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Mantra · Fifteen Guru Gita verses, closing with Brahmanandam and Tvameva Mata

Guru Stotram

अखण्डमण्डलाकारं व्याप्तं येन चराचरम् । तत्पदं दर्शितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

Also known as Akhanda Mandalakaram

In Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.

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What the Guru Stotram is

The Guru Stotram, the salutation that opens 'Akhanda mandalakaram vyaptam yena characharam', is a chain of verses drawn from the Guru Gita, the passage in which Shiva answers Parvati about the spiritual teacher. Thirteen of its verses close on one refrain, tasmai shri gurave namah, 'salutations to that revered Guru', while each first line names something different the Guru shows or is. The opening verses move from vision to identity: the Guru reveals the state that pervades everything, opens eyes shut by ignorance, and is named Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara. The middle verses turn to Vedanta, calling the Guru the sun that opens the lotus of the Upanishads and one who stands beyond bindu, nada and kala. Verse 14, Brahmanandam, changes to a longer metre and a run of epithets ending sadgurum tam namami. The close is Tvameva Mata, a verse also chanted widely on its own, which calls the Guru mother, father, kin, friend, learning and wealth.

A garland lifted from Shiva's reply

According to tradition, the Guru Gita belongs to the Uttara Khanda of the Skanda Purana and is ascribed to Vyasa; another view places it in the Vishvasara Tantra. It is framed as a conversation between Uma and Maheshvara. Parvati asks which path brings an embodied being to Brahman, and Shiva replies that no one has put this question to him before, that the answer will serve all people, and then speaks at length about the teacher. Recensions of the Guru Gita differ widely, from about a hundred verses to more than four hundred; one printing runs to 274. The Guru Stotram is not a single passage from that reply but a selection rearranged. In the 274-verse printing, the verse on the salve of knowledge comes just before the verse on the unbroken circle, and Brahmanandam stands in the second chapter; the stotram reverses the first pair so that it opens on the vision of the whole. It also reads gurureva param brahma, 'the Guru alone is the supreme Brahman', where the Guru Gita has guruh sakshat. In Vedanta study classes the stotram is chanted before a discourse, and students learn it as the opening of every study session.

The mantra, in six scripts

DevanagariSanskrit & Hindiअखण्डमण्डलाकारं व्याप्तं येन चराचरम् । तत्पदं दर्शितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

Tamilஅகண்டமண்டலாகாரம் வ்யாப்தம் யேந சராசரம் । தத்பதம் தர்ஶிதம் யேந தஸ்மை ஶ்ரீகுரவே நமஃ ॥

Teluguఅఖణ్డమణ్డలాకారం వ్యాప్తం యేన చరాచరమ్ । తత్పదం దర్శితం యేన తస్మై శ్రీగురవే నమః ॥

Kannadaಅಖಣ್ಡಮಣ್ಡಲಾಕಾರಂ ವ್ಯಾಪ್ತಂ ಯೇನ ಚರಾಚರಮ್ । ತತ್ಪದಂ ದರ್ಶಿತಂ ಯೇನ ತಸ್ಮೈ ಶ್ರೀಗುರವೇ ನಮಃ ॥

Malayalamഅഖണ്ഡമണ്ഡലാകാരം വ്യാപ്തം യേന ചരാചരമ് । തത്പദം ദര്ശിതം യേന തസ്മൈ ശ്രീഗുരവേ നമഃ ॥

EnglishRoman transliterationakhaṇḍamaṇḍalākāraṃ vyāptaṃ yena carācaram | tatpadaṃ darśitaṃ yena tasmai śrīgurave namaḥ ||

“Salutations to that revered Guru who showed me that state, the undivided whole shaped like a complete circle, by which everything moving and unmoving is pervaded.”

अखण्डमण्डलाकारं: akhaṇḍamaṇḍalākāraṃ — shaped as an unbroken circle
व्याप्तं: vyāptaṃ — pervaded
येन: yena — by which
चराचरम्: carācaram — all that moves and does not move
तत्पदं: tatpadaṃ — that state
दर्शितं: darśitaṃ — was shown
येन: yena — by whom
तस्मै: tasmai — to that
श्रीगुरवे: śrīgurave — revered Guru
नमः: namaḥ — salutations

Guru Stotram lyrics in full

Fifteen verses: thirteen ending in the salutation to the Guru, then Brahmanandam and Tvameva Mata.

All 15 verses, in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, each with its meaning. Choose a script:

Download the Guru Stotram PDFAll 15 verses with their meanings, in Sanskrit. Free to print and keep.

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Verse 1

अखण्डमण्डलाकारं व्याप्तं येन चराचरम् ।
तत्पदं दर्शितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

Salutations to that revered Guru who showed me that state, the undivided whole shaped like a complete circle, by which everything moving and unmoving is pervaded.

Verse 2

अज्ञानतिमिरान्धस्य ज्ञानाञ्जनशलाकया ।
चक्षुरुन्मीलितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

Salutations to that revered Guru who, with the needle of the healing salve of knowledge, opened the eyes of one blinded by the darkness of ignorance.

Verse 3

गुरुर्ब्रह्मा गुरुर्विष्णुः गुरुर्देवो महेश्वरः ।
गुरुरेव परं ब्रह्म तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

The Guru is Brahma, the Guru is Vishnu, the Guru is the god Maheshvara (Shiva). The Guru alone is the supreme Brahman; salutations to that revered Guru.

Verse 4

स्थावरं जङ्गमं व्याप्तं यत्किञ्चित्सचराचरम् ।
तत्पदं दर्शितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

Salutations to that revered Guru who showed me that state which pervades whatever exists, the fixed and the moving, the animate and the inanimate.

Verse 5

चिन्मयं व्यापि यत्सर्वं त्रैलोक्यं सचराचरम् ।
तत्पदं दर्शितं येन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

Salutations to that revered Guru who showed me that state, made of pure consciousness, which pervades all three worlds with everything moving and unmoving in them.

Verse 6

सर्वश्रुतिशिरोरत्नविराजितपदाम्बुजः ।
वेदान्ताम्बुजसूर्यो यः तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

Salutations to that revered Guru whose lotus feet shine with the crown jewels of all the scriptures (the Upanishads), and who is the sun that makes the lotus of Vedanta bloom.

Verse 7

चैतन्यः शाश्वतः शान्तो व्योमातीतो निरञ्जनः ।
बिन्दुनादकलातीतः तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

Salutations to that revered Guru who is pure awareness, eternal and peaceful, beyond space and without stain, and beyond bindu, nada and kala.

Verse 8

ज्ञानशक्तिसमारूढः तत्त्वमालाविभूषितः ।
भुक्तिमुक्तिप्रदाता च तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

Salutations to that revered Guru who is established in the power of knowledge, adorned with the garland of the principles of truth, and who grants both worldly enjoyment and liberation.

Verse 9

अनेकजन्मसम्प्राप्तकर्मबन्धविदाहिने ।
आत्मज्ञानप्रदानेन तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

Salutations to that revered Guru who, by granting knowledge of the Self, burns away the bondage of karma gathered over many births.

Verse 10

शोषणं भवसिन्धोश्च ज्ञापनं सारसम्पदः ।
गुरोः पादोदकं सम्यक् तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

The water that has washed the Guru's feet dries up the ocean of worldly existence and reveals the true wealth that is the essence of all. Salutations to that revered Guru.

Verse 11

न गुरोरधिकं तत्त्वं न गुरोरधिकं तपः ।
तत्त्वज्ञानात् परं नास्ति तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

There is no truth higher than the Guru and no austerity greater than the Guru; nothing is beyond the knowledge of the truth. Salutations to that revered Guru.

Verse 12

मन्नाथः श्रीजगन्नाथः मद्गुरुः श्रीजगद्गुरुः ।
मदात्मा सर्वभूतात्मा तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

My Lord is the Lord of the universe, my Guru is the Guru of the world, and my Self is the Self of all beings. Salutations to that revered Guru.

Verse 13

गुरुरादिरनादिश्च गुरुः परमदैवतम् ।
गुरोः परतरं नास्ति तस्मै श्रीगुरवे नमः ॥

The Guru is the beginning and is himself without beginning; the Guru is the highest deity. There is nothing higher than the Guru; salutations to that revered Guru.

Verse 14

ब्रह्मानन्दं परमसुखदं केवलं ज्ञानमूर्तिं द्वन्द्वातीतं गगनसदृशं तत्त्वमस्यादिलक्ष्यम् ।
एकं नित्यं विमलमचलं सर्वधीसाक्षिभूतं भावातीतं त्रिगुणरहितं सद्गुरुं तं नमामि ॥

I bow to that true Guru who is the bliss of Brahman and the giver of the highest joy, who is absolute, knowledge in bodily form, beyond the pairs of opposites and vast like the sky, the one pointed to by sayings such as 'That thou art'. He is one, eternal, pure and unmoving, the witness of every mind, beyond all states of becoming and free of the three gunas.

Verse 15

त्वमेव माता च पिता त्वमेव त्वमेव बन्धुश्च सखा त्वमेव ।
त्वमेव विद्या द्रविणं त्वमेव त्वमेव सर्वं मम देवदेव ॥

You alone are my mother and you alone my father; you alone are my kinsman and my friend. You alone are my learning and my wealth; you are my everything, O God of gods.

The syllable people get wrong

In jñānāñjanaśalākayā (Verse 2) the compound is jñāna + añjana + śalākayā, so the two a sounds fuse into one long ā (jñā-nāñ-ja-na), and śa begins with the palatal ś, as in 'shut'. It is often clipped to 'gyanan-jana-salakaya', which shortens the vowel that joins knowledge to the salve and turns ś into a plain s.

When the Guru Stotram is chanted

Festival. Guru Purnima

Questions

Yes. In the commonly chanted form, Tvameva mata cha pita tvameva is the closing verse, following Brahmanandam. It is also recited by itself at the end of many prayers. Outside this stotram it appears as verse 28 of the Pandava Gita, also called the Prapanna Gita, where it is spoken by Gandhari. Ramanuja is recorded quoting a closely similar line that names the Lord as guru as well as mother and father.

The Guru Gita itself reads guruh sakshat param brahma, 'the Guru is the supreme Brahman in person'. Most printings of this stotram give gurureva param brahma, 'the Guru alone is the supreme Brahman', which shifts the stress from visible presence to exclusiveness. Both readings keep the same first line naming Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshvara, and both end on the stotram's refrain.

The compound says the Guru is atita, beyond, three things: bindu, nada and kala. Swami Paramarthananda's prayer book explains them as the causal, subtle and gross forms of the universe, so the line places the Guru beyond every level of manifestation. The same verse has already called the Guru pure awareness, eternal, peaceful, beyond space and stainless, and this phrase completes that list.

Both forms are printed. Some printings stop at fourteen, running from Akhanda mandalakaram through the thirteen refrain verses to Tvameva Mata. The fuller form adds Brahmanandam paramasukhadam before the final verse, giving fifteen, and this fuller form is the one given here. Brahmanandam is itself a Guru Gita verse, found in a later chapter of the text.

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Guru Stotram

What the Guru Stotram is

A garland lifted from Shiva's reply

The mantra, in six scripts

Guru Stotram lyrics in full

The syllable people get wrong

When the Guru Stotram is chanted

Questions

Have your chart read before you decide

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