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Home › Mantras › Hari Stotram
Lakshmi Narayana Hari Stotram: four-armed Vishnu on the serpent Ananta with Lakshmi at his left, praised by singing sages and gods on the milk ocean
Hari on the serpent with Lakshmi at his side, praised by the sages and surrounded by the gods
Mantra · A Pushkar monk's eight verses, each closing 'bhaje'ham bhaje'ham'

Hari Stotram

जगज्जालपालं कचत्कण्ठमालं शरच्चन्द्रभालं महादैत्यकालम् । नभो नीलकायं दुरावारमायं सुपद्मासहायं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥

Also known as Jagajjalapalam

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 Hari Stotram is

The Hari Stotram, known by its opening word as Jagajjalapalam, is a Sanskrit hymn of eight verses to Vishnu under his name Hari, followed by a ninth verse that states its reward. Its colophon names Paramahamsa Swami Brahmananda, a monk who lived at Pushkar in the Ajmer district of Rajasthan; some recitations credit it to Adi Shankaracharya instead, but the earliest known printing carries Brahmananda's name. The verses are in bhujangaprayata, a metre of twelve syllables to the line built from four short-long-long units, the metre Shankara used for the Subramanya Bhujangam. Every verse strings together six epithets that rhyme within each half-line (palam, malam, bhalam, kalam) and ends on the refrain bhaje'ham bhaje'ham, 'I worship, I worship'. The sequence opens with Hari's appearance, the shining neck-garland, the autumn-moon forehead and the sky-blue body, passes to his deeds in the waters and his lifting of the earth's burden, and settles in terms of inner inquiry: consciousness and bliss, and the space within the heart.

The closing lamp of a Pushkar monk's book

The hymn's earliest datable home is not a Purana but a handbook of Vedanta. Swami Brahmananda, who signed himself Paramahamsa Parivrajakacharya and resident of Pushkar, composed Vichara Dipaka, 'the lamp of inquiry', a treatise in Sanskrit verse on knowledge of the Self with his own Hindi commentary, Bhavartha Bhasini. He was already in print by 1888, when his Yoga Kalpadruma appeared, and his other works include Ishvara Darshana, Dharmanushasana and a song collection, Bhajana Mala. In the last verse of Vichara Dipaka he offers the whole book as a lamp set in a shrine of Vishnu, that shrine being the purified mind of the seeker, and he says he does so 'for the pleasing of Hari'. Directly after that dedication, on pages 247 to 249 of the fifth edition of 1922, the Hari Stotram is printed under the heading bhujangaprayata chandah, with a colophon naming Brahmananda, and it is followed by a second short hymn, the Hari Namashtakam. Read in that setting, the stotram is the devotional close of a book on non-dual inquiry, which is why its praise of Hari's form moves into phrases such as samadhana-linam, 'absorbed in meditation', and gunaughair-atitam, 'beyond the flood of the gunas'. No account of a vision or occasion of composition has come down, and the year of the author's death is not recorded.

The mantra, in six scripts

DevanagariSanskrit & Hindiजगज्जालपालं कचत्कण्ठमालं शरच्चन्द्रभालं महादैत्यकालम् । नभो नीलकायं दुरावारमायं सुपद्मासहायं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥
Tamilஜகஜ்ஜாலபாலம் கசத்கண்டமாலம் ஶரச்சந்த்ரபாலம் மஹாதைத்யகாலம் । நபோ நீலகாயம் துராவாரமாயம் ஸுபத்மாஸஹாயம் பஜேஹம் பஜேஹம் ॥
Teluguజగజ్జాలపాలం కచత్కణ్ఠమాలం శరచ్చన్ద్రభాలం మహాదైత్యకాలమ్ । నభో నీలకాయం దురావారమాయం సుపద్మాసహాయం భజేఽహం భజేఽహమ్ ॥
Kannadaಜಗಜ್ಜಾಲಪಾಲಂ ಕಚತ್ಕಣ್ಠಮಾಲಂ ಶರಚ್ಚನ್ದ್ರಭಾಲಂ ಮಹಾದೈತ್ಯಕಾಲಮ್ । ನಭೋ ನೀಲಕಾಯಂ ದುರಾವಾರಮಾಯಂ ಸುಪದ್ಮಾಸಹಾಯಂ ಭಜೇಽಹಂ ಭಜೇಽಹಮ್ ॥
Malayalamജഗജ്ജാലപാലം കചത്കണ്ഠമാലം ശരച്ചന്ദ്രഭാലം മഹാദൈത്യകാലമ് । നഭോ നീലകായം ദുരാവാരമായം സുപദ്മാസഹായം ഭജേഽഹം ഭജേഽഹമ് ॥
EnglishRoman transliterationjagajjālapālaṃ kacatkaṇṭhamālaṃ śaraccandrabhālaṃ mahādaityakālam | nabho nīlakāyaṃ durāvāramāyaṃ supadmāsahāyaṃ bhaje'haṃ bhaje'ham ||
“I worship, I worship Hari, protector of the whole web of the world, whose garland shines at his neck, whose forehead is like the autumn moon, and who is death to the great demons. His body is blue as the sky, his maya is hard to overcome, and he is the companion of Lakshmi.”
जगज्जालपालं
jagajjālapālaṃ — protector of the web of the world
कचत्कण्ठमालं
kacatkaṇṭhamālaṃ — with a shining garland at the neck
शरच्चन्द्रभालं
śaraccandrabhālaṃ — whose forehead is the autumn moon
महादैत्यकालम्
mahādaityakālam — death to the great demons
नभो
nabho — (like) the sky
नीलकायं
nīlakāyaṃ — blue-bodied
दुरावारमायं
durāvāramāyaṃ — whose maya is hard to overcome
सुपद्मासहायं
supadmāsahāyaṃ — companion of Lakshmi
भजेऽहं
bhaje'haṃ — I worship
भजेऽहम्
bhaje'ham — I worship

Hari Stotram lyrics in full

Eight verses in bhujangaprayata metre with the closing verse of reward, in the reading of the author's own printing.

All 10 verses, in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, each with its meaning. Choose a script:

Download the Hari Stotram PDFAll 10 verses with their meanings, in Sanskrit. Free to print and keep.

Verse 1

जगज्जालपालं कचत्कण्ठमालं शरच्चन्द्रभालं महादैत्यकालम् ।
नभो नीलकायं दुरावारमायं सुपद्मासहायं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥

I worship, I worship Hari, protector of the whole web of the world, whose garland shines at his neck, whose forehead is like the autumn moon, and who is death to the great demons. His body is blue as the sky, his maya is hard to overcome, and he is the companion of Lakshmi.

Verse 2

सदाम्भोधिवासं गलत्पुष्पहासं जगत्सन्निवासं शतादित्यभासम् ।
गदाचक्रशस्त्रं लसत्पीतवस्त्रं हसच्चारुवक्त्रं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥

I worship him who ever dwells in the ocean, whose smile is like flowers opening, who dwells within the world and shines with the light of a hundred suns. He bears the mace and discus as weapons, wears a gleaming yellow garment, and has a lovely smiling face.

Verse 3

रमाकण्ठहारं श्रुतिव्रातसारं जलान्तर्विहारं धराभारहारम् ।
चिदानन्दरूपं मनोहारिरूपं धृतानेकरूपं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥

I worship him who is the necklace on Lakshmi's neck, the essence of all the Vedas, who moves within the waters and takes away the burden of the earth. His nature is consciousness and bliss, his form captivates the mind, and he has taken many forms.

Verse 4

जराजन्महीनं परानन्दपीनं समाधानलीनं सदैवानवीनम् ।
जगज्जन्महेतुं सुरानीककेतुं दृढं विश्वसेतुं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥

I worship him who is free from old age and birth, full of the highest bliss, absorbed in deep meditation and ever new. He is the cause of the world's coming into being, the banner of the army of the gods, and the firm bridge of the universe.

Verse 5

कृताम्नायगानं खगाधीशयानं विमुक्तेर्निदानं हरारातिमानम् ।
स्वभक्तानुकूलं जगद्वृक्षमूलं निरस्तार्तशूलं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥

I worship him whose praise the Vedas sing, who rides Garuda, king of birds, who is the source of liberation and who takes away the pride of his enemies. He is kind to his devotees, the root of the tree of the world, and he removes the pain of the suffering.

Verse 6

समस्तामरेशं द्विरेफाभकेशं जगद्बिम्बलेशं हृदाकाशदेशम् ।
सदा दिव्यदेहं विमुक्ताखिलेहं सुवैकुण्ठगेहं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥

I worship the lord of all the gods, whose hair is dark as bees, of whom the world is only a small reflection, and whose dwelling is the space within the heart. His body is ever divine, he is free of every desire, and his home is the beautiful Vaikuntha.

Verse 7

सुरालीबलिष्ठं त्रिलोकीवरिष्ठं गुरूणां गरिष्ठं स्वरूपैकनिष्ठम् ।
सदा युद्धधीरं महावीरवीरं भवाम्भोधितीरं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥

I worship him who is the strongest among the hosts of gods, the foremost in the three worlds, the greatest of teachers, and established in his own true nature. He is ever steady in battle, the hero of great heroes, and the far shore of the ocean of worldly life.

Verse 8

रमावामभागं तलाविष्टनागं कृताधीनयागं गतारागरागम् ।
मुनीन्द्रैः सुगीतं सुरैः सम्परीतं गुणौघैरतीतं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥

I worship him with Lakshmi at his left side and the serpent resting beneath him, who holds all sacrifice in his power and is beyond attachment and aversion. He is praised in song by the great sages, surrounded by the gods, and beyond the flood of the qualities of nature.

Phala Shruti 1

इदं यस्तु नित्यं समाधाय चित्तं पठेदष्टकं कण्ठहारं मुरारेः ।
स विष्णोर्विशोकं ध्रुवं याति लोकं जराजन्मशोकं पुनर्विन्दते नो ॥

The verse says that whoever settles the mind and recites daily these eight verses, a necklace for Murari (Vishnu), surely reaches the sorrowless world of Vishnu and does not again meet the sorrow of old age and birth.

Closing

इति श्रीमत्परमहंसस्वामिब्रह्मानन्दविरचितं श्रीहरिस्तोत्रं सम्पूर्णम् ॥

Thus ends the Hari Stotram composed by Paramahamsa Swami Brahmananda.

The syllable people get wrong

Bhaje'haṃ (भजेऽहं), the refrain that closes every verse, is bhaje joined to ahaṃ: the avagraha (') marks the a that has dropped out, so it is said in three syllables, bha-jay-hum, with a long e, not as four syllables 'bhaje aham'.

When the Hari Stotram is chanted

Weekday. Thursday

Questions

The closing line of the hymn names Paramahamsa Swami Brahmananda, a monk of Pushkar in Rajasthan who wrote books on Vedanta and yoga from at least 1888 onward. It was printed as an appendix to his Vichara Dipaka, whose fifth edition appeared in 1922. Some singers and recordings attribute it to Adi Shankaracharya, but no early printing supports that attribution, and the hymn's closing line itself gives Brahmananda's name.
Two families of the text circulate. The popular sung form has chalat-kantha-malam in verse 1, manojna-svarupam in verse 3, trilokaika-setum in verse 4 and talanagra-nagam in verse 8. The author's own 1922 printing reads kacat-kantha-malam, manohari-rupam, dridham vishva-setum and talavishta-nagam, and those readings are printed here. The meanings stay close: a shining garland, a captivating form, the bridge of the universe.
It describes Hari as one whose hair (kesha) has the lustre (abha) of dvirepha, the bee. Dvirepha literally means 'having two r's', a poet's riddle-word for the bee because the ordinary word for it, bhramara, contains two r's. The image is of hair as dark and glossy as a swarm of black bees set against the sky-blue body named in verse 1.
The ninth verse, beginning idam yastu nityam, is the phala shruti. It calls the eight verses a kantha-hara, a necklace, for Murari, Vishnu as the enemy of the demon Mura. The verse says that whoever settles the mind and reads this ashtaka daily reaches the sorrowless world of Vishnu and does not meet again the sorrow of old age and birth. The author's 1922 printing reads kashta-haram, 'remover of trouble', in place of kantha-haram.
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