(Cover photo of the ISKCON book )
॥ ॐ नमो भगवते वासुदेवाय ॥
Today, I am starting a new series of blogs on the famous ŚrīMukundamālāstotram by Rājā Kulaśekhara Ālvār of the 9th century CE. I was lucky to learn this as a young boy and heard it recited often.
I am basing my notes on the wonderful lectures given by Swāmī Harṣānanda of Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa Maṭh and also the book by Śrīla Prabhupāda and his disciples. The links are given to both here.
I quote from the back cover of the ISKCON book:
The saintly king Kulasekhara lived more than a millennium ago in India, yet his Mukunda-mala-stotra speaks to us today with the fresh voice of eternal truth. It is the voice of a realized soul beseeching the Lord — and us — with the utmost sincerity. Here is how he calls us to our salvation: O people, please hear of this treatment for the disease of birth and death! It is the name of Kṛṣṇa. Recommended by expert yogis steeped in wisdom — such as Yājñavalkya — this boundless, eternal inner light is the best medicine, for when drunk, it bestows complete and final liberation. Just drink it.The first part of the Mukunda-mala-stotra contains the commentary of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, recognized by scholars and spiritual leaders worldwide as the most distinguished teacher of Indian culture and philosophy of the modern age, the latter part contains commentary by Satsvarupa dasa Goswami, one of Srila Prabhupada’s senior disciples and the author of more than two dozen books on devotional life.
*****
The inspiration for this series also comes from the Premāvatāra Bhagavān "Sri Sathya Sai Baba". After the Mere Sai TV serial, the last few months have been for me full of videos and stories about Baba from Sri. Aravind Balasubramanya and others. The amazing thing for me, after studying the Bhagavadgītā, Rāmāyaṇam and Śrīmadbhāgavatam, is how Baba or Swami is indeed living the divine sport we read about, touching in myriad seen and unseen ways thousands of devotees who live to tell his stories so eloquently! This no doubt puts me in a more devotional mood, a great opportunity that is for studying the ŚrīMukundamālāstotram. This photo of Baba shows him manifesting a gold Kṛṣṇa statue in a few minutes from the sands of the Arabian sea near Dwaraka, for the Rajmata of Jamnagar. This story can be read from several accounts on the Internet.
*****
The introductory verse of the text:
घुष्यते यस्य नगरे रङ्गयात्रा दिने दिने ।
तमहं शिरसा वन्दे राजानं कुलशेखरम् ॥
Translation: I bow down to that king by the name of Kulaśekhara in whose capital every day the Lord Raṅganātha's ceremonial procession Yātrā is announced and celebrated.
Notes:
Swami-ji (=Swāmī Harṣānanda) describes how human beings are never satisfied with material welfare. Comforts and acquisitions in this world are important but the lasting bliss of the Supreme is felt in an inner urge to seek it and it can be found only in भूमा ( Infinite, Eternal)(यो वै भूमा तत्सुखं नाल्पे सुखमस्ति- छान्दोग्योपनिषद्). The path to this Supreme Bliss is through Divine Love which is also called भक्ति. Swami (=Sai Baba) calls everyone Premasvarūpis. One who has experienced any love, even worldly love, has an inkling of Bhakti. This is the essence of worship of Bhagavān whose divine attributes give ready material for extolling Him and praying for His grace. This is the essence of ŚrīMukundamālāstotram by Rājā Kulaśekhara Ālvār of the 9th century CE. This Chera king is celebrated for his devotional works Perumal Thirumoli and ŚrīMukundamālāstotram. Thousand pillared halls named after him can be seen in both Srirangam and Thirvananthapuram temples.
Kulaśekhara was one of the twelve Ālvārs who laid the foundation for divine love for Bhagavān Mukunda. Mukunda is explained as the "Lord who grants liberation." Liberation here means freedom from worldly bonds as well as the exhilarating launch into the world of Divine Love and Divine Bliss. Indeed the two terms are interchangeable if you think for a moment. Swami-ji stresses how worship of the Lord with form as Śrī Kṛṣṇa or Śrī Rāma or any one of the Avatāras of Bhagavān Nārāyaṇa or Viṣṇu, or for that matter, any form of any Deity as the Supreme Being is equally efficacious as the deepest meditation and experience of the formless Brahman.
If we do believe there is a Supreme Being= Paramātmā who is the Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer of all material existence and experience, we have to believe He or She has the ability to take any form to be loved and worshipped, by the Ātmā in us in the process of developing devotion to the Paramātmā! All religions proclaim Love is God and the path to Godhood is Divine Love. Those who think Nirguṇa or Saguṇa Brahman is superior or inferior are foolish indeed as they have not understood Paramātmā!
