lakshmivishnustotramsri-vaishnava

චතුඃශ්ලෝකී

Chatu Shloki in Sinhala · සිංහල

🕉️ hindu·📿 4× repetitions·🕐 Morning, especially on Fridays and during Lakshmi worship; daily before household aradhana·📜 Chatuh Shloki (a stuti of four verses in praise of Lakshmi)

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हिन्दी / देवनागरी తెలుగు தமிழ்ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം ગુજરાતી বাংলা ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Englishසිංහල𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥

Origin & Story

Chatuh Shloki (a stuti of four verses in praise of Lakshmi) · Yamunacharya (Alavandar) · c. 10th-11th century CE

Yamunacharya, revered as Alavandar, was a Sri Vaishnava acharya, philosopher and grandson of Nathamuni, and the spiritual grand-preceptor of Ramanuja. Tradition relates that overcome with devotion before the Lord at Srirangam, he composed this brief hymn of four verses solely in praise of Goddess Lakshmi (Sri), affirming her supreme glory and her role as the merciful intercessor (purushakara) between the soul and the Supreme Lord. It became one of the cornerstone hymns of the tradition, recited alongside his larger Stotra Ratna.

✦ As told in scripture

Tradition holds that it was the brilliance of the young Yamuna in a royal debate that first 'won him the land' and the title Alavandar ('one who came to rule'); later, renouncing the kingdom for God, the devotion that poured from him as the Chatu Shloki and Stotra Ratna is said to have so moved Ramanuja that, though the two never met in life, Ramanuja vowed to fulfil Alavandar's unspoken wishes and carried his teachings to the world.

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Complete Text with Meaning

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Verse 1

කාන්තස්තේ පුරුෂෝත්තමඃ ඵණිපතිඃ ශය්යාසනං වාහනං වේදාත්මා විහගේශ්වරෝ යවනිකා මායා ජගන්මෝහිනී . බ්රහ්මේශාදිසුරව්රජඃ සදයිතස්ත්වද්දාසදාසීගණඃ ශ්රීරිත්යේව ච නාම තේ භගවති බ්රූමඃ කථං ත්වාං වයම් .. 1 ..

kāntaste puruṣottamaḥ phaṇipatiḥ śayyāsanaṃ vāhanaṃ vedātmā vihageśvaro yavanikā māyā jaganmohinī | brahmeśādisuravrajaḥ sadayitastvaddāsadāsīgaṇaḥ śrīrityeva ca nāma te bhagavati brūmaḥ kathaṃ tvāṃ vayam || 1 ||

Meaning:O Goddess! Your consort is Purushottama, the Supreme Person; the king of serpents Adishesha is Your couch and throne; Garuda, embodiment of the Vedas, is Your vehicle; Maya the world-enchantress is Your veil; the gods led by Brahma and Shiva, together with their consorts, form Your retinue of servants and maids; and Your very name is 'Sri.' How then can we ever describe You?

Verse 2

යස්යාස්තේ මහිමානමාත්මන ඉව ත්වද්වල්ලභෝ(අ)පි ප්රභුර් නාලං මාතුමියත්තයා නිරවධිං නිත්යානුකූලං ස්වතඃ . තාං ත්වාං දාස ඉති ප්රපන්න ඉති ච ස්තෝෂ්යාම්යහං නිර්භයෝ ලෝකෛකේශ්වරි ලෝකනාථදයිතේ දාන්තේ දයාං තේ විදන් .. 2 ..

yasyāste mahimānamātmana iva tvadvallabho'pi prabhur nālaṃ mātumiyattayā niravadhiṃ nityānukūlaṃ svataḥ | tāṃ tvāṃ dāsa iti prapanna iti ca stoṣyāmyahaṃ nirbhayo lokaikeśvari lokanāthadayite dānte dayāṃ te vidan || 2 ||

Meaning:Even Your beloved Lord, the all-powerful one, cannot fully measure Your greatness — limitless and eternally gracious — any more than He can measure His own. Knowing the mercy that You, the consort of the Lord of all worlds, bestow even upon those who restrain their senses, I shall fearlessly praise You as Your servant and as one surrendered to You, O sole Sovereign of the worlds!

Verse 3

ඊෂත්ත්වත්කරුණානිරීක්ෂණසුධාසන්ධුක්ෂණාද්රක්ෂ්යතේ නෂ්ටං ප්රාක්තදලාභතස්ත්රිභුවනං සම්ප්රත්යනන්තෝදයම් . ශ්රේයෝ න හ්යරවින්දලෝචනමනඃකාන්තාප්රසාදාදෘතේ සංසෘත්යක්ෂරවෛෂ්ණවාධ්වසු නෘණාං සම්භාව්යතේ කර්හිචිත් .. 3 ..

īṣattvatkaruṇānirīkṣaṇasudhāsandhukṣaṇādrakṣyate naṣṭaṃ prāktadalābhatastribhuvanaṃ sampratyanantodayam | śreyo na hyaravindalocanamanaḥkāntāprasādādṛte saṃsṛtyakṣaravaiṣṇavādhvasu nṛṇāṃ sambhāvyate karhicit || 3 ||

Meaning:Kindled by even a drop of the nectar of Your slightly compassionate glance, the three worlds — which had perished for want of it — are now protected and enjoy boundless prosperity. Indeed, without the grace of Her who is the beloved of the heart of the lotus-eyed Lord, no good can ever come to beings upon the paths of worldly life, of liberation (kaivalya), or of devoted Vaishnava service.

Verse 4

ශාන්තානන්තමහාවිභූති පරමං යද්බ්රහ්ම රූපං හරේර් මූර්තං බ්රහ්ම තතෝ(අ)පි තත්ප්රියතරං රූපං යදත්යද්භුතම් . යාන්යන්යානි යථාසුඛං විහරතෝ රූපාණි සර්වාණි තාන්ය් ආහුඃ ස්වෛරනුරූපරූපවිභවෛර්ගාඪෝපගූඪානි තේ .. 4 ..

śāntānantamahāvibhūti paramaṃ yadbrahma rūpaṃ harer mūrtaṃ brahma tato'pi tatpriyataraṃ rūpaṃ yadatyadbhutam | yānyanyāni yathāsukhaṃ viharato rūpāṇi sarvāṇi tāny āhuḥ svairanurūparūpavibhavairgāḍhopagūḍhāni te || 4 ||

Meaning:The supreme, serene, infinite, all-glorious Brahman-form of Hari; the embodied Brahman (His most wondrous divine form), dearer even than that; and all the other forms He freely assumes for His divine play — all of these, the sages declare, are intimately and inseparably embraced by You, with glories befitting each of His forms.

Word-by-Word Meaning

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කාන්තඃ තේ🔊kāntaḥ teYour beloved consort (is)

පුරුෂෝත්තමඃ🔊puruṣottamaḥPurushottama, the Supreme Person (Vishnu/Narayana)

ඵණිපතිඃ ශය්යාසනම්🔊phaṇipatiḥ śayyāsanamthe lord of serpents (Adishesha) is Your couch and seat

වේදාත්මා විහගේශ්වරඃ වාහනම්🔊vedātmā vihageśvaraḥ vāhanamthe king of birds (Garuda), embodiment of the Vedas, is Your vehicle

යවනිකා මායා ජගන්මෝහිනී🔊yavanikā māyā jaganmohinīMaya, the enchantress of the worlds, is Your curtain (veil)

බ්රහ්මේශාදිසුරව්රජඃ🔊brahmeśādisuravrajaḥthe host of gods led by Brahma and Shiva

සදයිතඃ ත්වද්දාසදාසීගණඃ🔊sadayitaḥ tvaddāsadāsīgaṇaḥtogether with their consorts are Your throng of servants and maids

ශ්රීඃ ඉති ඒව ච නාම තේ🔊śrīḥ iti eva ca nāma teand Your very name is 'Sri' (the auspicious one)

භගවති බ්රූමඃ කථං ත්වාම් වයම්🔊bhagavati brūmaḥ kathaṃ tvāṃ vayamO Goddess, how can we (ever adequately) describe You?

යස්යාඃ තේ මහිමානම්🔊yasyāḥ te mahimānamYour glory, which

ත්වද්වල්ලභඃ අපි ප්රභුඃ🔊tvadvallabhaḥ api prabhuḥeven Your beloved Lord (Vishnu) himself

න අලං මාතුම්🔊na alaṃ mātumis not able to measure (fully)

නිරවධිම් නිත්යානුකූලම්🔊niravadhim nityānukūlamlimitless and eternally favourable (to all)

දාසඃ ඉති ප්රපන්නඃ ඉති🔊dāsaḥ iti prapannaḥ itias 'I am Your servant' and 'I have surrendered'

ස්තෝෂ්යාමි අහම් නිර්භයඃ🔊stoṣyāmi aham nirbhayaḥI shall praise You, fearless

ලෝකෛකේශ්වරි🔊lokaikeśvariO sole Mistress of the worlds

ඊෂත් ත්වත්කරුණානිරීක්ෂණ🔊īṣat tvatkaruṇānirīkṣaṇaby even a slight glance of Your compassion

සුධාසන්ධුක්ෂණාත් රක්ෂ්යතේ🔊sudhāsandhukṣaṇāt rakṣyatekindled by that nectar, (the world) is protected

අරවින්දලෝචනමනඃකාන්තා🔊aravindalocanamanaḥkāntāthe beloved of the heart of the lotus-eyed Lord (Lakshmi)

ප්රසාදාත් ඍතේ🔊prasādāt ṛtewithout Her grace

ශාන්තානන්තමහාවිභූති🔊śāntānantamahāvibhūtiO You of serene, infinite, great glory

පරමම් යත් බ්රහ්ම රූපම් හරේඃ🔊paramam yat brahma rūpam hareḥthe supreme Brahman-form of Hari (the formless absolute)

මූර්තම් බ්රහ්ම තත්ප්රියතරම්🔊mūrtam brahma tatpriyataramthe embodied Brahman (His divine form), dearer still

රූපාණි සර්වාණි තේ ගාඪෝපගූඪානි🔊rūpāṇi sarvāṇi te gāḍhopagūḍhāniall His forms are intimately pervaded (inseparably embraced) by You

Benefits of Chanting Chatu Shloki

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Invokes the grace of Goddess Lakshmi, the divine Mother and bestower of all auspiciousness

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Considered a supreme prayer for spiritual prosperity, since Lakshmi's glance grants every good of this world and the next

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Cultivates the Sri Vaishnava spirit of surrender (prapatti) through the Mother who intercedes with the Lord

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Establishes the inseparable unity of Lakshmi and Narayana (Sri-Lakshmi-Narayana) in the heart of the devotee

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Recited for both material well-being and the higher goal of devoted service (kainkarya)

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A short hymn of only four verses, easy to memorise and recite daily with devotion

How to Chant Chatu Shloki

Repetitions4times

Best TimeMorning, especially on Fridays and during Lakshmi worship; daily before household aradhana

Bathe and sit facing east before an image of Lakshmi-Narayana. Light a lamp, offer a flower or tulsi, and recite the four verses slowly with understanding of their meaning, dwelling on Lakshmi as the compassionate Mother and intercessor. Many Sri Vaishnavas recite the Chatu Shloki along with the Stotra Ratna of the same author. Conclude by praying for her grace upon yourself and all beings.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page shows the complete Chatu Shloki 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 Sri Yamunacharya, also known as Alavandar (c. 916-1041 CE), one of the foremost early acharyas of the Sri Vaishnava tradition and the grand-preceptor in the lineage of Ramanuja. Tradition holds he composed it at the temple of Lord Ranganatha at Srirangam.

'Chatuh-shloki' literally means 'four verses' (chatuh = four, shloki = verses). The hymn praises Goddess Lakshmi in exactly four stanzas, each highlighting a different aspect of her glory, mercy and inseparable union with Vishnu.

It establishes the supreme status of Lakshmi (Sri) as the consort and inseparable power of Vishnu, and as the merciful Mother (purushakara) whose grace mediates between the devotee and the Lord. The fourth verse teaches that Lakshmi is intimately present in every form the Lord assumes.

Yes. Though cherished especially in the Sri Vaishnava tradition and recited before daily worship, anyone may recite these four verses with devotion to seek the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi and Lord Narayana.