श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणकथाः - ध्रुवस्तुतिः - २

भक्तिं मुहुः प्रवहतां त्वयि मे प्रसङ्गो भूयादनन्तमहताम् अमलाशयानाम् ।
येनाञ्जनसोल्बणमुरुव्यसनं भवाब्धिं नेष्ये भवद्गुणकथामृतपानमत्तः ॥ 4.9.11॥

अनन्त — O unlimited
मे — my
भूयात् — may it become
प्रसङ्गः — intimate association
महताम् — of the great devotees
प्रवहताम् — of those who perform
भक्तिं — devotional service
मुहुः — constantly
त्वयि — unto You
अमलाशयानाम् — whose hearts are freed from material contamination
येन — by which
नेष्ये — I shall cross
अञ्जसा — easily
उल्बणम् — terrible
भवाब्धिम् — the ocean of material existence
उरु — great
व्यसनम् — full of dangers
पान — by drinking
भवत् — Your
अमृत — nectar, eternal
गुण — transcendental qualities
कथा — pastimes

Dhruva continues with his stuti. To cross this ocean of transmigratory existence, eternal devotion to the lord and intimate association with his devotees is a necessity.

श्रीमद्भागवतपुराणकथाः - ध्रुवस्तुतिः - १

Prince Dhruva was the son of King Uttanapada. One day, he wanted to climb in his father’s lap, as his half-brother Prince Uttama had. It was afterall a big desire for a small child. When he was turned down by his step mother Suruchi, his disappointment was too much to bear. His own mother Sunithi, the first queen of Uttanapada too was helpless in reinstating that right. Hence she, a devout person advised Dhruva to seek to please Srimannarayana, the Universal father, by penance.
Even though Prince Dhruva was but five years old he decided to follow his mother’s advice in earnest and proceeded towards the forest. Sage Narada, met him on the way and knowing him to be determined to meditate upon Lord Vishnu, blessed and initiated him.
His joy when the Lord appeared before him was beyond bounds -”दृग्भ्यां प्रपश्यन् प्रपिबन्निवार्भकः” “as if drinking in the sight with his eyes”.
He fell flat in the feet of the Lord and proceeded to praise Him:

योऽन्तः प्रविश्य मम वाचमिदं प्रसुप्तां सञ्जीवयत्यखिलशक्तिधरः स्वधाम्ना ।
अन्यांश्च हस्तचरणश्रवणत्वगादीन् प्राणान्नमो भगवते पुरुषाय तुभ्यम् ॥4.9.6॥

यः — the Supreme Lord who
अखिलशक्तिधरः — possessing universal energy
प्रविश्य — entering
अन्तः — within
मम — my
वाचम् — words
सञ्जीवयति — rejuvenates
इमाम् — all these
प्रसुप्ताम् — which are all inactive or dead
स्वधाम्ना — by His internal potency
अन्यान् च — other limbs also
हस्त-चरण-श्रवण-त्वक्-आदीन् — like hands-legs-ears-skin, and so on
प्राणान् — life force
नमः— let me offer my obeisances
भगवते — unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead
पुरुषाय — the Supreme Person
तुभ्यम् — unto You.

ब्राह्मणाः भोजनप्रियाः!

When I was trying to think of an equivalent for the word "misconception" in sanskrit, some of the words that came up were
  • अयथार्थः - loosely translated as 'false'
  • विपर्यय - reversed, inverted, opposite hence erroneous knowledge
  • तर्कः - this is very specific to तर्कशास्त्र - hypothetical reasoning/confutation
  • मूढग्राह - this term I came upon at a website. I liked it immediately.
More often than not, misconceptions are based on ideas that have been handed down without the thinking that goes along with it. One such is the title of this post "ब्राह्मणाः भोजनप्रियाः!"

Sri Rama Shastri was very famous for thinking and providing out of the box explanations for some simple stuff. He has given a wonderful twist to this expression.

"ब्राह्मणाः भो! जनप्रियाः"

A brahmin's work, as enumerated by Manu, was यजनं, याजनम्, अध्ययनम्, अध्यापनं, दानं, प्रतिग्रहः, च। Each one of these was designed with the welfare of the whole world in mind. A brahmin performed sacrifices for लोकक्षेम, he helped others to perform sacrifice. He studied in order to teach others. He accepted donation in order give more in charity.

अत एव, भोः जनाः, जनप्रियान् ब्राह्मणान् भोजनप्रिया इति मूढबुद्धिं त्यजन्तु।