Greatness of Shiva : Mahimnastava of Pushpadanta with commentary

INTRODUCTION.

The celebrated and ancient Hymn called Mahimnastava here translated is attributed to Pusfpadanta a Chief of the musical Spirits (Devayoni) called Gandharvas. Puspadanta means ‘“ flowery toothed” for his teeth were like the petals of the Jasmine flower. Pusfpadanta was, it is said, in the habit of taking flowers from the garden of King Vahu at Benares in order to worship Shiva with them. As he had the power of moving in the air he eluded the vigilance of the King’s gardeners. These at length suspecting that it was some Being with these powers who stole the flowers laid the following trap. They left some flowers which had been offered to Shiva in different places in the garden with the hope that he, who thus visited it, would tread on them. This the Gandharva did and by thus unwittingly insulting Shiva lost his power of moving in the air. He was in consequence caught ; when through fear of the King whom he had also offended by the “theft of his flowers and with the desire of appeasing Shiva he offered the following supplication to the God.

In making the commentary I have availed myself of that of Jagannatha Chakravarti which is here for the first time printed from a Bengali manuscript in my possession. To his observations which are marked with the initials J.C. I have added my own comments on various matters which the English reader may require to know but which he, writing as a Hindu for Hindus, doubtless considered unnecessary.

Catcutra, Artuur AVALON, Jan, 3, 1916;