Sri Vishnu Shatpadi Stotram by Jagatguru Sri Adi Shankaracharya
‘Sri Vishnu Shatpadi Stotram’ is the most fascinating stotram composed by Jagatguru Sri Adi Shankaracharya, He has composed this stotram of six verses with a great scholastic beauty in a literary and metaphorical style. In the Shatpadi Stotram each verse is soaked in the sweet sugar syrup of devotion.
Sri Adi Shankaracharya prays Lord Vishnu to bless him and his devotees so that the six-versed Shatpadi Stotram that resembles the six legged honey bee forever hovers around their Lotus like faces.
Shatpadi Stotram
‘Shatpadi Stotram’ means a stotram comprising six verses. Sri Shankaracharya added the seventh verse to this stotram through which he concludes the prayer. This stotram reflects the great scholastic beauty, in a literary and metaphorical style, with which Sri Shankaracharya has composed.
The enthralling fragrance from an opened-up Lotus draws the attention of a female bee, bhramari (as it has six legs it is also called Shatpadi) which hovers and settles on Lotus to collect the nectar.
At dusk the petals of Lotus close but still the bhramari ignorant of this remains inside the Lotus throughout night enjoying the feast of nectar. Through this stotram Sri Shankaracharya instructs the devotee to adopt the commitment of shatpadi bhramari in collecting the nectar.
The devotee should daily recite and meditate upon ‘Shatpadi Stotram’, with six verses, so as to inculcate devotion towards God in one’s mind, realise the divine purpose of birth and ultimately attain liberation (moksha).
Vishnu Shatpadi Stotram Lyrics in English With Meaning
“O Lord Vishnu! My prostrations to you. Be propitious to me. Kindly relieve me from my six ill attributes which are the enemies of my mind – kama (desire), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), mada (ego), moha (attachment), and matsarya (partiality), also which are the root cause for my indecent attitude towards Vedic scriptures, rituals set by dharma, ordained duty, pitrus, parents, family and fellow citizens.
O’ Lord Vishnu!, please clear all the unrest of my mind, by enriching it with divine tranquillity. So that I at all times remain engrossed in your worship and meditation, also I never run after the enchanting mirages of worldly pleasures.
O’ Lord Vishnu! kindly fill my heart with bountiful compassion and love towards every creation of yours so that throughout my life I adopt and practice the doctrine of “Tat Tvam Asi” (You are that).
O’ Lord Vishnu! please let the commitment of my devotion and divine faith in you remain undeterred forever so that I at all times tread the path ordained by you and I with much ease, will be able to cross the mighty ocean of birth and rebirth.
Lotus like feet of Lord Vishnu
“I with much reverence bow down at the beautiful, pure and divine Lotus-like feet of Lord Vishnu, whose consort is Mahalakshmi who benevolently grants prosperity, progeny, knowledge, Brahma Vidya in abundance.
The river Ganga, the ‘Vishnupadi’, which originates from Lord Vishnu’s feet is pure, sacred and as sweet as the nectar of a Lotus. The all-pervading celestial fragrance of Lord Vishnu’s Lotus-like feet is the divinely blissful ‘Satchidanada’, the eternal pure consciousness, which Lord Vishnu gracefully imparts to his devotee so that the devotee enjoys by attaining a state of eternal ecstasy.
I with much reverence bow down at the Lotus like feet of Lord Vishnu, being freed from all my negative and ill attributes, because O’ Lord Vishnu!, your divine feet will ward off all my fears, struggles, sufferings and regrets of life’s journey in this world and will lead me through that path which ultimately blesses me with emancipation (moksha).”
Nama roopatmakam
The scriptures declare that this jagat (world) is ‘Nama roopatmakam’. That means, in this world, a thing is identified by its name and form. A thing with a particular form is given a specific name whether a living or a non-living thing.
The necklace, bracelet, anklet and so on are the names of ornaments on the basis of their form. But the ultimate reality is that the material with which all these ornaments are made up of gold. Hence the ornaments are only the different names given to gold based on their form.
Oceans and Waves
“O’ Lord Vishnu! just as the waves originating from an ocean belong to that ocean, but the vast ocean does not belong to the waves. The wave is only a form with a name. It is unreal. But the absolute reality is that both waves and oceans contain water.
Similarly, O’ Lord Vishnu! By ardent worship and great penance, I may attain a state of ‘Oneness’ with you and in that divine state the differences between you and me will vanish. Even then O’ Lord Vishnu! I merge in you losing my very identity.
But O’ Lord Vishnu! you being omnipotent, omnipresent and all pervading it’s impossible for you to be a part of mine. I have no existence without you. But you can exist without me. Because you are the true ‘Consciousness’ (Chaitanya) and you are ‘Sat’ (time less, eternal).
Uplifting the Mountain
“O’ Lord Vishnu! You uplifted the mountain ‘Mandara’ when devas and asuras churned the milky ocean in pursuit of ‘amrit’ (elixir). Also, you humbled the arrogance of Indra, who in a fit of anger pelted stones as rain to kill the cattle and residents of Gokul, for worshipping the mountain ‘Govardhana’ ignoring him.
Under this critical condition so to save the lives of cattle and men O’ Lord Vishnu! you as ‘Balakrishna’ lifted the mountain ‘Govardhana’ with the little finger of your left hand, as a protecting umbrella.”
Nagabhidanuja
Sri Adi Shankaracharya hails Lord Vishnu as ‘Nagabhidanuja’, the younger brother of Indra who had cut off the wings of the mountains with his ‘Vajrayudha’. Once, the demon king Bali invaded heaven and dethroned Indra. Aditi, Indra’s mother felt very sad over this and did penance to please Lord Vishnu.
One day Lord Vishnu appeared before Aditi and told her that he will take birth as her son, as ‘Upendra’, the younger brother of Indra. Later, Upendra as ‘Vamana’ humbles the arrogance of Bali and returns heaven to Indra.
Sun and the Moon
“O’ Lord Vishnu! you are not a friend to the wicked ‘asuras’ (demons). The Sun and the Moon are your very eyes. O’ Lord Vishnu! your looks towards demons are as furious as the Sun’s intensely hot rays. At the same time, your looks are as cool and auspicious as Moon’s pleasant light.
O’ Lord Vishnu! pleased by my worship and devotion, when you manifest yourself (sakshatkara) before me, do I still possess the feeling of craving for birth and remain still holding on to the bondages and sufferings pertaining to this perishable and non-eternal physical world?. Not at all.
Manifestations
“O’ Lord Vishnu! Over a vast span of yugas (Eons), whenever there arose a crisis, whenever the righteousness (Dharma) was at stake, whenever the situation demanded the destruction of evil demonic forces and whenever the righteous and holy sages needed protection, you descended on this earth in your various manifestations (avatars).
O’ Lord Vishnu! You incarnated in different forms in the four yugas.
- In Satya yuga you manifested as Matsya (to restore the procreation of Life on earth), Kurma (to uphold mountain ‘Mandara’ in pursuit of ‘amrit’), Varaha (to kill ‘hiranyaksha’ and to bring earth up from deep sea), Narasimha (to kill ‘hiranyakashyapa’.
- In Treta yuga you came on to the earth as Vamana (to humble the arrogance of Bali and to return heaven to Indra), Parasuram (to slay the arrogant ‘kshatriyas’), Sri Rama (to kill Ravana).
- In Dwapara yuga you took birth as Sri Krishna (to kill asuras and to enlighten mankind through counselling) and you manifested as Balarama and
- at the end of Kali yuga you will take birth as Kalki so as to restore ‘Dharma’ on this earth.
O’ Lord Vishnu! you are omnipotent. I with much reverence surrender at your Lotus-like feet. Please save me. I am very much frightened about the sufferings caused by the endless cycles of birth and rebirth.
Damodara
“O’ Lord Vishnu! you are praised as ‘Damodara’ (one who with a rope tied around the stomach) because, during your incarnation as ‘Sri Krishna, as Balakrishna your mother Yashoda who got annoyed by your mischief tied you to a mortar with a rope.
O’ Lord Vishnu! you very easily surrender to your true devotee (Bhakta sulabh). You are the embodiment and treasure of all noble and auspicious attributes. You are endowed with the most charming and divinely auspicious Lotus like face.
Govinda
O’ Lord Vishnu! you are praised as ‘Govinda’ because you are the saviour of earth, Vedas, cows and men. Also you are the one who can be known by Vedic words alone. You uplifted the mountain ‘Mandara’ to churn the milky ocean.
O’ Lord Vishnu! kindly help me by being a mountain-like supporter in churning my ocean of ‘samsara’ (cycles of birth and rebirth) so that I am freed from all its fears and sufferings. Also, fill my mind with great reverence (Adar) so that I with self-imposed fear, forever worship you with ardent devotion in you.”
Conclusion
Behold! The immensity of kind grace of Sri Adi Shankaracharya towards a layman who cannot read and recite the six versed Shatpadi Stotram, the Jagatguru added this one line of six words for them to recite – “Narayana karunamaya saranam karavani tavakau charanau”.
This means that, O’ Narayana! most merciful one, I take refuge at your feet. Also, Sri Adi Shankaracharya prays Lord Vishnu to bless him and his devotees so that the six versed Shatpadi Stotram which resembles the six-legged honey bee forever hovers around their Lotus like faces.
This means that all the devotees of Lord Vishnu should invariably recite the Shatpadi Stotram daily so that, just as the buzzing of honey bee stops while sucking nectar from the Lotus, similarly the buzzing of worldly fears calm down and silence prevails in the minds of devotees who recite Sri Vishnu Shatpadi Stotram with devotion.
