SHREE ANANTHESHWARA MANTRA - 108 TIMES

Shrimath Anantheshwara Temple at Vittal, near Mangalore, Karnataka is one of the most ancient and important temples of the Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin Community.

PRAYER TO SHRIMAT ANANTESHWAR

अनन्तसंसारसमुद्रमध्ये मग्नं समुभ्युध्दर वासुदेव।
अनन्तरूपे विनियोजयस्व अनन्तरूपाय नमो नमस्ते।।

Above prayer occurs in the text dealing with Ananta Vrata and is from Bhavishyottara PuraaNa. Devotees visiting Shrimat Ananteshwar Temple at ViTTal (ViTla) can see this verse inscribed there in big, bold letters on the main shrine.

A running translation of this prayer is:
"O Vaasudeva, I am immersed (magnam) and drowning in this endless (ananta) ocean (samudra) of samsaara. Pray lift me up (samabhyuddhara). Please make me a bead (viniyojayasva) in the infinite (ananta) thread (sootra) that You are. To You of infinite (ananta) forms (roopa), my salutations again
and again (namo namaste)."

What is samsaara? It means rolling down or tumbling down. When we stumble and slip while climbing down a staircase, we come tumbling down. This is samsaraNa. This samsaraNa manifests in the endless cycle of 'punarapi jananam punarapi maraNam- this cycle of repeated births and deaths.

We should not equate samsaara with jagat. Jagat is the creation, the handiwork of God whereas samsaara is of our own making. This endless round of births and deaths is the result of our alienation from God. We are estranged from Ananta, the Infinite God. In the 15th chapter (Purushottama Yoga), the Lord says : That is my abode from where, once reached, my devotees don't return (to samsaara"(Gitaa. XV-.6). We hail Shiva, our beloved Lord Bhavanishankar as the 'essence' of samsara (samsaara saaram bhujagendrahaaram, who wears the king-serpent as a garland). When we are truly devoted, heart and soul, to God, then the definition of samsaara changes. 'Here there is the essence, true and proper and so it is samsaara' (asti atra samyak saaraha iti samsaaraha). The divine should be the cream of our life. We should live, move and have our being in God like Tukaaram. To Tukaaraam, samsaara ceased to be a scare-crow. He tells his beloved Vithoba: "by all means You plant me in the womb, PROVIDED You ensure I do NOT forget You" (Tukaa mhaNe garbhavaasi sukhe ghaalaave aamhaasi).

The divine lift we are seeking from Ananta is simply this : to bless us with His anusmaraN day in and day out. SmaraNa and maraNa are perilously close to each other. The solitary 's' makes all the difference and it stands for smaraNam. A life forgetful of God is living death.

The lift we are seeking is couched in the word : samabyuddhara. Not mere uddhara, not mere abhyuddhara, but samabhyuddhara which means : samyak abhito uddhara. Your lift must not be cursory or casual. Pray lift me from all sides(abhitaha) and please do this well(samyak). How beautiful is Sanskrit, the language of gods!

Vaasudeva means:
1) KrishNa, son of Vasudeva

2) VishNu or God in general. Vaasudeva occurs thrice in VishNu-sahasra-naama: no.332, 695 and 709. Aachaarya Shankara gives many derivations of this name. Two are important. God covers (vaasayati, aacchaadayati) all creation with His glory, so He is Vaasudeva. Another meaning: all beings (sarvaaNi bhootaani) abide (vasanti) in Him, so He is Vaasudeva

This Holy Shloka of Lord Shree Anantheshwara sung by Aparna Nagarkatti Ullal
Stotram explained by Shri V. Rajgopal Bhat
Video Editing, Sound Designing, Mixing and Mastering by Yatin Ullal