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Mantra · Vyasa's eight verses to Rama as Brahman, the one without a second

Ramashtakam

भजे विशेषसुन्दरं समस्तपापखण्डनम् । स्वभक्तचित्तरञ्जनं सदैव राममद्वयम् ॥

Also known as Rama Ashtakam

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 Ramashtakam is

The Ramashtakam, also printed as the Rama Ashtakam, is an eight-verse Sanskrit hymn that worships Rama not only as the prince of Ayodhya but as the non-dual Brahman. Its closing verse names the sage Vyasa as the one who spoke it. Every verse ends on the same word, raamamadvayam, Rama the one without a second, and every half-line keeps eight syllables in a strict alternation of short and long. The order of the verses moves inward. Verses 1 and 2 dwell on the form a devotee sees: the beauty that cuts away sin, the matted locks of the forest years, the protector who breaks his devotees' fear. Verses 3 to 5 strip that form away, calling Rama nameless, shapeless, beyond division and of the single nature of consciousness. Verses 6 to 8 return him to the seeker as the boat across worldly life, the meaning taught by the great sayings of the Upanishads, and the radiant teacher. A phala shruti verse follows.

A Vedanta Octet Ascribed to Vyasa

No episode of composition is told for this hymn, and the printed editions do not place it in any chapter of a Purana. What the text carries is its own signature: the ninth verse says it was spoken by Vyasa, the sage tradition credits with arranging the Vedas and composing the Mahabharata and the Puranas. According to tradition, that line is what fixes the authorship, and the hymn has come down as a free-standing stotra in the collections of Rama hymns. Its vocabulary belongs to the stream that reads the Ramayana as Vedanta. The Adhyatma Ramayana, a later work set within the Brahmanda Purana and likewise ascribed to Vyasa, tells the whole story of Rama as a dialogue in which Shiva teaches Parvati that Rama is the supreme Brahman and that his deeds are the play of the attributeless. The Ashtakam compresses that idea into eight verses. Words such as niranjana, stainless, nirvikalpa, beyond mental division, and nama-rupa, name and form, come from the language of the Upanishads, while the opening keeps the matted hair and the delight of the devotee, so that the worship of a visible Rama and the knowledge of a formless one sit in the same hymn. The refrain makes the point in a single compound: the Rama the devotee worships is advaya, not two.

The mantra, in six scripts

DevanagariSanskrit & Hindiभजे विशेषसुन्दरं समस्तपापखण्डनम् । स्वभक्तचित्तरञ्जनं सदैव राममद्वयम् ॥

Tamilபஜே விஶேஷஸுந்தரம் ஸமஸ்தபாபகண்டநம் । ஸ்வபக்தசித்தரஞ்ஜநம் ஸதைவ ராமமத்வயம் ॥

Teluguభజే విశేషసున్దరం సమస్తపాపఖణ్డనమ్ । స్వభక్తచిత్తరఞ్జనం సదైవ రామమద్వయమ్ ॥

Kannadaಭಜೇ ವಿಶೇಷಸುನ್ದರಂ ಸಮಸ್ತಪಾಪಖಣ್ಡನಮ್ । ಸ್ವಭಕ್ತಚಿತ್ತರಞ್ಜನಂ ಸದೈವ ರಾಮಮದ್ವಯಮ್ ॥

Malayalamഭജേ വിശേഷസുന്ദരം സമസ്തപാപഖണ്ഡനമ് । സ്വഭക്തചിത്തരഞ്ജനം സദൈവ രാമമദ്വയമ് ॥

EnglishRoman transliterationbhaje viśeṣasundaraṃ samastapāpakhaṇḍanam | svabhaktacittarañjanaṃ sadaiva rāmamadvayam ||

“I worship Rama, beautiful beyond all others, who cuts away every sin. He always delights the hearts of his own devotees; I worship Rama, the one without a second.”

भजे: bhaje — I worship
विशेषसुन्दरं: viśeṣasundaraṃ — beautiful beyond all
समस्तपापखण्डनम्: samastapāpakhaṇḍanam — who cuts away every sin
स्वभक्तचित्तरञ्जनं: svabhaktacittarañjanaṃ — delighting his devotees' hearts
सदैव: sadaiva — always
राममद्वयम्: rāmamadvayam — Rama, the one without a second

Ramashtakam lyrics in full

Eight verses and the phala shruti attributed to Vyasa. The printed closing line is given at the end.

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

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

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Verse 1

भजे विशेषसुन्दरं समस्तपापखण्डनम् ।
स्वभक्तचित्तरञ्जनं सदैव राममद्वयम् ॥

I worship Rama, beautiful beyond all others, who cuts away every sin. He always delights the hearts of his own devotees; I worship Rama, the one without a second.

Verse 2

जटाकलापशोभितं समस्तपापनाशकम् ।
स्वभक्तभीतिभञ्जनं भजेह राममद्वयम् ॥

He is graced by a mass of matted locks and destroys all sin. He shatters the fears of his devotees; I worship Rama, the one without a second.

Verse 3

निजस्वरूपबोधकं कृपाकरं भवापहम् ।
समं शिवं निरञ्जनं भजेह राममद्वयम् ॥

He awakens us to our own true nature, is a mine of compassion and takes away worldly existence. He is the same to all, auspicious and stainless; I worship Rama, the one without a second.

Verse 4

सहप्रपञ्चकल्पितं ह्यनामरूपवास्तवम् ।
निराकृतिं निरामयं भजेह राममद्वयम् ॥

Together with the world he is imagined in form, yet in truth he is without name or form. He is shapeless and free of all affliction; I worship Rama, the one without a second.

Verse 5

निष्प्रपञ्चनिर्विकल्पनिर्मलं निरामयम् ।
चिदेकरूपसन्ततं भजेह राममद्वयम् ॥

He is beyond the world, beyond all mental division, pure and free of affliction. He is ever of the single nature of consciousness; I worship Rama, the one without a second.

Verse 6

भवाब्धिपोतरूपकं ह्यशेषदेहकल्पितम् ।
गुणाकरं कृपाकरं भजेह राममद्वयम् ॥

He is the boat that carries us across the ocean of worldly life, and he is conceived as dwelling in every body. He is a mine of virtues and of compassion; I worship Rama, the one without a second.

Verse 7

महासुवाक्यबोधकैर्विराजमानवाक्पदैः ।
परब्रह्म व्यापकं भजेह राममद्वयम् ॥

He is made known by the shining words and phrases that teach the great sayings of the Upanishads. He is the supreme Brahman, pervading all; I worship Rama, the one without a second.

Verse 8

शिवप्रदं सुखप्रदं भवच्छिदं भ्रमापहम् ।
विराजमानदैशिकं भजेह राममद्वयम् ॥

He grants auspiciousness and happiness, cuts the bond of worldly existence and removes delusion. He is the radiant teacher; I worship Rama, the one without a second.

Phala Shruti 1

रामाष्टकं पठति यः सुकरं सुपुण्यं व्यासेन भाषितमिदं शृणुते मनुष्यः ।
विद्यां श्रियं विपुलसौख्यमनन्तकीर्तिं सम्प्राप्य देहविलये लभते च मोक्षम् ॥

This Ramashtakam, easy to recite and full of merit, was spoken by Vyasa. The verse says that whoever reads or hears it gains learning, prosperity, abundant happiness and endless fame, and at the end of the body attains liberation.

Closing

इति श्रीव्यासविरचितं रामाष्टकं सम्पूर्णम् ॥

Thus ends the Rama Ashtakam composed by Sri Vyasa.

The syllable people get wrong

The refrain rāmamadvayam is two words, rāmam + advayam, 'Rama, the non-dual', so it is said raa-mam-ad-va-yam, with the break before ad and a plain, unaspirated d.

When the Ramashtakam is chanted

Weekday. Thursday

Questions

The words are raamam advayam joined by sandhi: Rama, in the accusative, and advaya, not two. Bhaje or bhajeha before them means I worship. So each verse closes with I worship Rama, the one without a second. Advaya is the Vedanta term for a reality with no second thing beside it, and the hymn applies it to Rama throughout, which is why the refrain is often read as the key to the whole text.

The phala shruti says the hymn was bhashitam, spoken, by Vyasa, and the printed closing line calls it composed by Sri Vyasa. No Purana chapter is given for it in the printed editions, so the attribution rests on the hymn's own words. Several different hymns are printed under the name Ramashtakam; this one is recognised by its opening, bhaje visheshasundaram, and by the advayam refrain.

The ninth verse calls the octet easy to recite and full of merit. The verse says that a person who reads it or hears it gains vidya, learning, shri, prosperity, abundant happiness and endless fame, and at the dissolution of the body attains moksha. Some printings read sukhadam, giving happiness, in place of sukaram, easy to do, in its first line; the rest of the verse is the same.

Verse 7 speaks of the great sayings of the Upanishads, the mahavakyas such as tat tvam asi, that teach the identity of the self and Brahman, and says they make Rama known. Some printings shorten mahasuvakya to mahavakya. The longer form, with su, good, is the one the metre asks for: each half-line of the hymn has eight syllables, and the shorter reading leaves that line one syllable short.

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Continue

Ramashtakam

What the Ramashtakam is

A Vedanta Octet Ascribed to Vyasa

The mantra, in six scripts

Ramashtakam lyrics in full

The syllable people get wrong

When the Ramashtakam is chanted

Questions

Have your chart read before you decide

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