Illustration for Vishnu Bhujanga Prayata Stotram on warm parchment

Complete · ~8 min chant

Vishnu Bhujanga Prayata Stotram

Viṣṇubhujaṅgaprayātastotram

Fourteen verses from the formless Brahman to a moving prayer on old age, death, and liberation through Vishnu.

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All verses

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
About this stotra

Vishnu Bhujanga Prayata Stotram is attributed to Sri Adi Shankaracharya. Its fourteen verses in the bhujanga metre open with Vedantic salutations to Vishnu as Para Brahman beyond qualities, then describe his radiant four-armed form with Lakshmi and Bhudevi, before turning into a poignant personal prayer on the loneliness of old age, the approach of death, and the hope that the Lord's name will be remembered with devotion at the final hour.

The closing phala verse promises that whoever chants this hymn with fixed mind on Murari will cross the ocean of samsara. This edition presents the complete fourteen-verse recension with Devanagari, IAST, and editorial focus notes.

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