Glimpses from Indian spirituality, mythology and way of life.

This is a small story from the Puranas explaining the birth of Lord Ganesha, one of the gods of Hinduism.

Lalitha Pancharatnam

This stotram is composed by Adi Sankara. It is on Goddess Parvathi in the form of Lalita Tripurasundari who is the presiding deity of the Srichakra. The benefits of reciting this stotram is described in the Phala Sruti. It says that those who worship the Goddess by reciting this stotram will be blessed by the goddess with luck, prosperity and fame.

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Sivarakksha Stotram

This stotram is composed by Sage Yagnavalkya. It is said that this stotram was revealed by the Almighty God himself to Sage Yagnavalkya in his dream and that the Sage composed it the next day morning as it was revealed to him. It is a prayer to Lord Shiva praying for the welfare of each and every part of the body. The different verses enumerate the various parts of the body from head to foot and seek protection of these parts from diseases etc through the grace of Lord Shiva.

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Chandrasekarashtakam

This stotram is composed by Sage Markandeya in praise of Lord Shiva. It is said that this was sung by him at the age of sixteen when he was saved by Lord Shiva from the clutches of the god of death. In every stanza the Sage says that he has taken refuge in Lord Shiva and asks what can the god of Death do to him.

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This hymn is on Lord Vishnu in the form of Govinda composed by Adi Shankaracharya.

Vishnu Sahasranamam

Vishnu Sahasranamam is a well-known stotram. It comes in the Anushasanika Parva of the Mahabharata. The subject matter is Moksha Dharma and it is in the form of a conversation between Bhishma Pitamaha and Yudhistira.

In the Kurukshetra battle between the Pandavas and the Kouravas, Bishma Pitamaha is injured and is lying on a bed of arrows waiting for the arrival of the season of Uttarayana to shed his mortal frame. Yudhistira comes seeking his advice on the methods to attain salvation.

It is during this conversation between Bhishma Pitamaha and Yudhistira, this stotra is imparted by the Pitamaha to Yudhistira glorifying the nature of the Almighty God.

There is an elaborate phalsruti listing the varieties of benefits accruing to the various categories of devotees who recite or listen to this Sahasranama stotram. Reciting or listening to this stotram will definitely provide both material and spiritual welfare to all devotees.

Annapurnashtakam

This stotra is written by Adi Sankara. Annapurna is the Goddess of food. She is considered as an incarnation of Goddess Parvati, the consort of Lord Shiva. As the Mother Goddess, she is the symbol of divine aspect of nourishing care. To explain this aspect Lord Shiva himself is shown in some depictions as standing to her right with a begging bowl, begging her for alms asking her to provide unlimited food, knowledge and enlightenment to the people. The temple of Goddess Annapurna is located near the Kashi Viswanath temple, Varanasi. This stotra is written by Adi Sankara to praise and invoke the grace of Mother Goddess Annapurneswari.

Adi Sankara addresses the Mother Goddess as ‘O, Mother Annapurneswari, who is the Goddess of Kasi, ocean of kindness and compassion, please give me alms’. Being a sanyasin, in the concluding stanza he says ‘My mother is Goddess Parvathy, my father is God Maheswara, my relations are the devotees of Shiva, and my country is the entire universe’ and asks ‘O, Mother Annapurneswari, please give me alms of knowledge and renunciation’.

In these twelve stanzas Adi Sankara brings about the various divine aspects of the Goddess. For example, she is the one who helps others with kindness, who makes all days exceedingly happy, who gives boons and shelter to all; she is the one who is the epitome of all beauty, who cleans up all sorrows from life, who gives bliss through Yoga, who destroys enemies, who makes dharma and wealth permanent; she is the one who shines like moon , sun and fire, who is an ever-blissful maiden, who is known only through meaning of Vedas, who is personification of “Om”; she is the one who is the vehicle of the seen and unseen , who is the knowledge, wealth and valour of the world, who is the ocean of compassion, who gives rise to daily existence, who is the enemy of all sorrows, who fulfills the desire of every one, who is dawn in life of all; she is the one who is the Goddess of all ,who is the fortune of all, who is like billions of moon , sun and fire, whose smile is like the rays of the moon, who is the ocean of mercy and who gives perennial salvation.

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Kanakadhara Stotram

This is one of the earliest hymns composed by Adi Sankara.

Adi Sankara, as we all know, was one of the great saints of India. Born in a poor brahmin family, he got the upanayana performed at a very tender age. According to the practice at that time he was asked to beg alms for his lunch. One day when he was begging for alms he reached at the house of a brahmin lady. The lady was very poor and didn’t have anything in her house to offer to him. After looking everywhere, the only thing she found was a single fruit of gooseberry and she hesitatingly offered it to Sankara.

Sankara was so touched by her gesture that he sang 21 melodious hymns appealing to Goddess Lakshmi and praying for the removal of the poverty of the lady. Pleased by his prayer, Goddess Lakshmi then showered riches on the brahmin lady by showering golden gooseberries into her house. These 21 slokas have thus become sacred and popular as Kanakadhara Stotram, the word Kanakadhara meaning ‘the rain of gold’. The stotram is recited or heard for the welfare of anyone suffering from poverty.

Mahishasuramardini stotram

Mahishasuramardini stotram is based on Devi Mahatmiyam in which Mother Goddess takes the forms of Durga, Lakshmi and Sarasvati to slay the demonical forces in the form of Madhu, Kaitabha, Mahishasura, Sumbha and Nisumbha.

This stotram is composed by Adi Sankara and is said to have been popularised by one Ramakrishna Kavi about whom no details are available.

I have also brought about an audio book titled ‘A few hymns on Devi’ which you may like to hear. It is available with leading audio book-sellers like Google’s play books.

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This is the first canto of the Valmiki Ramayana where Sage Narada gives a brief account of the Ramayana to Sage Valmiki based on which Sage Valmiki later writes the Ramayana.