jainadinatharishabhanathatirthankara

භක්තාමර ස්තෝත්ර

Bhaktamara Stotra in Sinhala · සිංහල

🕉️ jain·📿 1× repetitions·🕐 Early morning (Brahma Muhurta) after bath, facing east, before a Jina image or in the temple·📜 Bhaktamara Stotra (Jain devotional literature)

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हिन्दी / देवनागरी తెలుగు தமிழ்ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം ગુજરાતી বাংলা ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Englishසිංහල𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥

Origin & Story

Bhaktamara Stotra (Jain devotional literature) · Acharya Manatunga · c. 6th–7th century CE

Acharya Manatunga, a great Jain monk, composed the Bhaktamara Stotra as a paean to Adinatha, the first Tirthankara. According to the most popular legend, a king imprisoned him in chains to challenge the power of his devotion. Manatunga began reciting verses in praise of the Jina, and with the completion of each verse a fetter snapped, until he stepped forth wholly unbound. The hymn has since been cherished as a source of protection and liberation across both Shvetambara and Digambara traditions.

✦ As told in scripture

It is traditionally believed that Acharya Manatunga, fettered and imprisoned by a king who doubted Jain devotion, recited the Bhaktamara Stotra verse by verse — and that each successive verse caused one of the iron chains binding him to break apart, until he walked free, demonstrating the liberating power of devotion to the Jina.

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Complete Text with Meaning

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Verse 1

භක්තාමර-ප්රණත-මෞලි-මණි-ප්රභාණා- මුද්යෝතකං දලිත-පාප-තමෝ-විතානම්. සම්යක් ප්රණම්ය ජින-පාද-යුගං යුගාදා- වාලම්බනං භව-ජලේ පතතාං ජනානාම්..

Bhaktamara-praṇata-mauli-maṇi-prabhāṇā- mudyotakaṁ dalita-pāpa-tamo-vitānam। Samyak praṇamya jina-pāda-yugaṁ yugādā- vālambanaṁ bhava-jale patatāṁ janānām॥

Meaning:Having rightly bowed to the pair of feet of the Jina — feet that further brighten the lustre of the crest-jewels upon the crowns of the prostrating gods, and that destroy the dense darkness of sin — feet that are the very support of beings sinking in the ocean of worldly existence since the dawn of the age:

Verse 2

යඃ සංස්තුතඃ සකල-වාඞ්මය-තත්ත්ව-බෝධා- දුද්භූත-බුද්ධි-පටුභිඃ සුර-ලෝක-නාථෛඃ. ස්තෝත්රෛර්ජගත්-ත්රිතය-චිත්ත-හරෛරුදාරෛඃ ස්තෝෂ්යේ කිලාහමපි තං ප්රථමං ජිනේන්ද්රම්..

Yaḥ saṁstutaḥ sakala-vāṅmaya-tattva-bodhā- dudbhūta-buddhi-paṭubhiḥ sura-loka-nāthaiḥ। Stotrairjagat-tritaya-chitta-harairudāraiḥ stoṣye kilāhamapi taṁ prathamaṁ jinendram॥

Meaning:That first Lord of the Jinas, who has been hymned by the lords of heaven — masters of eloquence sharpened by knowledge of all scripture, in noble hymns that captivate the minds of the three worlds — Him, that First Tirthankara, even I shall now venture to praise.

Verse 3

බුද්ධ්යා විනාපි විබුධාර්චිත-පාද-පීඨ! ස්තෝතුං සමුද්යත-මතිර්විගත-ත්රපෝ(අ)හම්. බාලං විහාය ජල-සංස්ථිත-මින්දු-බිම්බ- මන්යඃ ක ඉච්ඡති ජනඃ සහසා ග්රහීතුම්..

Buddhyā vināpi vibudhārchita-pāda-pīṭha! stotuṁ samudyata-matirvigata-trapo'ham। Bālaṁ vihāya jala-saṁsthita-mindu-bimba- manyaḥ ka ichchhati janaḥ sahasā grahītum॥

Meaning:O Lord whose footstool is worshipped by the wise! Though wanting in true wisdom, I, casting off shame, have set my mind to praise You. For who but a child would rashly reach out to seize the disc of the moon reflected in water?

Verse 4

වක්තුං ගුණාන් ගුණ-සමුද්ර! ශශාඞ්ක-කාන්තාන් කස්තේ ක්ෂමඃ සුර-ගුරු-ප්රතිමෝ(අ)පි බුද්ධ්යා. කල්පාන්ත-කාල-පවනෝද්ධත-නක්ර-චක්රං කෝ වා තරීතුමලමම්බු-නිධිං භුජාභ්යාම්..

Vaktuṁ guṇān guṇa-samudra! śaśāṅka-kāntān kaste kṣamaḥ sura-guru-pratimo'pi buddhyā। Kalpānta-kāla-pavanoddhata-nakra-chakraṁ ko vā tarītumalamambu-nidhiṁ bhujābhyām॥

Meaning:O Ocean of virtues! Who is able to recount your moon-bright qualities — even one with the intellect of Brihaspati, preceptor of the gods? Who can swim across the ocean, churning with crocodiles stirred up by the storm-winds of the age's end, with his two arms alone?

Verse 5

සෝ(අ)හං තථාපි තව භක්ති-වශාන්මුනීශ! කර්තුං ස්තවං විගත-ශක්තිරපි ප්රවෘත්තඃ. ප්රීත්යාත්ම-වීර්යමවිචාර්ය මෘගෝ මෘගේන්ද්රං නාභ්යේති කිං නිජ-ශිශෝඃ පරිපාලනාර්ථම්..

So'haṁ tathāpi tava bhakti-vaśānmunīśa! kartuṁ stavaṁ vigata-śaktirapi pravṛttaḥ। Prītyātma-vīryamavichārya mṛgo mṛgendraṁ nābhyeti kiṁ nija-śiśoḥ paripālanārtham॥

Meaning:Yet even so, O Lord of sages, though devoid of power, I am moved by devotion to compose your praise. For out of love, not measuring its own strength, does not even a doe turn to face the lion to protect her little fawn?

Verse 6

ඕං හ්රීං ශ්රීං ඍෂභදේවාය නමඃ..

Oṁ hrīṁ śrīṁ ṛṣabhadevāya namaḥ॥

Meaning:Om Hrim Shrim — salutations to Lord Rishabhadeva.

Word-by-Word Meaning

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භක්තාමර🔊bhakta-amarathe devoted celestial beings (gods who are devotees)

ප්රණත🔊praṇatabowed down, prostrated

මෞලි-මණි-ප්රභාණාම්🔊mauli-maṇi-prabhāṇāmof the radiance of the crest-jewels (on their crowns)

උද්යෝතකම්🔊udyotakamthat which illumines / brightens further

දලිත-පාප-තමෝ-විතානම්🔊dalita-pāpa-tamo-vitānamwhich destroys the spreading darkness of sin

සම්යක් ප්රණම්ය🔊samyak praṇamyahaving bowed down rightly and properly

ජින-පාද-යුගම්🔊jina-pāda-yugamthe pair of feet of the Jina (Tirthankara)

යුගාදෞ🔊yugādauat the beginning of the age / of the era

ආලම්බනම්🔊ālambanamthe support, the refuge

භව-ජලේ පතතාම්🔊bhava-jale patatāmfor those falling into the ocean of worldly existence

ජනානාම්🔊janānāmof the people, of beings

යඃ සංස්තුතඃ🔊yaḥ saṁstutaḥHe who has been praised / well-eulogized

සුර-ලෝක-නාථෛඃ🔊sura-loka-nāthaiḥby the lords of the heavenly realms (Indra and the gods)

ප්රථමං ජිනේන්ද්රම්🔊prathamaṁ jinendramthe first Jinendra (Rishabhadeva / Adinatha, the first Tirthankara)

ස්තෝෂ්යේ🔊stoṣyeI shall praise / I shall eulogize

විගත-ත්රපඃ අහම්🔊vigata-trapaḥ ahamI, having set aside shyness / shame

ඉන්දු-බිම්බම්🔊indu-bimbamthe reflected disc of the moon

ගුණ-සමුද්ර🔊guṇa-samudraO ocean of virtues (an epithet of the Tirthankara)

මෘගෝ මෘගේන්ද්රම්🔊mṛgo mṛgendrama deer towards a lion (king of beasts)

නිජ-ශිශෝඃ පරිපාලනාර්ථම්🔊nija-śiśoḥ paripālanārthamfor the sake of protecting its own young one

ඍෂභදේවාය නමඃ🔊ṛṣabhadevāya namaḥsalutations to Lord Rishabhadeva (Adinatha)

Benefits of Chanting Bhaktamara Stotra

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Invokes the grace and protection of the first Tirthankara, Adinatha

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Traditionally believed to dissolve fear, bondage, imprisonment and obstacles

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Cultivates deep devotion (bhakti) and humility before the Jina

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Recitation is said to remove afflictions, disease and misfortune

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Calms the mind and brings inner peace and steadiness of faith

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A complete poetic meditation on the virtues of an enlightened soul

How to Chant Bhaktamara Stotra

Repetitions1times

Best TimeEarly morning (Brahma Muhurta) after bath, facing east, before a Jina image or in the temple

Recite with a calm, pure mind and sincere devotion, ideally seated before an image of Adinatha. The full stotra has 44 verses; many devotees recite the complete text daily, while others begin with the opening verses given here. Pronounce each word clearly in the flowing Vasantatilaka metre. Conclude with the seed-mantra salutation to Rishabhadeva. Maintaining cleanliness, non-violence and a vegetarian discipline strengthens the practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page shows the complete Bhaktamara Stotra written in the Sinhala script — the same Sanskrit/Hindi verses, transliterated character-by-character so you can read and chant comfortably. Tap any line (or the ▶ button) to hear it recited aloud.

Yes — only the script changes; the words and their meaning are the original. The verse-by-verse meaning, benefits and how-to-chant guidance on this page apply exactly the same.

It was composed by Acharya Manatunga (around the 6th–7th century CE) in praise of Rishabhanatha, also called Adinatha — the first of the twenty-four Tirthankaras in Jainism.

The hymn opens with the word 'Bhaktamara', meaning the devoted immortals — the gods (devas) who bow at the Tirthankara's feet. By tradition, hymns are often named after their first word.

Tradition relates that King Bhoja (or in some accounts another king) had Manatunga bound in chains to test the power of Jain faith. As Manatunga recited each verse of the Bhaktamara, one lock or chain fell away, until he was completely freed — showing the stotra's power to break bondage.

The Shvetambara tradition counts 44 verses and the Digambara tradition 48. This entry presents the celebrated opening verses; the full text is widely recited in both traditions.