2023-09-10 12:45:59 by ambuda-bot
This page has not been fully proofread.
Introduction
Even though the devotee aspiring to mokṣa is the principal recipient, oth-
ers are also eligible to benefit. Vedic descriptions and the descriptions in
Upanişads are only accessible for Brahmins. Women and Sūdras could also
benefit from reciting this stotra, as well as those who aspire to salvation,
and also householders who are in pursuit of mundane happiness. In short,
anybody of any of the four castes having devotion is an appropriate recipient
who may derive benefit from reciting the work:
kirtayitva named yah ity aviseṣoktaś caturnām varṇānām yasya
bhaktiḥ, sa cātrādhikārīti sūcitam-
XXIX
mām hi pārtha vyāpāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ papayonayah/
striyo vaiśyās tathā śrās te 'pi yānti parām gatim//
na me priyaś caturvedī madbhaktaḥ śvapaco 'api yaḥ/
tasmai yasmai tato grāhyaḥ sa ca pūjyo yathā hy aham// 35
32
1.6.3 The importance of praising the retinue of Vișnu
The Bhaktimandākinījustifies the praise of the weapons of Viṣṇu even before
describing Vișnu himself, on the analogy of the social custom of propitiating
the royal retinue of the King and pleasing them before one can get admission
to see the King himself.3 However, the commentator also highlights the
theological emphasis on each of the weapons individually in his commentary.
33
The conch, Pāñcajanya
The conch is taken to represent the sound, the sonic source of sabda-
brahman.34 The Bhaktimandākinī finds the description of its whiteness
opposed to that of its quality inherent in its source, namely tāmasa ahaṁkāra
proved on the authority of Purāṇas,35 since tamas or ignorance is described
as black elsewhere, and the conch, representing the sound, is described as
white here. The purpose of praising the conch, representing sabdabrahma,
is to yield the fruit of knowledge of the word and its meaning in general.
32 Bhaktimandākinī 52:71-76.
33 ³ na khalu pratihārādiparivārāvarjanam antarena narapatisevāyāḥ saukaryam: Bhakti-
mandākini 0:52-53.
34 samagrajñānaprakāśakasya śabdabrahmatmakasya śankharajasya prathamam
varnanenāvarjanam visiṣṭārthapratipattyartham karoti: Bhaktimandakini 0:60-61.
35 The process involves the creation of sabdatanmatra from the tāmasa ahankāra. See
Bhaktimandākinī 0:55-57.
Even though the devotee aspiring to mokṣa is the principal recipient, oth-
ers are also eligible to benefit. Vedic descriptions and the descriptions in
Upanişads are only accessible for Brahmins. Women and Sūdras could also
benefit from reciting this stotra, as well as those who aspire to salvation,
and also householders who are in pursuit of mundane happiness. In short,
anybody of any of the four castes having devotion is an appropriate recipient
who may derive benefit from reciting the work:
kirtayitva named yah ity aviseṣoktaś caturnām varṇānām yasya
bhaktiḥ, sa cātrādhikārīti sūcitam-
XXIX
mām hi pārtha vyāpāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ papayonayah/
striyo vaiśyās tathā śrās te 'pi yānti parām gatim//
na me priyaś caturvedī madbhaktaḥ śvapaco 'api yaḥ/
tasmai yasmai tato grāhyaḥ sa ca pūjyo yathā hy aham// 35
32
1.6.3 The importance of praising the retinue of Vișnu
The Bhaktimandākinījustifies the praise of the weapons of Viṣṇu even before
describing Vișnu himself, on the analogy of the social custom of propitiating
the royal retinue of the King and pleasing them before one can get admission
to see the King himself.3 However, the commentator also highlights the
theological emphasis on each of the weapons individually in his commentary.
33
The conch, Pāñcajanya
The conch is taken to represent the sound, the sonic source of sabda-
brahman.34 The Bhaktimandākinī finds the description of its whiteness
opposed to that of its quality inherent in its source, namely tāmasa ahaṁkāra
proved on the authority of Purāṇas,35 since tamas or ignorance is described
as black elsewhere, and the conch, representing the sound, is described as
white here. The purpose of praising the conch, representing sabdabrahma,
is to yield the fruit of knowledge of the word and its meaning in general.
32 Bhaktimandākinī 52:71-76.
33 ³ na khalu pratihārādiparivārāvarjanam antarena narapatisevāyāḥ saukaryam: Bhakti-
mandākini 0:52-53.
34 samagrajñānaprakāśakasya śabdabrahmatmakasya śankharajasya prathamam
varnanenāvarjanam visiṣṭārthapratipattyartham karoti: Bhaktimandakini 0:60-61.
35 The process involves the creation of sabdatanmatra from the tāmasa ahankāra. See
Bhaktimandākinī 0:55-57.