Brahma Stuti Meaning — Line by Line
ब्रह्म स्तुति
Every verse and every word explained in English & Hindi
Meaning — Line by Line
Every verse of Brahma Stuti with its English meaning. Tap any word to hear it, or ▶ to recite the verse.
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- Verse 1. śrī-brahmovāca
- Verse 2. asyāpi deva vapuṣo mad-anugrahasya
- Verse 3. jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva
- Verse 4. śreyaḥ-sṛtiṃ bhaktim udasya te vibho
- Verse 5. pureha bhūman bahavo 'pi yoginas
- Verse 6. tathāpi bhūman mahimāguṇasya te
- Verse 7. guṇātmanas te 'pi guṇān vimātuṃ
- Verse 8. tat te 'nukampāṃ su-samīkṣamāṇo
śrī-brahmovāca
श्रीब्रह्मोवाच नौमीड्य तेऽभ्रवपुषे तडिदम्बराय गुञ्जावतंसपरिपिच्छलसन्मुखाय । वन्यस्रजे कवलवेत्रविषाणवेणु- लक्ष्मश्रिये मृदुपदे पशुपाङ्गजाय ॥ १ ॥
śrī-brahmovāca naumīḍya te 'bhra-vapuṣe taḍid-ambarāya guñjāvataṃsa-paripiccha-lasan-mukhāya | vanya-sraje kavala-vetra-viṣāṇa-veṇu- lakṣma-śriye mṛdu-pade paśupāṅgajāya || 1 ||
MeaningLord Brahma said: O most worshipable Lord, I offer my praises unto You. Your body is dark like a rain-cloud and Your garment glistens like lightning; Your face shines with guñjā-berry earrings and a crowning peacock feather. Wearing a garland of forest flowers, beautified by a morsel of food, a herding stick, a buffalo horn and a flute, soft-footed You stand — the son of the cowherd king Nanda.
asyāpi deva vapuṣo mad-anugrahasya
अस्यापि देव वपुषो मदनुग्रहस्य स्वेच्छामयस्य न तु भूतमयस्य कोऽपि । नेशे महि त्ववसितुं मनसान्तरेण साक्षात्तवैव किमुतात्मसुखानुभूतेः ॥ २ ॥
asyāpi deva vapuṣo mad-anugrahasya svecchā-mayasya na tu bhūta-mayasya ko 'pi | neśe mahi tv avasituṃ manasāntareṇa sākṣāt tavaiva kim utātma-sukhānubhūteḥ || 2 ||
MeaningO Lord, this transcendental body of Yours, manifested out of Your own sweet will as a mercy to Your devotees and not made of material elements — no one is able to fathom even by long mental effort the glory of it; how much less, then, can one comprehend You directly, the very embodiment of self-blissful experience.
jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva
ज्ञाने प्रयासमुदपास्य नमन्त एव जीवन्ति सन्मुखरितां भवदीयवार्ताम् । स्थाने स्थिताः श्रुतिगतां तनुवाङ्मनोभि- र्ये प्रायशोऽजित जितोऽप्यसि तैस्त्रिलोक्याम् ॥ ३ ॥
jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta eva jīvanti san-mukharitāṃ bhavadīya-vārtām | sthāne sthitāḥ śruti-gatāṃ tanu-vāṅ-manobhir ye prāyaśo 'jita jito 'py asi tais tri-lokyām || 3 ||
MeaningThose who, giving up the labour of speculative knowledge, devote themselves simply to offering obeisances and to living by the topics of You as sung by the saints — remaining in whatever situation they are, surrendering through body, words and mind to the message received through the ears — such persons, O unconquerable one, conquer even You within all the three worlds.
śreyaḥ-sṛtiṃ bhaktim udasya te vibho
श्रेयःसृतिं भक्तिमुदस्य ते विभो क्लिश्यन्ति ये केवलबोधलब्धये । तेषामसौ क्लेशल एव शिष्यते नान्यद्यथा स्थूलतुषावघातिनाम् ॥ ४ ॥
śreyaḥ-sṛtiṃ bhaktim udasya te vibho kliśyanti ye kevala-bodha-labdhaye | teṣām asau kleśala eva śiṣyate nānyad yathā sthūla-tuṣāvaghātinām || 4 ||
MeaningO almighty Lord, those who cast aside loving devotion, the very path of supreme blessedness, and toil only to attain impersonal knowledge — for them nothing but trouble remains as their reward, just as nothing but labour comes to those who thresh empty husks of grain.
pureha bhūman bahavo 'pi yoginas
पुरेह भूमन्बहवोऽपि योगिन- स्त्वदर्पितेहा निजकर्मलब्धया । विबुध्य भक्त्यैव कथोपनीतया प्रपेदिरेऽञ्जोऽच्युत ते गतिं पराम् ॥ ५ ॥
pureha bhūman bahavo 'pi yoginas tvad-arpitehā nija-karma-labdhayā | vibudhya bhaktyaiva kathopanītayā prapedire 'ñjo 'cyuta te gatiṃ parām || 5 ||
MeaningO unlimited Lord, in the past many yogis in this world, dedicating their efforts to You and being enlightened by devotion alone — nourished by hearing Your glories and aided by the merit of their own duties — easily attained Your supreme abode, O infallible one.
tathāpi bhūman mahimāguṇasya te
तथापि भूमन्महिमागुणस्य ते विबोद्धुमर्हत्यमलान्तरात्मभिः । अविक्रियात्स्वानुभवादरूपतो ह्यनन्यबोध्यात्मतया न चान्यथा ॥ ६ ॥
tathāpi bhūman mahimāguṇasya te viboddhum arhaty amalāntar-ātmabhiḥ | avikriyāt svānubhavād arūpato hy ananya-bodhyātmatayā na cānyathā || 6 ||
MeaningEven so, O all-pervading Lord, the glory of You, who possess transcendental qualities, can be realized only by the pure-hearted, through their own unchanging, formless inner experience in which You alone are to be known — and in no other way.
guṇātmanas te 'pi guṇān vimātuṃ
गुणात्मनस्तेऽपि गुणान्विमातुं हितावतीर्णस्य क ईशिरेऽस्य । कालेन यैर्वा विमिताः सुकल्पैर् भूपांशवः खे मिहिका द्युभासः ॥ ७ ॥
guṇātmanas te 'pi guṇān vimātuṃ hitāvatīrṇasya ka īśire 'sya | kālena yair vā vimitāḥ su-kalpair bhū-pāṃśavaḥ khe mihikā dyu-bhāsaḥ || 7 ||
MeaningWho can measure the transcendental qualities of You, who, though the master of all qualities, have descended for the welfare of all? Indeed one might, in the course of time, count all the atoms of the earth, the snowflakes in the sky, or the particles of starlight — but never Your glories.
tat te 'nukampāṃ su-samīkṣamāṇo
तत्तेऽनुकम्पां सुसमीक्षमाणो भुञ्जान एवात्मकृतं विपाकम् । हृद्वाग्वपुर्भिर्विदधन्नमस्ते जीवेत यो मुक्तिपदे स दायभाक् ॥ ८ ॥
tat te 'nukampāṃ su-samīkṣamāṇo bhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṃ vipākam | hṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas te jīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhāk || 8 ||
MeaningThat person who, earnestly awaiting Your causeless mercy, patiently suffers the reactions of his own past deeds while offering obeisances to You with his heart, words and body — and thus lives — is surely the rightful heir to the kingdom of liberation.
Word-by-Word Breakdown
Origin & History
Source: Srimad Bhagavata Purana, Canto 10, Chapter 14, verses 1–8 (Brahma-stuti, opening verses of Brahma's prayers to Lord Krishna)
Author: Sage Veda-Vyasa (as spoken by Lord Brahma)
Period: Classical Puranic era
While Krishna was enjoying His childhood pastimes as a cowherd in Vrindavana, Lord Brahma, curious to test the divinity of the boy, used his mystic power to steal away all of Krishna's calves and cowherd friends and concealed them. Unperturbed, Krishna personally expanded Himself into identical forms of every missing calf and boy, deceiving even their own mothers for an entire year. When Brahma returned and saw both his hidden charges and Krishna's self-manifested duplicates — and then a vision of countless four-armed Vishnu forms being worshipped — he was utterly humbled. Descending from his swan-carrier, the creator bowed at the feet of the cowherd boy and poured out this prayer, of which these opening verses are the most cherished.
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