakti and Mukti), Bhagavan grants them his company through Avataras. Some are instructed by their Gurus with the method of penance and prayer. When they do experience the Lord in person, they are overwhelmed. They recover their breath and blurt our their prayer full of Bhakti. This scene has been enacted so often in Srimad Bhagavatam. Dhruva. Prahlada. Bali. Vasudeva. Nanda. Kunti. Rukmini. Brahma. Uddhava. so many more. Now it is the turn of Markandeya. By even reading these stories, we are enthused to seek the eternal, the divine love, within our hearts. We can call it Parabrahman or the all-lovable Bhagavan or the ever-powerful Ishwara/Paramatma. All the same!
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ते वै भगवतो रूपे नरनारायणावृषी । दृष्ट्वोत्थायादरेणोच्चैर्ननामाङ्गेन दण्डवत् ॥
Nara and Narayana – the two sages
Were none other than Bhagavan himself
Come down to grace mankind.
Thus, Sage Markandeya rose in joy
Falling down flat like a rod at their holy feet.
स तत्सन्दर्शनानन्दनिर्वृतात्मेन्द्रियाशय: । हृष्टरोमाश्रुपूर्णाक्षो न सेहे तावुदीक्षितुम् ॥
The sage thrilled in mind, body and senses
By the ecstasy of this Darshan.
His eyes brimmed with tears and he could not even look at the divine two.
उत्थाय प्राञ्जलि: प्रह्व औत्सुक्यादाश्लिषन्निव । नमो नम इतीशानौ बभाशे गद्गदाक्षरम् ॥
Standing with his hands folded in Namaskar,
Head humbly bowed in reverence,
The sage felt a thrill of embracing the two mentally.
His voice was choked with bliss as he spoke his prayer now to the divine duo.
तयोरासनमादाय पादयोरवनिज्य च । अर्हणेनानुलेपेन धूपमाल्यैरपूजयत् ॥
Markandeya did not forget to wash their feet,
Seat them well, give them water to wash their hands,
And offer sandal paste and fragrances and garlands of flowers in worship.
After all, the highest meditation and spiritual advancement
Culminates in Bhakti and all deeds offered in worship!
सुखमासनमासीनौ प्रसादाभिमुखौ मुनी । पुनरानम्य पादाभ्यां गरिष्ठाविदमब्रवीत् ॥
Yet again, Markandeya bowed low to their lotus feet,
And as the two divinities sat in great benevolence,
He addressed them.
श्रीमार्कण्डेय उवाच
किं वर्णये तव विभो यदुदीरितोऽसु: संस्पन्दते तमनुवाङ्मनइन्द्रियाणि ।
स्पन्दन्ति वै तनुभृतामजशर्वयोश्च स्वस्याप्यथापि भजतामसि भावबन्धु: ॥
Sage Markandeya offered his prayer:
“How shall I describe, Bhagavan, your glory!?
My Prana is but stirred only by your grace.
My body, speech, mind and senses merely follow it in resonance.
This is true not only for ordinary Jivas, but also for Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva!
So consider my condition. But indeed, one thing I can say for sure!
You become our beloved, one’s own, for those who worship you with Bhakti!
मूर्ती इमे भगवतो भगवंस्त्रिलोक्या: क्षेमाय तापविरमाय च मृत्युजित्यै ।
नाना बिभर्ष्यवितुमन्यतनूर्यथेदं सृष्ट्वा पुनर्ग्रससि सर्वमिवोर्णनाभि: ॥
Bhagavan, these two divine incarnates of yours
Are for the welfare of the three worlds,
For healing our woes, and for helping us to conquer death
(the birth-death nexus).
Wondrous indeed are your many incarnations, come just like these,
You create and then swallow up all the worlds as your Leela,
Like a spider who weaves the web and swallows it back at the end of the day!
तस्यावितु: स्थिरचरेशितुरङ्घ्रिमूलं यत्स्थं न कर्मगुणकालरज: स्पृशन्ति ।
यद् वै स्तुवन्ति निनमन्ति यजन्त्यभीक्ष्णं ध्यायन्ति वेदहृदया मुनयस्तदाप्त्यै ॥
Bhagavan, supreme benefactor and protector of all forever,
No wonder one surrendered to your feet is untouched
By the dirt of Karma cycle and the torment of the three Gunas, by Kaala!
Ceaselessly worshipping you and singing your glories,
Those enshrining Vedas in their hearts
Meditate always on you desiring union with you!
नान्यं तवाङ्घ्र्युपनयादपवर्गमूर्ते: क्षेमं जनस्य परितोभिय ईश विद्म: ।
ब्रह्मा बिभेत्यलमतो द्विपरार्धधिष्ण्य: कालस्य ते किमुत तत्कृतभौतिकानाम् ॥
Lord, you are Mukti in person. What else do we know
Than your feet be our safe shelter, for our wellbeing and relief from fears
That torment on all sides – (Guna.Karma.Suffering.Rebirth)?
Lord Brahma, whose single diurnal cycle spans all creation’s Time,
Is afraid of the effect of Kaala and Pralaya which are in your control!
What then can be said of us who are gross living entities?
तद् वै भजाम्यृतधियस्तव पादमूलं हित्वेदमात्मच्छदि चात्मगुरो: परस्य ।
देहाद्यपार्थमसदन्त्यमभिज्ञमात्रं विन्देत ते तर्हि सर्वमनीषितार्थम् ॥
Thus, Lord, I hereby worship the feet of True Knowledge, the inner Guide, supreme
Eschewing the coverings of body and ego, useless in truth, impermanent, felt as truth
Only by these senses. Worship of your feet confers true fulfilment of every seeker!
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इतीश तवात्मबन्धो मायामया: स्थितिलयोदयहेतवोऽस्य ।
लीला धृता यदपि सत्त्वमयी प्रशान्त्यै नान्ये नृणां व्यसनमोहभियश्च याभ्याम् ॥
Aren’t the three Gunas in your employ – Sattva, Rajas and Tamas,
Merely your Maya force for creation, sustenance and dissolution!?
Lord, this is your sport! But you instil Sattva to confer peace,
Rajas and Tamas fearsome as they push men into distress and false ways.
तस्मात्तवेह भगवन्नथ तावकानां शुक्लां तनुं स्वदयितां कुशला भजन्ति ।
यत् सात्वता: पुरुषरूपमुशन्ति सत्त्वं लोको यतोऽभयमुतात्मसुखं न चान्यत् ॥
No wonder the wise worship you in your
Spotless white Sattva as your abiding form of grace.
Sattva alone confers on the good seekers who dwell in you
Fearlessness and self-fulfilment.
तस्मै नमो भगवते पुरुषाय भूम्ने विश्वाय विश्वगुरवे परदैवताय ।
नारायणाय ऋषये च नरोत्तमाय हंसाय संयतगिरे निगमेश्वराय ॥
My obeisance to that Bhagavan, supreme being, immense
All creation in fact, Universal Guru, God beyond gods.
Sri Narayana, now come as the sagely duo, the best of human forms,
The Swan of Paramatma, epitome of self-abnegation as Nara-Narayana,
The Lord worshipped through the Vedas.
यं वै न वेद वितथाक्षपथैर्भ्रमद्धी: सन्तं स्वकेष्वसुषु हृद्यपि दृक्पथेषु ।
तन्माययावृतमति: स उ एव साक्षादाद्यस्तवाखिलगुरोरुपसाद्य वेदम् ॥
A man identified with his body and senses, deluded, fails to see you
As the indweller making even the body-mind-senses functional!
One so deluded by your Maya – even he- is saved
By receiving Vedic knowledge from you through your grace!
यद्दर्शनं निगम आत्मरह:प्रकाशं मुह्यन्ति यत्र कवयोऽजपरा यतन्त: ।
तं सर्ववादविषयप्रतिरूपशीलं वन्दे महापुरुषमात्मनिगूढबोधम् ॥
It is impossible, oh, Supreme Being, to know you through
Sense perceptions (empirically) even for Lord Brahma.
What is our recourse? The wisdom you have given through the Vedas.
For the best of minds and intellects, by their own limitations,
You are inscrutable, oh, Bhagavan! You are true Self-knowledge revealed
From within, not without!
Note on Markandeya Maharshi (A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism)
The prayer stated above will make more sense if we understand who Sage Markandeya is. So let's read this:
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