Garbha Stuti (Prayers of the Demigods to Krishna in the Womb)
गर्भ स्तुति in English · English
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✦ Meaning
The Garbha Stuti is the prayer offered by Lord Brahma, Shiva and the assembled demigods to Lord Krishna while He rested within the womb of mother Devaki, just before His descent. Found in the Tenth Canto of the Srimad Bhagavata Purana (Chapter 2, verses 26–41), these sixteen verses glorify the Lord as the embodiment of Truth, the sole source and shelter of the cosmos, and the boat by which devotees cross the ocean of birth and death. The demigods reassure Devaki that the Supreme Person Himself has entered her womb, and that her son will be the protector of the Yadus.
Origin & Story
Srimad Bhagavata Purana, Canto 10, Chapter 2, verses 26–41 (Garbha-stuti / prayers of the demigods) · Sage Veda-Vyasa (as spoken by Brahma, Shiva and the demigods) · Classical Puranic era
Oppressed by the demoniac kings led by Kamsa, the goddess Earth, in the form of a cow, approached Lord Brahma for relief. Brahma, together with Lord Shiva and the host of demigods, went to the shore of the Milk Ocean and prayed to Lord Vishnu. The Lord assured them He would soon descend to remove the earth's burden. When the Supreme Lord then took His place within the womb of Devaki in Mathura, the demigods came and offered these sixteen verses of glorification — recognizing Him as the embodiment of Truth and the shelter of all worlds, and consoling Devaki that her son would be the saviour of the Yadu dynasty.
✦ As told in scripture
It is said that as the demigods sang these prayers, the prison of Mathura was filled with an extraordinary light and Devaki herself shone with the splendour of the Lord she carried, so radiant that even the cruel Kamsa was struck with wonder and dread. Tradition holds that an expectant mother who hears the Garbha Stuti with faith draws upon her the same protective grace of Vishnu and all the gods that surrounded the divine child within Devaki.
Complete Text with Meaning
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satya-vrataṃ satya-paraṃ tri-satyaṃ satyasya yoniṃ nihitaṃ ca satye | satyasya satyam ṛta-satya-netraṃ satyātmakaṃ tvāṃ śaraṇaṃ prapannāḥ || 26 ||
Meaning:We surrender unto You, whose very nature is Truth — ever-truthful, the Supreme Truth, the truth in past, present and future, the source of all truth, hidden within truth, the truth of all truths, whose eye is unfailing truth.
ekāyano 'sau dvi-phalas tri-mūlaś catū-rasaḥ pañca-vidhaḥ ṣaḍ-ātmā | sapta-tvag aṣṭa-viṭapo navākṣo daśa-cchadī dvi-khago hy ādi-vṛkṣaḥ || 27 ||
Meaning:This primeval tree (the cosmos / the living body) has one resting ground, two fruits, three roots, four sap-flavours, five modes of perception, six natures, seven barks, eight branches, nine hollows, ten leaves, and two birds nesting within it.
tvam eka evāsya sataḥ prasūtis tvaṃ sannidhānaṃ tvam anugrahaś ca | tvan-māyayā saṃvṛta-cetasas tvāṃ paśyanti nānā na vipaścito ye || 28 ||
Meaning:You alone are the origin of this manifest universe, You are its sustenance and its withdrawal as well. Those whose minds are veiled by Your Maya see manifold variety, but the truly wise do not.
bibharṣi rūpāṇy avabodha ātmā kṣemāya lokasya carācarasya | sattvopapannāni sukhāvahāni satām abhadrāṇi muhuḥ khalānām || 29 ||
Meaning:O embodiment of pure knowledge, You assume various forms for the welfare of the world of moving and unmoving beings — forms full of goodness that bring happiness to the saintly, though they spell repeated ruin for the wicked.
tvayy ambujākṣākhila-sattva-dhāmni samādhināveśita-cetasaike | tvat-pāda-potena mahat-kṛtena kurvanti go-vatsa-padaṃ bhavābdhim || 30 ||
Meaning:O lotus-eyed Lord, abode of all existence, some, fixing their minds upon You in deep meditation, take to the strong boat of Your lotus feet, glorified by the great souls, and thus make this vast ocean of material existence as easy to cross as the hoof-print of a calf.
svayaṃ samuttīrya sudustaraṃ dyuman bhavārṇavaṃ bhīmam adabhra-sauhṛdāḥ | bhavat-padāmbhoruha-nāvam atra te nidhāya yātāḥ sad-anugraho bhavān || 31 ||
Meaning:Having themselves crossed the fearsome and most difficult ocean of birth and death, O self-luminous one, those friends of boundless compassion leave behind for others here the boat of Your lotus feet — for You are most gracious to the devotees.
ye 'nye 'ravindākṣa vimukta-māninas tvayy asta-bhāvād aviśuddha-buddhayaḥ | āruhya kṛcchreṇa paraṃ padaṃ tataḥ patanty adho 'nādṛta-yuṣmad-aṅghrayaḥ || 32 ||
Meaning:O lotus-eyed one, others who vainly think themselves liberated — their intelligence unpurified for want of devotion to You — rise with great labour to the supreme position, yet fall down again, because they neglect Your feet.
tathā na te mādhava tāvakāḥ kvacid bhraśyanti mārgāt tvayi baddha-sauhṛdāḥ | tvayābhiguptā vicaranti nirbhayā vināyakānīkapa-mūrdhasu prabho || 33 ||
Meaning:But Your own devotees, O Madhava, bound to You in firm love, never fall from the path; protected by You, they wander fearless, treading even upon the heads of the commanders of all obstacles.
sattvaṃ viśuddhaṃ śrayate bhavān sthitau śarīriṇāṃ śreya-upāyanaṃ vapuḥ | veda-kriyā-yoga-tapaḥ-samādhibhis tavārhaṇaṃ yena janaḥ samīhate || 34 ||
Meaning:In the work of maintaining the worlds You take on the form of pure goodness, which bestows the highest blessing upon embodied beings — a form by worshipping which through Vedic ritual, yoga, austerity and meditation people strive for their good.
sattvaṃ na ced dhātar idaṃ nijaṃ bhaved vijñānam ajñāna-bhidāpamārjanam | guṇa-prakāśair anumīyate bhavān prakāśate yasya ca yena vā guṇaḥ || 35 ||
Meaning:O Creator, were this pure-goodness form of Yours not manifest — the very knowledge that dispels the darkness of ignorance — Your existence could only be inferred from the workings of the modes; for You are known by the very quality through which anything is revealed.
na nāma-rūpe guṇa-janma-karmabhir nirūpitavye tava tasya sākṣiṇaḥ | mano-vacobhyām anumeya-vartmano deva kriyāyāṃ pratiyanty athāpi hi || 36 ||
Meaning:Your name and form, which can be defined by no material quality, birth or activity, cannot be ascertained by ordinary means, since You are their witness and Your path is to be known only by mind and speech (turned in devotion); yet through Your activities people do indeed perceive You.
śṛṇvan gṛṇan saṃsmarayaṃś ca cintayan nāmāni rūpāṇi ca maṅgalāni te | kriyāsu yas tvac-caraṇāravindayor āviṣṭa-cetā na bhavāya kalpate || 37 ||
Meaning:Whoever, while engaged in any activity, becomes absorbed in Your lotus feet — hearing, chanting, remembering and meditating upon Your auspicious names and forms — is no longer fit for material rebirth.
diṣṭyā hare 'syā bhavataḥ pado bhuvo bhāro 'panītas tava janmaneśituḥ | diṣṭyāṅkitāṃ tvat-padakaiḥ suśobhanair drakṣyāma gāṃ dyāṃ ca tavānukampitām || 38 ||
Meaning:By great good fortune, O Hari, the burden of this earth is now removed by Your birth as its Lord; and by good fortune we shall behold the earth, and heaven too, beautified and blessed by the auspicious marks of Your feet.
na te 'bhavasyeśa bhavasya kāraṇaṃ vinā vinodaṃ bata tarkayāmahe | bhavo nirodhaḥ sthitir apy avidyayā kṛtā yatas tvayy abhayāśrayātmani || 39 ||
Meaning:O Lord, You who are beyond birth — we can find no cause for Your appearance other than Your own divine play; for although creation, dissolution and maintenance are wrought by ignorance, they rest in You, the fearless shelter of all.
matsyāśva-kacchapa-nṛsiṃha-varāha-haṃsa- rājanya-vipra-vibudheṣu kṛtāvatāraḥ | tvaṃ pāsi nas tri-bhuvanaṃ ca yathādhuneśa bhāraṃ bhuvo hara yadūttama vandanaṃ te || 40 ||
Meaning:O Lord, You who descend among the fish, horse, tortoise, man-lion, boar and swan, and among kings, brahmanas and demigods — as You now protect us and the three worlds, so, O best of the Yadus, relieve the earth of its burden. Our obeisances unto You.
diṣṭyāmba te kukṣi-gataḥ paraḥ pumān aṃśena sākṣād bhagavān bhavāya naḥ | mābhūd bhayaṃ bhoja-pater mumūrṣor goptā yadūnāṃ bhavitā tavātmajaḥ || 41 ||
Meaning:O mother Devaki, by great fortune the Supreme Person Himself, the Lord, has entered your womb in His full self for our welfare. Have no fear of the king of the Bhojas (Kamsa), who is doomed to die — for your son shall become the protector of the Yadu dynasty.
Word-by-Word Meaning
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Benefits of Chanting गर्भ स्तुति
Opens with the celebrated 'satya-vratam' verse glorifying the Lord as the very embodiment of eternal Truth.
A powerful prayer of protection, recited to invoke the Lord's shelter for an unborn child and expectant mother.
Especially chanted on Janmashtami and during pregnancy as a blessing for the well-being of mother and baby.
Teaches that devotion (bhakti) — not mere knowledge or austerity — is the sure boat across the ocean of birth and death (verses 30–32).
Assures the devotee that those bound to the Lord in love never fall from the spiritual path (verse 33).
Held to bestow fearlessness, faith, and the protective grace of the Supreme Lord and all the demigods.
How to Chant गर्भ स्तुति
Recite the sixteen verses with devotion before an image of Lord Krishna or Vishnu, reflecting on the demigods' realization that the Supreme Truth Himself had descended into Devaki's womb. The stuti is traditionally chanted during pregnancy and on Janmashtami, invoking divine protection for mother and child. Begin with the 'satya-vratam' verse and proceed slowly, meditating on the Lord as the source and shelter of all, with a heart of surrender and gratitude.
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