भूनायकं वा धननायकं वा भजे भुवं वा धनमेति लोके |

तद्विघ्ननाथं न भजामि किन्तु सहस्रशस्तं प्रणमामि नित्यं ||

One will seek and praise the lord of the land to obtain land and a wealthy man for wealth. I won’t do the same with Vighnanatha, the lord of obstacles (for obvious reasons) but will bow to him a thousand times.

Of the nine forms of Vishnu Bhakti described by Prahlada, Keertanam/Stuti or praise is perhaps the most common. Be it Bhajans or Stotrams, prose or poetry, there is a vast body of literature in this genre. The Stuti sometimes turns into ‘Ninda-Stuti’ or praise through Ninda/criticism. The word ‘criticism’ has been consciously avoided in the headline for the fear of misinterpretation. This piece attempts to present some beautiful instances of ‘Ninda Stuti’. 

This is definitely not about Daiva-ninda( a term that doesn’t translate to blasphemy). It is considered a sin but we are also reminded of people who did Daiva-ninda and still attained God. Like Shishupala, who constantly thought about the Lord with negativity but merged with him at the end.

It is not an uncommon scene in Indian movies where the protagonist or their parents land in the temple right near the sanctum sanctorum and scream at God in desperation for what he/she did to them. Many believers do that every day minus the screaming.

Ninda-Stuti shows desperation, vulnerability on one hand and firm belief in God’s grace on the other. The combination of these brings a very bold and touching outpour of Bhakti where the devotee lets out everything in his mind. At times it is out of love and others when in despair. But with the firm faith that the God is the last refuge who always listens and doesn’t mind this criticism. And that this level of freedom can be exercised with him/her. The very defining attributes of a deity are used to serve this purpose. And there is no dearth of attributes (Guna visheshams) for Gods in the Hindu pantheon.

Husband vs. Wife

At a less serious level and to play it safe, a male deity is pitted against his consort. And who wouldn’t like it if his wife is praised at his expense? Especially, if he is Shiva.  A famous phrase from Devi Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram by Adi Shankara goes like this:

चिता भस्मालेपो गरलमशनं दिक्पटधरो, जटाधारी कण्ठे भुजगपतिहारी पशुपतिः |

कपाली भूतेशो भजति जगदीशैकपदवीं, भवानि! तवत्पाणिग्रहणपरिपाटीफलमिदम् ||

Pashupati who smears ash, eats poison, has barely any clothes and wears snake-garlands in the neck got the post of ‘Jagadisha’(lord of the world). O Bhavani! This is the result of his marriage with you.

Tyagaraja, the great Vaggeyakara also tries something similar with SriRama in his Krithi ‘Maa jaanaki ni chetta pattaga’.

mA jAnaki ceTTa baTTaga maharAju vaitivi

rAja rAjavara rAjIvAkSha vinu rAvaNAriyani rAjillu kIrti ||mA jAnaki||

Maa means ‘our’(exclusive) in Telugu and Lakshmi in Sanskrit. (O Rama) you became a Maharaja only after marrying our Sita( the incarnation of Lakshmi). You got the famed title ‘Ravanaari’(Ravana’s enemy) only due to her.

The deeper meaning that female being the Shakti/creative power represents all the glory is beautifully brought out. There are also instances where the poet petitions to Amma about Ayya’s indifference and asks her to present his case before him in their private moments.

Bhadrachala Ramadasu was jailed and tortured by Tana Shah for allegedly using public funds to renovate SriRama’s temple at Bhadrachalam. When he couldn’t bear it any further, he cried thus:

Ramachandrulu napai chalamu chesinaru.

Seetamma cheppavamma…

Katakata vinademi cheyudu kathina chittuni manasu karugadu

(Rama is being so indifferent to me. O Sita! Please tell him. What can I do. He his hardened mind doesn’t melt)

In another stanza he says

Ramadasuni ela raadata. Ravi kulambudhi somuditadata.

(He doesn’t protect me but he is called the moon on the ocean called sun-dynasty)

Elsewhere he says,

Evadabba sommani kulukuthu tirigevu? Ramachandra!

You are happily moving around with all those jewels. Whose father’s property do you think it is?

Great devotees never failed to taunt Lord that it’s only because of them that he acquired unique epithets. Only because there are helpless, he can be a ‘Deenabandhu’. If there was no Prahlada, Narasimha wouldn’t get the title Prahlada-varada. But for Arjuna, he wouldn’t be called Parthasarathy.

Legend of Kalidasa

There is a legend that the poet-trio Bhavabhuti, Dandi and Kalidasa went to the divine mother asking her to judge who the best among them was. Goddess pronounces her verdict saying:

कविर्दण्डी कविर्दण्डी भवभूतिस्तु पण्डितः |

(Dandin is the Kavi and BhavaBhuti is the Pandita)

Kalidasa is very upset that she didn’t mention him at all. He angrily says, ‘who am I’ followed by an expletive. And she seemingly doesn’t take offence and says with a smile:

त्वमेवाहं त्वमेवाहं त्वमेवाहं न संशयः |

(you are none but me and no doubts about this).

Shiva takes the cake

Shiva has been given many epithets like ‘Adi-Bhikshu’, the very first beggar. And ‘Digambara’, the one with only ‘dik’ as clothing. Each of them of course has a deeper significance.

In Telugu literature, the famous poet Srinatha, who was a devotee of Shiva taunts him saying,

siri gala vAniki jellunu

taruNulu padiyAru vElu taga peMDlADan

tiripemuna kiddarAMDrA ?

paramESA gaMga viDumu pArvati cAlun !!

Vishnu has Sri with him and hence can afford 16000 wives. A beggar like you doesn’t need two. So leave Ganga to us(he was from Palnadu in Andhra known for water scarcity) and keep Parvati with you. (Hinting at Shiva’s generosity).

Krishna is not behind

We would think that Vishnu, with his many avatars and variety of leelas is an automatic choice and he is. SriVenkateswara of Tirupati is often refered to as ‘vaddi kasula vadu’(the one who collects money to repay his interest to Kubera). But only Sri Krishna comes close to Shiva when it comes to acquiring epithets. He is called ‘Navaneeta chora’(butter thief) and ‘Ranchod’(one who fled the battlefield). His childhood acts are broadly classified as ‘Jaara leela’ (flirting with married women) and ‘Chora leela’(stealing). ‘Srikrishna janmasthanam’ is often used to refer to a prison.

Even Sri Rama who is regarded as the epitome of virtue was not spared. He doesn’t have epithets like Krishna and Shiva but many Vaggeyakaras(writer-composers) of Carnatic music have taunted him many a time.

Saint Tyagaraja sang many Krithis where he questions Rama for failing to uplift him from his spiritual misery. So did Sri Purandaradasa. The examples from Carnatic krithis are too many and merit a separate topic in itself.

Here is a final one on Shiva from the peerless Tamil poet Kalamegham well known for his Shlesha and Ninda Stuti in his poems.

appan ira~nduuNNi; AttAL malai~nIli;

oppaRiya mAman uRitiruDi;

chappaikkAl aNNan peruvayiRan;

ARumukhattAnukku i~gku eNNum perumai ivai.

Dad a beggar, Mom a mountain gypsy

Peerless uncle a thief of butter from hanging pots

Short-legged big brother pot-bellied,

The Six-faced Skanda's fame goes like this..