The Bhaktamar Stotra, Verse by Verse

The Bhaktamar Stotra is the most beloved devotional hymn in the Jain tradition: forty-eight verses (forty-four in the Shvetambara recension) in flowing Vasantatilaka meter, composed by Acharya Manatunga in praise of Rishabhanatha, the first Tirthankara. Tradition tells that Manatunga, chained and locked away by a skeptical king, recited the hymn and a chain broke with every verse.

This series studies the stotra one verse at a time: the exact Sanskrit, a careful transliteration, the meaning, and the uses tradition has attached to each verse. A few honest notes that frame every article in the series:

• The legend has versions. The king is named Bhoja, Vriddhabhoja, or Harsha depending on the teller; the chains number 48 or 44 by sect. We tell the story as a story.
• Date: scholars place the composition around the 6th-7th century CE; estimates have varied widely, and the earliest surviving commentary (Gunakara’s) is from the 14th century.
• 44 vs 48 verses: the four verses in question sit between stanzas 31 and 36 and complete the description of the eight pratiharyas. The oldest known manuscript (1332 CE, Patan) has 44; the Digambara tradition’s consistent 48-yantra practice argues for 48. Neither recension is wrong and neither is a corruption of the other — they are two lines of transmission of the same hymn. We present both without declaring a winner. Verses 1 to 16 are identical in both, so nothing published so far turns on the question.
• Mantras and yantras vary. Each verse carries an associated riddhi-mantra and yantra in the ritual tradition, but the manuals differ. Where we quote a riddhi or mantra, we cite which modern tradition it comes from; none of it is canonical scripture. Where we could not verify one against two independent sources, we leave a gap rather than fill it, and say so on the page.
• The uses assigned to verses also vary. Two widely circulated modern lists agree on some verses and disagree on others. Where they disagree we print both readings and identify each, rather than choosing the tidier one.
• Bhaktamar is not a planetary remedy text. The verse-by-verse healing tradition maps verses to life difficulties, not to grahas; Jain graha-shanti uses a separate Navagraha Shanti Stotra. Anyone telling you “verse X fixes Saturn” is innovating, not transmitting.

The verses

Sixteen of the forty-eight are published. The rest are added as each is verified against multiple editions.

1. Verse 1: The Feet That Light the Crowns of Gods — bhaktāmara-praṇata-mauli
2. Verse 2: When the Small Voice Dares to Sing — yaḥ saṁstutaḥ sakala-vāṅmaya
3. Verse 3: The Child Who Reaches for the Moon in Water — buddhyā vināpi vibudhārcita
4. Verse 4: The Ocean No Arms Can Cross — vaktuṁ guṇān guṇa-samudra
5. Verse 5: The Doe Who Turns to Face the Lion — so’haṁ tathāpi tava bhakti
6. Verse 6: The Cuckoo Knows Nothing About Music — alpa-śrutaṁ śrutavatāṁ
7. Verse 7: What Light Does to Darkness — tvat-saṁstavena bhava-santati
8. Verse 8: The Water Drop That Looks Like a Pearl — matveti nātha tava saṁstavanaṁ
9. Verse 9: The Sun Never Comes to the Pond — āstāṁ tava stavanam asta
10. Verse 10: Praise That Makes the Praiser Equal — nātyadbhutaṁ bhuvana-bhūṣaṇa
11. Verse 11: After the Milk Ocean, Who Wants Brine — dṛṣṭvā bhavantam animeṣa
12. Verse 12: The Atoms Ran Out — yaiḥ śānta-rāga-rucibhiḥ
13. Verse 13: The Moon Only Works at Night — vaktraṁ kva te sura-naroraga
14. Verse 14: Virtues That Cross Every Border — sampūrṇa-maṇḍala-śaśāṅka
15. Verse 15: A Mountain Does Not Resist the Wind — citraṁ kim atra yadi te
16. Verse 16: A Lamp with No Smoke and No Oil — nirdhūma-vartir apavarjita

For the life of the Tirthankara the hymn addresses, see Rishabhanatha (Adinatha): The First Tirthankara.

How the text on these pages is established

Every verse is collated across four published editions before it is written up: jinvani.in, vidyasagar.net, jain24.com and DigJainWiki. These differ in orthography and each carries its own typographic slips; where they disagree we take the reading that most editions support and that scans correctly in Vasantatilaka, and we record the decision at the foot of the page. Genuine textual variants — as opposed to typesetting errors — are discussed in the body of the article, not buried.