Vasudeva Krutha Krishna Stotram[Here is prayer by Vasudeva, father of Krishna addressed to Krishna. He finds himself incapable of praying the Lord like all others and requests Krishna to assume the form of a baby so that he can fondle him.]Vasudeva:-Thwam atheendraya maksharam nirgunam vibhum,Dhyanasadhyancha sarvesham paramathmana meeswaram, 1Swechaa mayam sarva roopam swecharoopa daram param,Nirliptham paramam brhama bheeja roopam sanathanam, 2Sthoolath sthoolatharam praptha mathi sookshma dar
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Sri Hari NamashtakamSri Kesavachyutha mukunda Radangapane,Govinda, madhava Janardhana dhanavare,Narayanamarapathe, srijagannivasa,Jihve japethi sathatham Maduraksharani. 1Hey toungue, always repeat the sweet letters,Kesava*, Achyutha, Mukunda, He who holds the wheel,Govinda, Madhava, Janardhana, killer of asuras,Narayana, lord of devas, and he who lives all over the universe.* For meaning of these names look in Vishnu Sahasranama translation.Sri deva deva, madhusudhana, saranga pane,Damodhararnv
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Vamana Stotram [Prayer to Vamana][Though a Rakshasa, Mahabali was a benevolent emperor. But he usurped the Deva kingdom. Vishnu took the form of a young, dwarf, Brahmin boy called Vamana and requested for three steps of land as measured by his feet. In spite of his Guru’s opposition, Mahabali agreed. Vamana took the gigantic form of Trivikrama and measured all the three worlds, in two steps. Mahabali offered his head as a third step. Vamana then requested Mahabali to live for ever in Patala-the
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Indra Krutha Krishna Stotram [Indra's prayer of Lord Krishna][Here is a rare, remarkable and very musical prayer detailing the pranks of Lord Krishna as a boy in Brindavan. After reading this I am wondering why it did not become one of the very popular prayers addressed to Lord Krishna.]Aksharam param brahma jothi roopam sanathanam,Gunatheetham nirakaram swecha mayam anathkam, 1Bhaktha dhyanaya sevayai nana roopa dharam varam,Shukla raktha peetha shyamam yugankramanena cha, 2Shukla theja swaropa
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Mohamudgara-BajagovindamMOHAMUDGARAORBAJAGOVINDAMOF SANKARAMoha mudgara, popularly known as Bajagovindam,is a short lyric, high in poetic excellence and magnificent in philosophical content. Hence this is an important work of Sankara, though a short one . The lilting verses set to music makes it easy to remember thus enhancing the quality of poetry and the selected verses of this lyric have been immortalized by the divine music of the great M.S.Subbhalakshmi.The incident that inspired Sankara to
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Varaha Kavacham[This armour is about the Varaha incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He had to take thisincarnation to save earth which was stolen by an Asura called Hiranyaksha and hidhimself in the deep depths of the sea. Lord Vishnu took the form of a huge boarentered in to the sea, killed Hiranyaksha and brought back the earth. There is avery famous temple for this Varaha incarnation in a place called Sri Mushnam,which is in Tamil Nadu. Ladies desirous of having a progeny go to this temple, takebath
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Significance of the Dasavataras1 MatsyaavathaaraThe story of Mathsyaavatara is as follows:Hayagreevaasura took the Vedas when Brahma was supposed to be sleeping and hid them under the sea. Lord Vishnu assuming the form of a large fish retrieved them Now, Hyagreevaasura represents the men of wicked or perverted intellect who influence others and cause the extinction of the wisdom of the Vedas. The word hayaa in Sanskrit has ,besides horse , another meaning, a class of men, kaashta thulya vapur dh
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Tri Vedi Sandhya Vandanam IntroductionSandhya Vandanam literally means either Salutation to the goddess of Dawn and dusk or the prayers done during dawn and dusk. Hindus considered the period just before dawn and just after dusk as well as the exact period of noon, as extremely suitable for meditation. All Brahmins after Upanayanam (prescribed to be done at the age of seven), were required to do these prayers without fail. Essentially these prayers are offering oblations to the devas (arghya pra
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Thulasi Stotram [This prayer is addressed to Thulasi (ocimum sanctum) called in English as the sacred Basil. She is also called Vrinda. This plant is considered to be an incarnation of the consort of Lord Vishnu. Devotees believe that if the leaves of Thulasi are offered to Lord Vishnu, he would bless us with all that we want. There are many mythological tales associated with Thulasi. There is more than one mythological version relating to the origin of the Thulasi plant. One is that Sri Lakshmi
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Tri Vedi Sandhya VandanamIntroductionSandhya Vandanam literally means either Salutation to the goddess of Dawn anddusk or the prayers done during dawn and dusk. Hindus considered the period justbefore dawn and just after dusk as well as the exact period of noon, as extremelysuitable for meditation. All Brahmins after Upanayanam (prescribed to be done atthe age of seven), were required to do these prayers without fail. Essentially theseprayers are offering oblations to the devas (arghya pradanam)
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II Shree Krishna Chalisa IIश्री कृष्णा चालीसाDohaBanshi shobhit kar madhur, nil jalaj tanu shyam.Arun adhar janu bimba phal, nayan kamal abhiram.Puran Indu Arvind mukh, pitambar suchi saj.Jai Man Mohan Madan chhavi,Krishiaachandra maharaj.Jai jai Yadunandan jag vandan. Jai Vasudev Devki nandan.Jai Yashoda sut Nandadulare. Jai prabhu bhaktan ke rakhvare.Jai Natanagar Nag nathaiya. Krishna Kanhaiya dhenu charaiya.Puni nakh par Prabhu Girivar dharo. Ao dinan-kasht nivaro.Banshi madhur adhar-dhari t
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INTRODUCTOIN TO SREE KRISHNA AND RAMA KARNAMRUTHAMTHERE ARE TWO BEAUTIFUL AND DELECTABLE STOTRAS ON KRISHNA AND RAMA BY SRI LEELA SUKHAR OF KERALA AND ONE OF THE FORMER PEETATHIPATIS OF KANCHI SANKARACHARYA'S LINEAGE RESPECTIVELY .ON THIS V DAY OF DHATHU SAMVATSARA NAAVARATHRI . LET US MEDITATE ON THESE TWO MASTER EULOGIES ON SRIMAN NARAYANA.BOTH THE AUTHORS WERE OF SAIVITE FAITH AND WERE EXEMPLAARS OF THE FAMOUS ADAGE ON SAMA RASAM KNOWN AS "ANTHA: SAAKTHO, BAHIRSAIVO, VYAVAHAARESHU VAISHNAVA:
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Introduction:Soundarya Lahari meaning waves of beauty consists of two parts viz. Ananda Lahari meaning waves of happiness (first 41 stanzas) and Soundarya Lahari (the next 59 stanzas). It is believed that Lord Ganesha himself has etched the Ananda Lahari on Mount Meru (Some people believe that Sage Pushpa Dhantha did the etching). It was read from there by Sage Gouda Pada who taught it to Adhi Sankara. Adhi Sankara himself added the rest of the 59 stanzas and completed it. These 100 stanzas are
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Adi Sankaracharya'sShivananda Lahari[Waves of the Bliss of Shiva][This is one of the greatest poetic prayer couched in an undercurrent of practical philosophy by Sri.Adhi Sankara Bhagawat pada. Unlike Soundrya Lahari, this stotra does not seem to have tantric implication. It is more simpler and enriched with several alankaras (Figure of Speech). Any one reading this and understanding it would definitely become a richer man-rich because of the peace, steadfast mind and knowledge of God and Philos
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Ananda Lahari[Wave of happiness]By Adi Shankaracharya[This extremely poetic and devotional work of Adi Shankara is not as popular as his two other great works viz Soundarya Lahari and Shivananda Lahari.]Bhavani sthothum thwam prabhavathi chatur binna vadanai,Prajaanaa meesana tripuramadhana pancha bhirapi,Na shadibhar senaaneer dasa satha mukhai rapyahipathi,Sthadanyesham kesham kadhaya kadamasminnavasara. 1Oh Goddess Bhavani, Lord Brahma is not able to sing your praise by his four heads,Lord Sh
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(This is the first chapter of Ramayana. In this chapter Valmiki who is in search of a suitable hero, whose exploits he wants to write as an epic, asks Sage Narada for suggestions. Narada suggests that Valmiki should write about Rama and also tells him in brief the story of Rama. It is believed by reading this chapter, one can get the same blessing as one who reads Ramayana in full.)1. The great sage Valmiki asked Sage Narada who always is busy in meditation and mastering the Vedas and who is the
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[Authorship of this great stotra is ascribed to Adi Sankara, in the old stotra book published in Kerala in Malayalam script but this is not included in the list of complete works of Adi Sankara, and also the style of writing is very much different. The reference to curd rice in the tenth stanza, clearly points out that it is written by a person of South Indian origin. He must have been a Vaishnavite, because of the use of the word Dasa, while referring to himself in the ninth stanza.]Hrudhambhoj
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[This great prayer is taken from Bhagawatham - kili pattu by Thunchathu Ezhuthachan. Lord Prahladha praises and prays Lord Narasimha murthy after he saves him from Hiranya Kasipu, his faher. The prayer is very touching. The first part of the prayer is almost in Sanskrit and the later part in Malayalam. This is normally sung to get victory over enemies, to get rid of fear of death and for getting cured of diseases.]Dhoorjatim lokaika nadham narasimha,Maarjava veerya parakrama vaaridheem,Agni neth
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[Lord Vishnu took several incarnations in the world. Of them the most important are ten incarnations (Dasavatara). This prayer addresses the ten avatharas. It is written in a way that complains to god that he does not show the same haste in solving the devotee’s problems as he did when he took these incarnations.]Yaa thwara jala sanchare,Yaa thwara Veda Rakshane,Mayyarthe karunamurthe,Saa thwara kwa gatha hare. 1Why did you not show the same hasteWhich you showed in your travel through the water
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[This Stotra has been composed by Sage Bilvamangala, who is also known as Lila Sukha. His greatest work of course is Sri Krishna Karnamritha. Nothing much is known about the period in which this great sage lived. There is a general agreement that he belongs to South India, visited Dwaraka and later visited Brindavan and attained Samadhi there. Some people believe that he was from Andhra Pradesh. Taking in to account the fact that he is a part of large number of folk tales of Kerala (Bilwamangala
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