Saaraswath Vishnu sthothra

1/15/09


This story is from Vaman purana.

Once there lived a Kshatriya who hated all Brahmins. With the hate in
his mind he died and was reborn as a rakshasa or demon. He was
extremely hungry and was wandering near the hermitage of a sage. The
sage was chanting Vishnu Panjara sthothram and the demon moved forward
to attack and devour him. Becasue of the power of the Vishun panjara
sthothra, the demon could not advance forward enough to grab him. The
sthotra was acting as an armour and he could not touch the sage. Demon
waited for several months and when the sage opened his eyes, he saw
the weak and hungry demon waiting for him.

He asked why he was waiting and who he was. Then the demon said that
he actually came there to kill and devour him, but he was very
impressed by the power of the manthra the sage was chanting. He
expressed his respect for the sage and asked him how he could
transform into a good man and what act of atonement he could perform
to erase the sins he had committed as a demon. But the sage told him
that he did not want to teach the powerful manthras to a demon and he
should approach somebody else for that.

So this demon went in search of a brahmin and finally saw a brahmin
doing penance and caught hold of him. Brahmin was frightened and made
some excuse to escape. But the demon would not allow him to go. So the
brahmin prayed Agni Bhagavan or Fire God that was burning in front of
him and asked for help. Immediately Saraswathi devi emerged from the
fire and told him: 

"You are my devotee.With my blessings, you will be
able to teach him a stothra and that will help the demon to change his
bad thoughts and actions into noble thoughts and actions. This is
called Saaraswat Vishnu sthotra and this stothra will give him wisdom
and intelligence. Please meditate on me and Mantra will flow from your
mouth."

Saraswathi Devi's blessings came to his mind like the waves in an
ocean and he narrated the Saaraswat sthothra in an uninterrupted flow
to the demon. Brahmin told him to chant this stotra three times a day
to free him from the sins he committed. He released the brahmin and
went to a place called Shaalagraamam and started chanting this stotra
with utmost devotion and attained moksham or Vishnu padam

Sreekrishnaarpanamasthu