Sudarshana Mahima: Sudarshana Ashtakam

Greetings to one and all! On the occasion of Sudarshana Jayanti, let us learn a little bit about Chakrathazhwan and His greatness. Swami Desikan in his Shodasha-Ayudha Stotram sheds light on the nature of Sudarshana as follows:

Swami Desikan first prays for the well-being of all and asks the sixteen-handed Chakrathazhwan to protect us. He describes the quality of time saying it is an aspect of nature that is eternally moving forward. Swami Desikan says that time is controlled by Sudarshana, the chief weapon of the Lord who is none other than the Lord Himself who has manifested in the form of the Chakram. As mentioned above, Sudarshana is the chief weapon of the Lord. Whenever the Lord incarnates Himself on our mortal world, Chakrathazhwan Sudarshana also incarnates Himself along with the Lord to protect dharma. To give a glimpse of the same, let us look at the Lord's Dasha-Avatarams. When the Lord took up the form of Matsya, Chakrathazhwan took the form of the horn on the forehead of the Lord. In Kurma Avataram, Chakrathazhwan was the shell of the Lord which bore the weight of the Meru Mountain. In Varaha Avataram, Chakrathazhwan was the teeth of the Lord with which He ended the terror of Hiranyaksha. In Narasimha Avataram, Chakrathazhwan was the nails of the Lord with which he ended the menace of Hiranyakashipu. In Vamana Avataram, Chakrathazhwan was present in the holy feet of the Lord with which the three worlds were measured. In Parashurama Avataram, Chakrathazhwan became the axe with which he cleansed the world of those who committed sins. In Rama Avataram, Chakrathazhwan was present in the tip of every arrow that the Lord fired be it against Thataka, Maricha, Khara, Dhushana, Kumbhakarna, or Ravana. In Balarama Avataram, Chakrathazhwan was present as the Lord's plough. During Krishna Avataram, we see Chakrathazhwan in his Sudarshana form being used against Sishupala, Danthavakra, and Narakasura. Sudarshana is known to protect the great devotees of the Lord even without the command of the Lord. We can see this in two prime instances. One being during Gajendra Moksham and the second, being the protection of Ambareesha. Let us briefly see the two stories. Gajendra Moksham: To understand the story of Gajendra Moksham we will first need to see the backstory of the elephant. King Indradyumna was a very great king who ruled in areas of modern-day Puri in Odisha. It is said that he was the one who constructed the Puri Jagannath Temple. One day the King was performing deep meditation when Sage Agastya visited the Kingdom and went to see the king seek hospitality. The King was so deep in his meditation that he did not notice the Sage. The sage got irritated and cursed the king saying he would be reborn as an elephant. Similarly, a Gandharva named Huhu was cursed by Sage Devala to turn into a crocodile as he attempted to break Sage’s penance. Many years passed and the King Indradyumna reincarnated into an elephant who used to be the ruler of an elephant herd on the Mountain of Trikuta. Gajendra visited a lake on the mountain daily and presented the Lord a lotus daily. On one such visit to the lake, a crocodile caught Gajendra’s leg. This crocodile was none other than the cursed Huhu. Gajendra started to vail in pain and called out to the Lord by holding up a lotus that he had just plucked to give the Lord. Gajendra referred to the Lord as "Aadhimoola" and called out a plea of help. All the gods saw Gajendra vail but when they heard the call for Aadhimoola refused to help him as they were not qualified to do justice to that title. It is said that as soon as Lord Sriman Narayana heard the call of the devotee, he didn't even wait for Garuda. He ran at the top of his speed and soon Garuda caught up and took the Lord to the Trikuta mountain where the Lord's Sudarshana Chakra had already taken off to even before he could release it. The chakra killed the crocodile and released Huhu from the curse. It is also said that the lotus held by the Lord is the same Lotus that Gajendra presented to the Lord that day. After this Gajendra was granted moksham. Ambareesha Charithram: The Bhagavatam Mahapuranam tells the story of Ambareesha as one of the greatest devotees of Lord Sriman Narayana. It is said that Ambareesha was such an ardent devotee that the Sudharshana Chakra had made himself self-obligated to rush for Ambareesha’s s protection. One day, the great sage Durvasa had decided to pay a visit to Ambareesha. Ambareesha had undertaken the Dwadashi-Vratam in which one must break the fast after Ekadashi and feed his people at the start of Dwadashi. Durvasa Maharishi told Ambareesha that he would take a bath and then join him in the Dwadashi-Vratam. Ambareesha agreed to wait for Durvasa Maharishi. Hours went by but Durvasa Maharishi was nowhere to be seen. On the advice of Sage Vasishta, Ambareesha broke his fast by taking holy water. At this moment Durvasa Maharishi arrived and, in his temper, threw a lock of his hair to the ground. This hair grew into a monstrous demon that chased Ambareesha to devour him. At this moment, the Sudharshana Chakra of the Lord came to Ambareesha’s rescue and cut the demon into tiny pieces. Further, the Chakra started to chase after Durvasa Maharishi. Durvasa Maharishi started to run and tried to seek refuge with Lord Brahma, Lord Shiva, and finally at the heavenly abode of Lord Vishnu himself but the Chakra continued to chase Durvasa Maharishi. Lord Vishnu instructed Durvasa Maharishi to go and fall at Ambareesha’s feet and ask for his forgiveness. Durvasa Maharishi then falls at Ambareesha’s feet for his forgiveness. Ambareesha forgives Durvasa Maharishi and the Sudharshana Chakra stops going after Durvasa Maharishi. We now understand the power held by Sri Chakrathazhwan; to help gain the benefit of this energy, Swami Desikan composed the Sudarshana Ashtakam. It is said that the divyadesam of Tiruputkuzhi was once engulfed by an epidemic fever. When Swami Desikan composed the Sudarshana Asthtakam and the people recited this with all their heart and mind, Sri Chakrathazhwan graced the people with His blessings and relieved them of the epidemic. We are now faced with a similar global epidemic situation. Below you will find the Sudarshana Ashtakam Shloka both as a picture as well as links to PDFs in English, Tamizh, Kannada, and Sanskrit. It is my humble request to all my readers to please go through the same and recite it at least once for the improvement of the world's health and to gain the grace of the Lord.

Credits to Sundar Kidambi mama and prapatti.com English: http://prapatti.com/slokas/english/desika-stotramaala/sudarshanaashtakam.pdf Kannada: http://prapatti.com/slokas/kannada/desika-stotramaala/sudarshanaashtakam.pdf Tamizh: http://prapatti.com/slokas/tamil/desika-stotramaala/sudarshanaashtakam.pdf Sanskrit: http://prapatti.com/slokas/sanskrit/sudarshanastotram.pdf

कायेनवाचामनसेन्द्रियैर्वाबुद्ध्यात्मनावाप्रकृतेःस्वभावात्।करोमियद्यत्सकलंपरस्मैश्रीममन नरायणायेतिसमर्पयामि॥

सर्वं श्रीकृष्णार्पणम् अस्तु।।