Queen Kunti recognized the divinity of Shri Krishna. When Shri Krishna was leaving for Dwarkapuri after the Mahabharata war, he asked his beloved aunt Kunti to ask for some boon. This incident occurs in the 8th chapter of the first canto of Bhagwat.
Kunti is called Sati here because of her exclusive devotion towards Lord Krishna. Now his mind will be expressed in the praise of God given below. A true devotee of God never begs for mercy from anyone else, even from any living being or deity, to get him out of trouble.
This specialty remained constant in all the Pandava clan. He did not know anyone other than Krishna, hence God was also ready to help him in every way in all circumstances. This is the divine nature of God. He rewards the devotee’s dependence.
Therefore, one should not seek help from imperfect living beings or demigods, but should seek help from Lord Krishna, because He is capable of saving His devotees. Such a true devotee also never asks for help from the Lord, but the Lord is always eager to do so of His own will.
Kunti Stuti Starts Here:
कुन्त्युवाच
नमस्ये पुरुषं त्वाद्यमीश्वरं प्रकृतेः परम् ।
अलक्ष्यं सर्वभूतानामन्तर्बहिरवस्थितम् ॥१८॥
Srimati Kunti said: O Krishna, I salute you, because you are the original man and remain unattached to the qualities of this material world. You are present inside and outside all things and yet are invisible to everyone.
मायाजवनिकाच्छन्नमज्ञाधोक्षजमव्ययम् ।
न लक्ष्यसे मूढदृशा नटो नाट्यधरो यथा ॥ १९॥
Being beyond limited sense-knowledge, You are the eternal indestructible element covered by the veil of deceitful power (Maya). You remain invisible to the foolish audience in the same way as an actor wearing an actor’s clothes is unrecognizable.
तथा परमहंसानां मुनीनाममलात्मनाम् ।
भक्तियोगविधानार्थं कथं पश्येम हि स्त्रियः ॥ २० ॥
You incarnate Yourself to spread the divine science of devotion in the hearts of advanced spiritualists and thinkers who are purified by being able to differentiate between spirit and matter. Then how can we women know you completely?
कृष्णाय वासुदेवाय देवकीनन्दनाय च ।
नन्दगोपकुमाराय गोविन्दाय नमो नमः ॥ २१॥
Therefore, I respectfully salute that Lord who has come as the son of Vasudeva, the son of Devaki, the son of Nanda and the other cowherds and cows of Vrindavan and the soul of the senses.
नमः पङ्कजनाभाय नमः पङ्कजमालिने ।
नमः पङ्कजनेत्राय नमस्ते पङ्कजाङ्घ्रये ॥ २२॥
I pay my respectful obeisances to the Lord who has a depression in the middle of his stomach like a lotus flower, who always wears a garland of lotus flowers, whose complexion is as cool as a lotus flower and whose feet (soles) are marked with lotus flowers. am .
यथा हृषीकेश खलेन देवकी
कंसेन रुद्धातिचिरं शुचार्पिता ।
विमोचिताहं च सहात्मजा विभो
त्वयैव नाथेन मुहुर्विपद्गणात् ॥ २३॥
O Hrishikesh, O master of the senses and Lord of gods, you have freed me along with my mother Devaki, who was held captive in prison for a long time and was being tormented by the evil king Kansa, and my sons who were surrounded by continuous troubles.
विषान्महाग्नेः पुरुषाददर्शना-
दसत्सभाया वनवासकृच्छ्रतः ।
मृधे मृधेऽनेकमहारथास्त्रतो
द्रौण्यस्त्रतश्चास्म हरेऽभिरक्षिताः ॥ २४॥
O Krishna, you have saved us from poisonous food, from terrible fire, from man-eaters, from evil gatherings, from the hardships of exile and from wars fought by great charioteers. And now you have saved us from the weapon of Ashwatthama.
विपदः सन्तु ताः शश्वत्तत्र तत्र जगद्गुरो ।
भवतो दर्शनं यत्स्यादपुनर्भवदर्शनम् ॥ २५॥
I want all these troubles to come again and again, so that we can see you again and again, because seeing you means that we will not have to see repeated births and deaths.
जन्मैश्वर्यश्रुतश्रीभिरेधमानमदः पुमान् ।
नैवार्हत्यभिधातुं वै त्वामकिञ्चनगोचरम् ॥२६॥
O Lord, You are easily attainable, but only by those who are materially unattached. The one who is trying to move forward on the path of material progress through respectable family, opulence, higher education and physical beauty is not able to reach you with single-mindedness.
नमोऽकिञ्चनवित्ताय निवृत्तगुणवृत्तये ।
आत्मारामाय शान्ताय कैवल्यपतये नमः ॥२७॥
I salute you as the wealth of the poor. You are not concerned with the actions and reactions of the physical properties of nature. You are self-satisfied, hence you are extremely peaceful and Kaivalya-pati, the master of monists.
मन्ये त्वां कालमीशानमनादिनिधनं विभुम् ।
समं चरन्तं सर्वत्र भूतानां यन्मिथः कलिः ॥ २८ ॥
O Lord, I consider You to be eternal time, the supreme controller, beginningless and omnipresent. You show mercy to everyone equally. The conflict that exists among living beings is due to social differences.
न वेद कश्चिद्भगवंश्चिकीर्षितं
तवेहमानस्य नृणां विडम्बनम् ।
न यस्य कश्चिद्दयितोऽस्ति कर्हिचिद्
द्वेष्यश्च यस्मिन् विषमा मतिर्नृणाम् ॥ २९॥
O Lord, no one can understand Your divine pastimes because they appear human and are therefore illusory. Neither is anyone deserving of your special favor, nor is anyone unpleasant to you. It is only people’s imagination that you are biased.
जन्म कर्म च विश्वात्मन्नजस्याकर्तुरात्मनः ।
तिर्यङ्नृषिषु यादःसु तदत्यन्तविडम्बनम् ॥ ३०॥
O Universal Soul, it is truly a baffling thing (irony) that you perform actions despite being inactive and take birth in the form of life force and despite being unborn. You yourself incarnate among animals, humans, sages and aquatic creatures. This is really a baffling thing.
गोप्याददे त्वयि कृतागसि दाम तावद्या
ते दशाश्रुकलिलाञ्जनसम्भ्रमाक्षम् ।
वक्त्रं निनीय भयभावनया स्थितस्य
सा मां विमोहयति भीरपि यद्विभेति ॥ ३१॥
O Krishna, when you had committed some crime, as soon as Yashoda picked up the rope to tie you, your distressed eyes welled up with tears, which washed away the kohl from your eyes. Even though Kaal is scared of you, still you got scared. This scene fascinates me.
केचिदाहुरजं जातं पुण्यश्लोकस्य कीर्तये ।
यदोः प्रियस्यान्ववाये मलयस्येव चन्दनम् ॥ ३२॥
Some say that the unborn is born to spread the fame of virtuous kings and some say that you are born to please your supreme devotee King Yadu. You have appeared in his family just like sandalwood appears in the Malay mountains.
अपरे वसुदेवस्य देवक्यां याचितोऽभ्यगात् ।
अजस्त्वमस्य क्षेमाय वधाय च सुरद्विषाम् ॥ ३३॥
Others say that since both Vasudeva and Devaki had prayed for you, you were born as their son. Undoubtedly, you are unborn, yet you accept birth to benefit the gods and kill the demons who are jealous of them.
भारावतारणायान्ये भुवो नाव इवोदधौ ।
सीदन्त्या भूरिभारेण जातो ह्यात्मभुवार्थितः ॥ ३४॥
Some say that when this world, like a sea boat burdened with weight, suffered greatly and your son Brahma prayed, you appeared to alleviate the suffering.
भवेऽस्मिन् क्लिश्यमानानामविद्याकामकर्मभिः ।
श्रवणस्मरणार्हाणि करिष्यन्निति केचन ॥ ३५॥
And some say that you have appeared to awaken the devotion of listening, remembering, worshiping etc., so that the conditioned souls suffering material sufferings can take advantage of this and attain liberation.
शृण्वन्ति गायन्ति गृणन्त्यभीक्ष्णशः
स्मरन्ति नन्दन्ति तवेहितं जनाः ।
त एव पश्यन्त्यचिरेण तावकं
भवप्रवाहोपरमं पदाम्बुजम् ॥३६॥
O Krishna, those who constantly hear, sing and remember Your transcendental activities, or are happy to see others doing so, certainly see Your lotus feet, which prevent the recurrence of birth and death.
अप्यद्य नस्त्वं स्वकृतेहित प्रभो
जिहाससि स्वित्सुहृदोऽनुजीविनः ।
येषां न चान्यद्भवतः पदाम्बुजात्प
रायणं राजसु योजितांहसाम् ॥३७॥
My Lord, you yourself have completed all your duties. Today when we are completely dependent on your mercy and when we have no other protector and when all the kings are hostile to us, will you leave us?
के वयं नामरूपाभ्यां यदुभिः सह पाण्डवाः ।
भवतोऽदर्शनं यर्हि हृषीकाणामिवेशितुः ॥ ३८ ॥
Just as the name and fame of the body comes to an end as soon as the soul disappears, in the same way, if you do not look upon us with kindness, our fame and activities along with the Pandavas and Yadus will immediately be destroyed.
नेयं शोभिष्यते तत्र यथेदानीं गदाधर ।
त्वत्पदैरङ्किता भाति स्वलक्षणविलक्षितैः ॥३९॥
O Gadadhara (Krishna), at present our kingdom bears the imprint of your footprints, and because of this it appears beautiful, but it will no longer be so when you are gone.
इमे जनपदाः स्वृद्धाः सुपक्वौषधिवीरुधः ।
वनाद्रिनद्युदन्वन्तो ह्येधन्ते तव वीक्षितैः ॥ ४०॥
All these cities and villages are becoming prosperous in every way, because there is abundance of herbs and grains, trees are laden with fruits, rivers are flowing, mountains are full of minerals and seas are full of wealth. And all this has happened only because of your kind glance on them.
अथ विश्वेश विश्वात्मन् विश्वमूर्ते स्वकेषु मे ।
स्नेहपाशमिमं छिन्धि दृढं पाण्डुषु वृष्णिषु ॥ ४१ ॥
Therefore, O Lord of the universe, O soul of the universe, O universal form, please cut off my bond of affection towards my relatives, the Pandavas and the Vrishnis.
त्वयि मेऽनन्यविषया मतिर्मधुपतेऽसकृत् ।
रतिमुद्वहतादद्धा गङ्गेवौघमुदन्वति ॥४२॥
Madhupati, just as the river Ganga always flows towards the sea without any interruption, in the same way, may my attraction not be distributed anywhere else but remain constant towards you.
श्रीकृष्ण कृष्णसख वृष्ण्यृषभावनिध्रुग्रा
जन्यवंशदहनानपवर्गवीर्य ।
गोविन्द गोद्विजसुरार्तिहरावतार
योगेश्वराखिलगुरो भगवन्नमस्ते ॥ ४३॥
O Krishna, O friend of Arjuna, O chief of the Vrishnik family, you are the destroyer of all those political parties who are creating havoc on this earth. Your bravery never diminishes. You are the lord of the divine abode and you incarnate to remove the sufferings of cows, brahmins and devotees. You have all the powers of yoga and you are the teacher (guru) of the entire world. You are the Almighty God. I salute you respectfully.
Conclusion
The Lord thus smiled softly after hearing the prayer offered by Kuntidevi in the words chosen to glorify Him. This smile was as charming as his yoga power.
We hope that this small effort of ours will blossom the lotus of devotion in your heart. We have uploaded all such Ashtakas like Bhishma Stuti, Damodarashtakam, Chaurashtakam & Vishnu Sahasranamam on our website vrindavanrasamrit.in.
Check, The serene beauty of devotion with our curated Radha Krishna images, a visual hymn of love and spirituality to elevate your soul.
Jai Shri Krishna
