The six sutras of Śrī Mukunda-mālā-stotra by King Kulaśekhara, purported by
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda. — PART 6/6
Using a Sanskrit edition published by Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in 1895, Śrīla Prabhupāda began translating the Mukunda-mālā-stotra in the late 1950’s. But after completing six verses with commentary, Śrīla Prabhupāda suspended it to work on the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. He never resumed it. Here you will find those six verses for which Srila Prabhupāda has given us his translations and Bhaktivedanta purports.
Mukunda-mālā-stotra
The Prayers of King Kulaśekhara
SŪTRA 6*
दिवि वा भुवि वा ममास्तु वासो
नरके वा नरकान्तक प्रकामम् ।
अवधीरित शारदारविन्दौ
चरणौ ते मरणे’पि चिन्तयामि ॥ ६॥
divi vā bhuvi vā mamāstu vāso
narake vā narakāntaka prakāmam |
avadhīrita-śāradāravindau
caraṇau te maraṇe ’pi cintayāmi || 6||
SYNONYMS
divi—in the abode of the demigods; vā—or; bhuvi—on the earth, the home of human beings; vā—or; mama—my; astu—may be; vāsaḥ—residence; narake—in hell; vā—or; naraka-antaka—O killer of the demon Naraka; prakāmam—however You desire; avadhīrita—which have defied; śārada—of the fall season; aravindau—the lotus flowers; caraṇau—the two feet; te—Your; maraṇe—at the time of death; api—even; cintayāmi—may I remember.
TRANSLATION
O Lord, killer of the demon Naraka! Let me reside either in the realm of the demigods, in the world of human beings, or in hell, as You please. I pray only that at the point of death I may remember Your two lotus feet, whose beauty defies that of the lotus growing in the Śarat season.
PURPORT
As stated before, a pure devotee of the Lord has nothing to do with mundane religiosity, economic development, sense gratification, or salvation, nor is he concerned whether his standard of material existence is the highest or the lowest. To him, heaven and hell are of equal value. He is not afraid of going to hell for the service of the Lord, nor is he glad to live in heaven without the service of the Lord. In any circumstance his consciousness is fixed on the Lord’s lotus feet, whose beauty defies the most beautiful lotus flower of the mundane world.
The defiance is due to the transcendental position of the Lord’s form, name, qualities, pastimes, and so on. The śruti mantras declare that although the Lord has no hands He can accept anything we offer Him with devotion, although He has no feet He can travel anywhere, and although He has no mundane eyes He can see anywhere and everywhere without hindrance. The Brahma-saṁhitā describes each of His senses as omnipotent. The mundane eye can see but not hear, but His eyes can see, hear, eat, generate offspring, and so on. The śruti mantras say that He impregnates material nature with the seeds of living beings simply by casting His glance at her. He does not need any other kind of intercourse with mother nature to beget the living beings in her womb and become their father.
Therefore any relationship the Lord has with His many devotees—whether fatherhood, sonhood, or any other—is not at all material. The Lord is pure spirit, and only when the living being is in his pure spiritual state can he have all sorts of relationships with Him. Philosophers with a poor fund of knowledge cannot conceive of these positive spiritual relationships between the Lord and the all-spiritual living beings, and thus they simply think in terms of negating material relationships. In this way such philosophers naturally adopt the concept of impersonalism.
By contrast, a pure devotee like King Kulaśekhara has complete knowledge of both matter and spirit. He does not say that everything material is false, yet he has nothing to do with anything material, from heaven down to hell. He fully understands the statement in the Bhagavad-gītā that from the lowest planets up to Brahmaloka, the highest planet in the universe, there is no spiritual bliss, which the living beings hanker for. Therefore the pure devotee, being in full knowledge of spiritual life, simultaneously rejects material relationships and cultivates his spiritual relationship with the Lord. In other words, the spiritual knowledge a devotee possesses not only allows him to reject material existence, but it also provides him with an understanding of the reality of positive, eternal spiritual existence. This is the understanding King Kulaśekhara expresses in this prayer.
The End of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Translation
of Śrī Mukunda-mālā-stotra
–*–
SŪTRA 40
यस्य प्रियौ श्रुतिधरौ कविलोकवीरौ
मित्रे द्विजन्मवरपद्मशराव् अभूताम् ।
तेनाम्बुजाक्षचरणाम्बुजषट्पदेन
राज्ञा कृता कृतिर् इयं कुलशेखरेण ॥ ४०॥
yasya priyau śrutidharau kavilokavīrau
mitre dvijanmavarapadmaśarāv abhūtām |
tenāmbujākṣacaraṇāmbujaṣaṭpadena
rājñā kṛtā kṛtir iyaṃ kulaśekhareṇa || 40||
TRANSLATION
This poem was composed by King Kulaśekhara, who was devoted to Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, like a bee to the lotus feet of the Lord; Who had two beloved friends, one who was a vedic scholar from the Brahmin community and the other from the community of brave warriors.
॥ इति श्री मुकुन्दमाला सम्पूर्णा ॥
|| iti śrī mukundamālā sampūrṇā ||
Thus ends the Mukunda Mālā Stotra
composed by Śrī Kulaśekhara
–*–
The Mukunda-mālā-stotra (a collection of verses as flowers offered to Mukunda), although composed in elegant Sanskrit, is a simple expression of King Kulashekhara’s devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and his eagerness to share his good fortune with everyone else.
The saintly king Kulaśekhara lived more that a millennium ago in India, yet his Mukunda-mālā-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.
With deep humility he repeatedly begs simply to be allowed to take his next births as a bird, fish, or flower in the place where Lord Kṛṣṇa enacts His pastimes, and in this way to enjoy the association of His devotees.
He calls to all people to hear the message of salvation, the treatment for the disease of birth and death. The Mukunda-mālā-stotra is a simple expression of King Kulaśekhara’s devotion to Lord Kṛṣṇa and his eagerness to share his good fortune with everyone else.
Śrīla Prabhupāda wanted to translate and write purports for the Mukunda Mālā Stotra, but he completed only the first six, in lieu of focusing on the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. He was particularly fond of the thirty-third verse that devotees would chant that verse solely.
Song Name:
Kṛṣṇa Tvadīya Pada Paṅkaja
SŪTRA 33
कृष्ण त्वदीय पदपङ्कज पञ्जरान्तम्
अद्यैव मे विशतु मानसराजहंसः ।
प्राण प्रयाण समये कफवातपित्तैः
कण्ठावरोधन विधौ स्मरणं कुतस् ते ॥ ३३॥
kṛṣṇa tvadīya-padapaṅkaja-pañjarāntam
adyaiva me viśatu mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ |
prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ
kaṇṭhāvarodhana-vidhau smaraṇaṁ kutas te || 33||
TRANSLATION
“My dear Kṛṣṇa, please help me die immediately so that the swan of my mind may be encircled by the stem of Your lotus feet. Otherwise at the time of my final breath, when my throat is choked up, how will it be possible for me to think of You?”
The swan takes great pleasure in diving within water and being encircled by the stem of the lotus flower. This entanglement is sporting joy. If, in our healthy condition, we think of the lotus feet of the Lord and die, it is most fortunate. In old age, at the time of death, the throat sometimes becomes choked with mucus or blocked by air. At such a time the sound vibration of Hare Kṛṣṇa, the mahā-mantra, may not come out. Thus one may forget Kṛṣṇa. Of course, those who are strong in Kṛṣṇa consciousness cannot possibly forget Kṛṣṇa at any stage because they are accustomed to chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, especially when there is a signal from death. [SB 4.28.15 Translation-Purport]
King Kulaśekhara wanted to give up his body while in a healthy state, and he thus prayed to Kṛṣṇa to let him die immediately while he was in good health and while his mind was sound. When a man dies, he is generally overpowered by mucus and bile, and thus he chokes. Since it is very difficult to vibrate any sound while choking, it is simply by Kṛṣṇa’s grace that one can chant Hare Kṛṣṇa at the time of death. However, by situating oneself in the muktāsana position, a yogī can immediately give up his body and go to whatever planet he desires. A perfect yogī can give up his body whenever he desires through the practice of yoga. [Purport to Prayers by King Kulasekhara]
NOTE: Śrīla Prabhupāda sang this particular verse in his recordings. In fact, the RKC radio in Italy uses this as the “commercial” sound. Mahātmā Dāsa sang this verse in side one of his 1989 album Our Only Shelter. Therefore, this verse was posted separately. It was sung in Rāga Bhairavī or Kātyāyanī in both versions.
By A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda – Purport 1 –
“This verse, prayer, is taken from one book known as Mu-kunda-mālā-stotra. This prayer was offered by one king whose name was Kulaśekhara. He was a great king, at the same time a great devotee. There are many instances in the history of Vedic literature that the kings were very great devotees, and they are called rājarṣis. Rājarṣis means: although they are on the royal throne, they are all saintly persons. So this Kulaśekhara, King Kulaśekhara, is praying to Kṛṣṇa that “My dear Kṛṣṇa, the swan of my mind may now be entrapped with the stem of your lotus feet. Because, at the point of death, the three elements of bodily functions, namely the mucus, and the bile, and the air, they will overlap, and there will be a choking in the voice, so I shall not be able to utter your sweet Holy Name at the point of my death.” The comparison is given in this way, that the white swan, whenever it finds a lotus flower, it goes there and sports by diving into the water and entangling him in the stem of the lotus flower. So King Kulaśekhara wants that in the healthy stage of his mind and body, he may be immediately entangled with the stem of the lotus feet of the Lord and die immediately. The idea is that one should take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness while his mind and body is in good condition. Do not wait for the last stage of your life. Just go on practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness while your body and mind is in a healthy state, and then at the time of death you shall be able to remember Kṛṣṇa and His pastimes and be immediately transferred to the spiritual kingdom.”
By A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda – Purport 2 –
This verse was sung by King Kulaśekhara, a great king, and, at the same time, a great devotee of the Lord. His songs are recorded in the book known as Mukunda-mālā-stotra. That is very famous book. It is sung by many devotees. So it does not matter whether a man is king, or a poor mendicant. Everyone has the facility to become the greatest devotee of the Lord. So he’s praying “My dear Kṛṣṇa, Your feet is lotus.” Generally we say “Lotus feet”. But where the lotus flower is there, the white swans, they come to the lotus flower and try to play with the stem. They sport, going down the water, and be entangled with the stem of that lotus flower. That is their sporting. So King Kulaśekhara is praying that “Let the swan of my mind be immediately entered into the network of the stem of Your lotus feet.” So that means he wants to engage his mind on the lotus feet of the Lord immediately. There is no question of delaying. He says that “Now I am in sound mind. If I think that I shall think of Your lotus feet at the time of death, there is no certainty. Because, at the time of death, the whole body becomes dislocated. The whole function becomes dismantled.”
The body’s supposed to be conducted by three elements, kapha pitta vāyu, cold, and bile, and air. So when these three elements work simultaneously, there is no disease in the body, but, as soon as there is overlapping disruption of these three elements, the body becomes diseased. And when it is not possible to bring them again in their regulative principle, a man dies. That is the verdict of Āyurveda śāstra. So death takes place when these three elements become overlapped with one another. And the symptom is that there is a sound on the throat which is called: garhh, garhh. That means the patient cannot speak. The throat is choked up and he becomes suffocated and dies. So this is the last stage, symptom of his body.
So King Kulaśekhara says that “I cannot wait up to that time when everything will be topsy-turvied. Now my mind is sound. Let me enter immediately in the stem of your lotus feet.” That means he’s praying: “Let me die in the sound condition of my life so that I can think of your lotus feet.” In other words, he’s giving us lessons that if we do not practice to engage our mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa when our mind is sound, how it is possible to think of Him at the time of death? [December 25, 1968 Los Angeles, CA, USA]
-*-
Conversation with George
Harrison July 26, 1976, London:
Prabhupāda: The Mukunda-māla-stotra… There was a big emperor, Samrat(?), Kulaśekhara, emperor Kulaśekhara, he was a great devotee. So he wrote some poetry. Formerly, kings were so advanced, rajarṣi. They are king, at the same time, saintly persons. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is said imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ (BG 4.2)—this science of Bhagavad-gītā was learned by the rājarṣis. People were happy therefore.
The head, or the executive, they were all saintly persons. So this Kulasekhara, he writes in the beginning of his poetry, “Kṛṣṇa, O Kṛṣṇa…” Kṛṣṇa tvādīya-pada-paṅ-kaja-pañjarāntam. The paṅkaja means lotus flower. So Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet is just like lotus flower.
The lotus flower has stem down, and the swans, they take pleasure to go down the water and entangled by the stem. Have you seen their pleasure? Yes. That is their great sporting, to be entangled by the stem and come out, in this way, go deep, this is their sporting.
So this Kulasekhara is praying, “My Lord Kṛṣṇa, let my swan of mind be entangled with the stem of Your lotus feet.” Kṛṣṇa tvādīya-pada-paṅkaja-pañjarāntam adyaiva: “Immediately”—viśatu—”let enter.” Who? Adyaiva viśatu me, “My,” mānasa-rāja-haṁsaḥ, “my mind, which is just like a swan.” So why adyaiva, immediately? He says that prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye, “At the time of death,” prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ, “when the physical condition of the body will be in disorder,” kapha, pitta, vayu will not be in order… Prāṇa-prayāṇa-samaye kapha-vāta-pittaiḥ kaṇṭhāvarodha, “At that time I shall not be able to speak. I’ll ‘ahn, ahn,’ but that’s all. So I may not be able to chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Better I am now in good health, so let my mind be entangled in the stem of Your lotus feet.” Very nice poetry.
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