Rajadhi Rajaya Prasahya

About this stotra

Excerpt from the book 'Prayer Guide' by Swami Dayananda Saraswati
Maharajaya Namah, salutations unto that Lord who is the king of all kings, the emperor, the Maharaja. All kings depend upon him. The jivas, even if they are kings, are all dependent upon Isvara, but Isvara is one who is not dependent; he is maharaja.
Raja-adhi-rajah. There are many kings, rajas. Amongst them, he is the adhi-raja. Rajanam adhikrtya raja bhavati, on whom all the rajas are centred, presiding over all the kings, he is the king; or from the standpoint of all the kings, he is the real king.
Prasahya sahine. Prasahya means totally, absolutely. Sahine, to the one who is absolutely pleased with himself. It is because of this that he is the rajadhi-raja, king of all kings.
Namo vayam vaisravanaya kurmahe. Namo is namah, salutations to him, tasmai namah. Vaisravana is the one who is in the form of Indra, the king of the heavens, the king of all bounty, rains, etc. Vayam is we. Vayam kurmahe namah, we offer our salutations, vaisravanaya, to Vaisravana.
Sah me kaman kama-kamaya. Sah means he, that Lord, isvara, and me means me. What kind of me? Kama-kamaya, the desiring me; the one who desires a variety of objects. That which is desired is the object, kamyate iti kamah. Kamanam kamah, the desirer for objects is called kama-kama. Sah me kama-kamaya, unto me who is the desirer of objects, dadatu, may he give, or let him give. May he give all the objects of desire, kaman dadatu.
Who is he? Kamesvarah, kamanam isvarah, the Lord of all kama, desires and objects of desire. You cannot ask anybody else for the fulfillment of your desires. You can ask only the owner of everything. Only the Lord can give everything to us because, being the creator, everything belongs to him. Therefore he is Kamesvarah, the Lord of all objects who is also in the form of objects. Vaisravana, Indra is only symbolic, an upalakshana, for all the Gods. Indra also means the Lord of the heavens.
Kuberaya vaisravanaya maharajaya namah. Salutation unto the Lord of wealth, Kubera, the son of Visravas, who is the king of kings. Laksmi is the real money but she appoints Kubera as the presiding deity of money. What you want to gain here in this world is the power of Kubera and what you want to gain in heaven is the power of Vaisravana, Indra. Therefore, you have the words maharajaya namah, which means salutations unto that maharaja, the king of all kings, the Lord who is in the form of Kubera and Vaisravana. There is only one Lord. All Gods are this one Paramesvara who assumes these different forms from different standpoints.