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Home › Mantras › Yamashtakam
Yamaraja Yamashtakam: Savitri kneeling with joined palms in a forest clearing before Yama, who stands composed with his staff at rest
With bowed head and joined palms, Savitri calmly prays the eight verses before Yama
Mantra · Savitri's eight verses naming Yama by title, from the Brahmavaivarta

Yamashtakam

तपसा धर्ममाराध्य पुष्करे भास्करः पुरा । धर्मांशं यं सुतं प्राप धर्मराजं नमाम्यहम् ॥

Also known as Tapasa Dharmam Aradhya

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 Yamashtakam is

The Yamashtakam is Savitri's hymn of eight verses to Yama, spoken in chapter 28 of the Prakriti Khanda of the Brahmavaivarta Purana, a text traditionally attributed to Vyasa. The chapter's closing line calls it the hymn to Yama made by Savitri, while its own recitation verse uses the name Yamashtakam. Each verse bows to Yama under one title and gives the reason for that title. He is Dharmaraja, born to the Sun at Pushkara as a portion of Dharma; Shamana, even-handed toward all beings; Kritanta, who brings the end at the time that accords with karma; Dandadhara, who holds the staff so that wrongdoers may be purified; Kala, who measures out every life span; Yama, the restrained ascetic who gives karma its fruit; Punyamitra, friend of the virtuous; and finally one of Brahma's line. A ninth verse returns to the narrative, and two verses on recitation follow.

Savitri praises Yama between his teachings

The hymn sits inside the long Savitri episode that Narayana relates to Narada. In chapter 24 Satyavan goes out for firewood with his father's leave and falls from a tree. Yama binds his subtle body and departs, and Savitri follows. From there the Purana turns the meeting into a teaching. Savitri asks what karma is, who gives its fruit and who enjoys it, and in chapter 26 Yama offers her boons. She asks for a hundred sons by Satyavan, a hundred sons for her father, and sight and kingdom for her father-in-law. By chapter 28 she has heard Yama speak of Hari, and the text says her eyes filled with tears and her hair stood on end. She calls herself an unlearned woman, asks how Krishna beyond nature is to be worshipped, and asks to hear the results of bad karma as well as good. Then, her head bowed, she praises him with the eight verses. Yama answers in chapter 29 by giving her the Vishnu mantra and goes on to describe the hell-pits. Only in chapter 34 does he end his instruction, restore Satyavan's life and return to his abode, while Savitri takes her husband home.

The mantra, in six scripts

DevanagariSanskrit & Hindiतपसा धर्ममाराध्य पुष्करे भास्करः पुरा । धर्मांशं यं सुतं प्राप धर्मराजं नमाम्यहम् ॥
Tamilதபஸா தர்மமாராத்ய புஷ்கரே பாஸ்கரஃ புரா । தர்மாம்ஶம் யம் ஸுதம் ப்ராப தர்மராஜம் நமாம்யஹம் ॥
Teluguతపసా ధర్మమారాధ్య పుష్కరే భాస్కరః పురా । ధర్మాంశం యం సుతం ప్రాప ధర్మరాజం నమామ్యహమ్ ॥
Kannadaತಪಸಾ ಧರ್ಮಮಾರಾಧ್ಯ ಪುಷ್ಕರೇ ಭಾಸ್ಕರಃ ಪುರಾ । ಧರ್ಮಾಂಶಂ ಯಂ ಸುತಂ ಪ್ರಾಪ ಧರ್ಮರಾಜಂ ನಮಾಮ್ಯಹಮ್ ॥
Malayalamതപസാ ധര്മമാരാധ്യ പുഷ്കരേ ഭാസ്കരഃ പുരാ । ധര്മാംശം യം സുതം പ്രാപ ധര്മരാജം നമാമ്യഹമ് ॥
EnglishRoman transliterationtapasā dharmamārādhya puṣkare bhāskaraḥ purā | dharmāṃśaṃ yaṃ sutaṃ prāpa dharmarājaṃ namāmyaham ||
“Long ago at Pushkara, the Sun worshipped Dharma through austerity and gained a son who was a portion of Dharma. I bow to that Dharmaraja.”
तपसा
tapasā — through austerity
धर्ममाराध्य
dharmamārādhya — having worshipped Dharma
पुष्करे
puṣkare — at Pushkara
भास्करः
bhāskaraḥ — the Sun
पुरा
purā — long ago
धर्मांशं
dharmāṃśaṃ — a portion of Dharma
यं
yaṃ — whom
सुतं
sutaṃ — as a son
प्राप
prāpa — gained
धर्मराजं
dharmarājaṃ — to Dharmaraja
नमाम्यहम्
namāmyaham — I bow

Yamashtakam lyrics in full

Eight verses of praise, one verse of narrative and two verses on recitation, all from chapter 28. The printed closing line is given at the end.

All 12 verses, in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, each with its meaning. Choose a script:

Download the Yamashtakam PDFAll 12 verses with their meanings, in Sanskrit. Free to print and keep.

Verse 1

तपसा धर्ममाराध्य पुष्करे भास्करः पुरा ।
धर्मांशं यं सुतं प्राप धर्मराजं नमाम्यहम् ॥

Long ago at Pushkara, the Sun worshipped Dharma through austerity and gained a son who was a portion of Dharma. I bow to that Dharmaraja.

Verse 2

समता सर्वभूतेषु यस्य सर्वस्य साक्षिणः ।
अतो यन्नाम शमनमिति तं प्रणमाम्यहम् ॥

He is the witness of all and is even-handed toward every being, and for that reason his name is Shamana. I bow to him.

Verse 3

येनान्तश्च कृतो विश्वे सर्वेषां जीविनां परम् ।
कर्मानुरूपकालेन तं कृतान्तं नमाम्यहम् ॥

By him the final end of all living beings in the world is brought about, at the time that accords with their karma. I bow to that Kritanta.

Verse 4

बिभर्ति दण्डं दण्डाय पापिनां शुद्धिहेतवे ।
नमामि तं दण्डधरं यः शास्ता सर्वकर्मणाम् ॥

He carries the staff for punishment, so that sinners may be purified. I bow to that Dandadhara, the ruler over all actions.

Verse 5

विश्वे यः कलयत्येव सर्वायुश्चापि सन्ततम् ।
अतीव दुर्निवार्यं च तं कालं प्रणमाम्यहम् ॥

In this world he constantly measures out the life span of all, and he cannot be turned back. I bow to that Kala.

Verse 6

तपस्वी वैष्णवो धर्मी संयमी विजितेन्द्रियः ।
जीविनां कर्मफलदं तं यमं प्रणमाम्यहम् ॥

He is an ascetic, a devotee of Vishnu, righteous, restrained, the conqueror of his senses, and he gives living beings the fruit of their karma. I bow to that Yama.

Verse 7

स्वात्मारामश्च सर्वज्ञो मित्रं पुण्यकृतां भवेत् ।
पापिनां क्लेशदो यश्च पुण्यमित्रं नमाम्यहम् ॥

He rests content in his own Self, knows all, is a friend to those who do good, and brings suffering to sinners. I bow to that Punyamitra, the friend of the virtuous.

Verse 8

यज्जन्म ब्रह्मणो वंशे ज्वलन्तं ब्रह्मतेजसा ।
यो ध्यायति परं ब्रह्म ब्रह्मवंशं नमाम्यहम् ॥

His birth is in the line of Brahma, he blazes with the radiance of Brahman, and he meditates on the supreme Brahman. I bow to him of Brahma's line.

Verse 9

इत्युक्त्वा सा च सावित्री प्रणनाम यमं मुने ।
यमस्तां विष्णुभजनं कर्मपाकमुवाच ह ॥

O sage, having said this, Savitri bowed to Yama. Then Yama told her of the worship of Vishnu and of the ripening of karma.

Phala Shruti 1

इदं यमाष्टकं नित्यं प्रातरुत्थाय यः पठेत् ।
यमात्तस्य भयं नास्ति सर्वपापात्प्रमुच्यते ॥

The verse says that whoever rises at dawn and recites this Yamashtakam daily has no fear of Yama and is released from all sin.

Phala Shruti 2

महापापी यदि पठेन्नित्यं भक्त्या च नारद ।
यमः करोति तं शुद्धं कायव्यूहेन निश्चितम् ॥

The verse says, O Narada, that if even a great sinner recites it daily with devotion, Yama surely makes him pure through the array of his bodies.

Closing

इति श्रीब्रह्मवैवर्त्ते महापुराणे द्वितीये प्रकृतिखण्डे नारदनारायणसंवादे सावित्रीकृतयमस्तोत्रं नामाष्टाविंशोऽध्यायः ॥

Thus ends the twenty-eighth chapter, named the Hymn to Yama by Savitri, in the dialogue of Narada and Narayana, in the second part, the Prakriti Khanda, of the great Brahmavaivarta Purana.

The syllable people get wrong

In Verse 2, śamanam opens with the palatal ś, as in 'shut', and its first three syllables are all short: SHA-ma-nam. Singers often carry over the dental s of samatā, which opens the same verse, and say 'samanam', which loses the title the verse is explaining.

Questions

Yes. This page prints the Brahmavaivarta Purana form, Prakriti Khanda chapter 28, opening 'Tapasa dharmam aradhya'. The form many people sing today is the parallel in the Devi Bhagavata, with different wording in places. A different hymn of the same name, also given to Savitri, stands in the Lakshmi Narayana Samhita, and the title appears again in the Narasimha Purana.
Not in the Purana's own order, though some retellings place it there. The hymn comes in chapter 28, while Yama is still teaching her. Five more chapters of instruction follow, including his account of the hell-pits, and Satyavan's life is restored only in chapter 34. In the text, then, the hymn is praise offered to a teacher in the middle of a question, not thanks for a husband already returned.
The verse lists him as an ascetic, a devotee of Vishnu, righteous, restrained and master of his senses, and only then names him as the giver of karma's fruit. This matches the Purana, where Savitri is moved to tears by his praise of Hari and where he himself teaches that Krishna is the seed of karma and its giver. The hymn presents the judge of all beings as a worshipper too.
Punyamitra means friend of the virtuous. The word sums up the line before it, which says Yama is a friend to those who do good and brings suffering to sinners. Some printings divide it as 'punyam mitram', two separate words, but the standard printed edition reads it as a single title. That reading suits the pattern of the hymn, in which each verse gives one name for Yama.
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