Category: Spirituality

Krishna Astakam

By Adi Sankaracharya Bhagavatpada
भजे व्रजैकमण्डनं समस्तपापखण्डनं
स्वभक्तचित्तरंजनं सदैव नन्दनन्दनम्‌।
सुपिच्छगुच्छमस्तकं सुनादवेणुहस्तकं
अनंगरंगसागरं नमामि कृष्णनागरम्‌॥ १॥
bhaje vrajaikamaṇḍanaṁ samastapāpakhaṇḍanaṁ
svabhaktacittaraṁjanaṁ sadaiva nandanandanam |
supicchagucchamastakaṁ sunādaveṇuhastakaṁ
anaṁgaraṁgasāgaraṁ namāmi kṛṣṇanāgaram || 1||

मनोजगर्वमोचनं विशाललोललोचनं
विधूतगोपशोचनं नमामि पद्मलोचनम्‌।
करारविन्दभूधरं स्मितावलोकसुन्दरं
महेन्द्रमानदारणं नमामि कृष्णावारणम्‌॥ २॥
manojagarvamocanaṁ viśālalolalocanaṁ
vidhūtagopaśocanaṁ namāmi padmalocanam |
karāravindabhūdharaṁ smitāvalokasundaraṁ
mahendramānadāraṇaṁ namāmi kṛṣṇāvāraṇam || 2||

कदम्बसूनकुण्डलं सुचारुगण्डमण्डलं
व्रजांगनैकवल्लभं नमामि कृष्णदुर्लभम्‌।
यशोदया समोदया सगोपया सनन्दया
युतं सुखैकदायकं नमामि गोपनायकम्‌॥ ३।
kadambasūnakuṇḍalaṁ sucārugaṇḍamaṇḍalaṁ
vrajāṁganaikavallabhaṁ namāmi kṛṣṇadurlabham |
yaśodayā samodayā sagopayā sanandayā
yutaṁ sukhaikadāyakaṁ namāmi gopanāyakam || 3|

सदैव पादपंकजं मदीय मानसे निजं
दधानमुक्तमालकं नमामि नन्दबालकम्‌।
समस्तदोषशोषणं समस्तलोकपोषणं
समस्तगोपमानसं नमामि नन्दलालसम्‌॥ ४॥
sadaiva pādapaṁkajaṁ

Shiva Tandava Stotra

Śiva Tāṇḍava Stotra of Rāvaṇa. This was the stotra which he recited to obtain the Vaidyanātha Jyotirliñga (a.k.a Baijnāth). Rāvaṇa would have become immortal if that jyotirliñga had reached Śrī Lanka. This is the teaching he gave to attain mokṣa finally at the hands of Lord Rāma. This stotra must be recited in the end of the prayers, meditation or pūjā. Students of the Śiva Purāṇa course (ŚIVA Group of Zoran Radosavljevic, 2010) were taught this stotra recitation by Sarbani Rath.

The detailed translation was given in the old Jyotish Digest.

Sapta Loka & Tala

SJC USA Annual Conference, 2003 | Venue: West Coast, San Jose, CA, USA
Date: August 20, 2003
There were three handouts and CDs for this workshop. Please feel free to download everything that I share today on Janmastami – in the sweet memory of my Lord Jagannāth Mahāprabhu

CD01: Various Definitions
Kāla means time and the word puruṣa refers to the personification of God. Any personification needs the definition of space that is to be occupied by the body. The body of Kālapuruṣa is called Virāṭ (literally meaning huge) and refers to the entire manifested universe.

Sri Annapurna

श्री अन्नपूर्णास्तोत्रम्‌
śrī annapūrṇāstotram
नित्यानन्दकरी वराभयकरी सौन्दर्यरत्नाकरी
निर्धूताखिलघोरपावनकरी प्रत्यक्षमाहेश्वरी।
प्रालेयाचलवंशपावनकरी काशीपुराधीश्वरी
भिक्षां देहि कृपावलम्बनकरी माताऽन्नपूर्णेश्वरी॥ १॥
nityānandakarī varābhayakarī saundaryaratnākarī
nirdhūtākhilaghorapāvanakarī pratyakṣamāheśvarī |
prāleyācalavaṁśapāvanakarī kāśīpurādhīśvarī
bhikṣāṁ dehi kṛpāvalambanakarī mātā’nnapūrṇeśvarī || 1||

नानारत्नविचित्रभूषणकरी हेमाम्बराडम्बरी
मुक्ताहारविलम्बमान विलसत्‌ वक्षोजकुम्भान्तरी।
काश्मीरागरुवासिता रुचिकरी काशीपुराधीश्वरी
भिक्षां देहि कृपावलम्बनकरी माताऽन्नपूर्णेश्वरी॥ २॥
nānāratnavicitrabhūṣaṇakarī hemāmbarāḍambarī
muktāhāravilambamāna vilasat vakṣojakumbhāntarī |
kāśmīrāgaruvāsitā rucikarī kāśīpurādhīśvarī
bhikṣāṁ dehi kṛpāvalambanakarī mātā’nnapūrṇeśvarī || 2||

योगानन्दकरी रिपुक्षयकरी धर्मार्थनिष्ठाकरी
चन्द्रार्कानलभासमानलहरी त्रैलोक्यरक्षाकरी।
सर्वैश्वर्यसमस्तवाञ्छितकरी काशीपुराधीश्वरी
भिक्षां देहि कृपावलम्बनकरी माताऽन्नपूर्णेश्वरी॥ ३॥
yogānandakarī ripukṣayakarī dharmārthaniṣṭhākarī
candrārkānalabhāsamānalaharī trailokyarakṣākarī |
sarvaiśvaryasamastavāñchitakarī kāśīpurādhīśvarī
bhikṣāṁ dehi kṛpāvalambanakarī mātā’nnapūrṇeśvarī || 3||

कैलासाचलकन्दरालयकरी गौरी उमा शङ्करी
कौमारी निगमार्थगोचरकरी ओङ्कारबीजाक्षरी।
मोक्षद्वारकपाटपाटनकरी काशीपुराधीश्वरी
भिक्षां देहि कृपावलम्बनकरी माताऽन्नपूर्णेश्वरी॥ ४॥
kailāsācalakandarālayakarī gaurī

Varuṇa: Guardian of West

Varuna (Sanskrit वरुण varuṇa) is the god of water and is always worshipped in a kalasha (water vessel) with the jala bija वं (vaṁ).

When the day is divided into two halves (horā) being the daytime and night time, then the two āditya presiding over these halves are Indra (day, Sun, dakṣiṇāyana) and Varuṇa (night, Moon, uttarāyana). These deities are also the guardians of the eastern and western quarters of the universe representing sunrise and sunset which divide the day into horā (half).