Greatness of Shiva : Mahimnastava of Pushpadanta with commentary

MAHIMNASTAVA.

~“T

s ‘ One says? that all is permanent? )/~" Another that all is fleeting® And yet another teaches that of the world and its various elements Some things are fleeting and others ever endure* But oh Destroyer of Tripura® Though the multitude of doctrines bewilder me I am not ashamed to pray to Thee For my tongue cannot be restrained.°®

1 Having dealt with the Nirguza and Saguaa Brahman he proceeds to deal with the variety of philosophical opinion.

2 Referring to Kapila who says that all is permanent as Purusha-Prakriti with the two states of appearance and disappearance. According to Sangkhya both cause (Karama) and effect (Karyyam) are real (Sat Karyyam) for Karyya is nothing but a transformation (Vikriti) of Karama (Prakriti). In Vedanta (Karama is Sat and Karyya Asat (unreal).

3 The doctrine of those Buddhists whose psychology is alleged to find no place for the enduring unity of metaphysic which is the Atma. Udayanacharyya says that the Buddhists allege that Buddhi or the psychic consciousness is Chetana (in | itself conscious) and not dependent for its apparent consciousness on the enduring Atma and that hence the followers of this doctrine are called Buddhists. So the Sarvastivada or Kshanikavada is said to have taught that all is momentary. When a thing is destroyed another identical one is immediately created. In this way the ever changing course of the world seems unchanging like a stream of water in which the water is always changing yet it appears as if the same water is passing through the bed of the river although in fact it is not so. Accordiny to the sensationalists (Vijzanavada) what is true is sensation which is momentary. According to the nihilists (Sarvashtiinyavada) the world is like the fleeting objects seen in dream.

4 The Vaisheshika and Nyaya Darshanas which say that , AkAsha, K4ala, Paramanu, Dik and Atma are permanent (Nitya) and the rest are not (Anitya) :

5 See p. 3.

6 It is not necessary to know all this. Whatever be Nitya or Anitya matters not. What does matter is that I can pray