shankaracharyahastamalakaadvaitavedanta

හස්තාමලකීයම් (හස්තාමලකස්තෝත්රම්)

हस्तामलकीयम् (हस्तामलकस्तोत्रम्) in Sinhala · සිංහල

🕉️ hindu·📿 1× repetitions·🕐 Early morning after bath, or during meditation and Vedantic study (svadhyaya)·📜 Advaita stotra recorded by tradition; verses spoken by Hastamalakacharya, commentary by Adi Shankaracharya

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हिन्दी / देवनागरी తెలుగు தமிழ்ಕನ್ನಡ മലയാളം ગુજરાતી বাংলা ଓଡ଼ିଆ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Englishසිංහල𑌗𑍍𑌰𑌨𑍍𑌥

Origin & Story

Advaita stotra recorded by tradition; verses spoken by Hastamalakacharya, commentary by Adi Shankaracharya · Hastamalakacharya (verses); Adi Shankaracharya (compiler and commentator) · Classical (traditionally 8th century CE)

According to tradition, when Adi Shankaracharya was travelling he met a boy who, though appearing dull and silent to others, was in fact a great soul absorbed in the Self. When Shankara asked him 'Who are you, child? Where do you come from?', the boy responded with these twelve luminous verses declaring the Self as the eternal witness-consciousness, untouched by body, caste, ashrama or the senses. Shankara, recognizing his realization to be 'as clear as a fruit in the palm', named him Hastamalaka and made him one of his four chief disciples. So profound were the verses that Shankara wrote a commentary on them.

✦ As told in scripture

Tradition relates that the boy Hastamalaka had been regarded by his own family as dull-witted and mute, for he was forever absorbed within; yet at Shankara's single question the entire wisdom of Vedanta poured forth from him in these twelve flawless verses, revealing that what the world took for a simpleton was in truth a sage whose Self-knowledge was as plain to him as an amalaka fruit held in the hand.

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Complete Text with Meaning

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Verse 1

කස්ත්වං ශිශෝ කස්ය කුතෝ(අ)සි ගන්තා කිං නාම තේ ත්වං කුත ආගතෝ(අ)සි. ඒතන්මයෝක්තං වද චාර්භක ත්වං මත්ප්රීතයේ ප්රීතිවිවර්ධනෝ(අ)සි..1..

kastvaṃ śiśo kasya kuto'si gantā kiṃ nāma te tvaṃ kuta āgato'si | etan mayoktaṃ vada cārbhaka tvaṃ mat-prītaye prīti-vivardhano'si ||1||

Meaning:(शंकराचार्य पूछते हैं:) हे बालक! तुम कौन हो? किसके हो? कहाँ जा रहे हो? तुम्हारा नाम क्या है और तुम कहाँ से आए हो? हे प्यारे बालक, यह सब मुझे बताओ — तुम मुझे प्रिय हो, मेरी प्रीति बढ़ाते हो।

Verse 2

නාහං මනුෂ්යෝ න ච දේවයක්ෂෞ න බ්රාහ්මණක්ෂත්රියවෛශ්යශූද්රාඃ. න බ්රහ්මචාරී න ගෘහී වනස්ථෝ භික්ෂුර්න චාහං නිජබෝධරූපඃ..2..

nāhaṃ manuṣyo na ca deva-yakṣau na brāhmaṇa-kṣatriya-vaiśya-śūdrāḥ | na brahmacārī na gṛhī vanastho bhikṣur na cāhaṃ nija-bodha-rūpaḥ ||2||

Meaning:(बालक उत्तर देता है:) मैं न मनुष्य हूँ, न देव या यक्ष; न ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य या शूद्र; न ब्रह्मचारी, न गृहस्थ, न वानप्रस्थ, न संन्यासी — मैं तो स्वयं अपने बोधस्वरूप (निजबोधरूप) आत्मा हूँ।

Verse 3

නිමිත්තං මනශ්චක්ෂුරාදිප්රවෘත්තෞ නිරස්තාඛිලෝපාධිරාකාශකල්පඃ. රවිර්ලෝකචේෂ්ටානිමිත්තං යථා යඃ ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපෝ(අ)හමාත්මා..3..

nimittaṃ manaś-cakṣur-ādi-pravṛttau nirastākhilopādhir ākāśa-kalpaḥ | ravir loka-ceṣṭā-nimittaṃ yathā yaḥ sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmā ||3||

Meaning:जो मन, चक्षु आदि की प्रवृत्ति का निमित्त है, फिर भी समस्त उपाधियों से रहित और आकाश के समान सूक्ष्म है — जैसे सूर्य संसार की समस्त चेष्टाओं का (निरपेक्ष) निमित्त है — वह नित्य-उपलब्धिस्वरूप आत्मा मैं हूँ।

Verse 4

යමග්න්යුෂ්ණවන්නිත්යබෝධස්වරූපං මනශ්චක්ෂුරාදීන්යබෝධාත්මකානි. ප්රවර්තන්ත ආශ්රිත්ය නිෂ්කම්පමේකං ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපෝ(අ)හමාත්මා..4..

yam agny-uṣṇavan nitya-bodha-svarūpaṃ manaś-cakṣur-ādīny abodhātmakāni | pravartanta āśritya niṣkampam ekaṃ sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmā ||4||

Meaning:जैसे उष्णता अग्नि से अभिन्न है, वैसे ही जो नित्यबोधस्वरूप है, और जिस एक निष्कम्प तत्त्व का आश्रय लेकर अबोधात्मक (जड़) मन-चक्षु आदि प्रवृत्त होते हैं — वह नित्य-उपलब्धिस्वरूप आत्मा मैं हूँ।

Verse 5

මුඛාභාසකෝ දර්පණේ දෘශ්යමානෝ මුඛත්වාත්පෘථක්ත්වේන නෛවාස්ති වස්තු. චිදාභාසකෝ ධීෂු ජීවෝ(අ)පි තද්වත් ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපෝ(අ)හමාත්මා..5..

mukhābhāsako darpaṇe dṛśyamāno mukhatvāt pṛthaktvena naivāsti vastu | cid-ābhāsako dhīṣu jīvo'pi tadvat sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmā ||5||

Meaning:दर्पण में दिखता मुख का प्रतिबिम्ब मुख से पृथक् कोई वास्तविक वस्तु नहीं है; उसी प्रकार बुद्धियों में चैतन्य का आभास जीव है — वह नित्य-उपलब्धिस्वरूप आत्मा मैं हूँ।

Verse 6

යථා දර්පණාභාව ආභාසහානෞ මුඛං විද්යතේ කල්පනාහීනමේකම්. තථා ධීවියෝගේ නිරාභාසකෝ යඃ ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපෝ(අ)හමාත්මා..6..

yathā darpaṇābhāva ābhāsa-hānau mukhaṃ vidyate kalpanā-hīnam ekam | tathā dhī-viyoge nirābhāsako yaḥ sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmā ||6||

Meaning:जैसे दर्पण के अभाव में प्रतिबिम्ब के लुप्त होने पर भी एक मुख कल्पनारहित रूप में विद्यमान रहता है, वैसे ही बुद्धि के वियोग में जो निराभास शेष रहता है — वह नित्य-उपलब्धिस्वरूप आत्मा मैं हूँ।

Verse 7

මනශ්චක්ෂුරාදේර්වියුක්තඃ ස්වයං යෝ මනශ්චක්ෂුරාදේර්මනශ්චක්ෂුරාදිඃ. මනශ්චක්ෂුරාදේරගම්යස්වරූපඃ ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපෝ(අ)හමාත්මා..7..

manaś-cakṣur-āder viyuktaḥ svayaṃ yo manaś-cakṣur-āder manaś-cakṣur-ādiḥ | manaś-cakṣur-āder agamya-svarūpaḥ sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmā ||7||

Meaning:जो स्वयं मन-चक्षु आदि से वियुक्त है, फिर भी मन का मन और चक्षु का चक्षु है, जिसका स्वरूप मन-इन्द्रियों के लिए अगम्य है — वह नित्य-उपलब्धिस्वरूप आत्मा मैं हूँ।

Verse 8

ය ඒකෝ විභාති ස්වතඃ ශුද්ධචේතාඃ ප්රකාශස්වරූපෝ(අ)පි නානේව ධීෂු. ශරාවෝදකස්ථෝ යථා භානුරේකඃ ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපෝ(අ)හමාත්මා..8..

ya eko vibhāti svataḥ śuddha-cetāḥ prakāśa-svarūpo'pi nāneva dhīṣu | śarāvodaka-stho yathā bhānur ekaḥ sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmā ||8||

Meaning:जो एक शुद्धचेतन स्वतः प्रकाशित होता है, प्रकाशस्वरूप होते हुए भी बुद्धियों में अनेक-सा भासता है — जैसे जल से भरे अनेक पात्रों में एक ही सूर्य — वह नित्य-उपलब्धिस्वरूप आत्मा मैं हूँ।

Verse 9

යථානේකචක්ෂුඃප්රකාශෝ රවිර්න ක්රමේණ ප්රකාශීකරෝති ප්රකාශ්යම්. අනේකා ධියෝ යස්තථෛකඃ ප්රබෝධඃ ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපෝ(අ)හමාත්මා..9..

yathāneka-cakṣuḥ-prakāśo ravir na krameṇa prakāśī-karoti prakāśyam | anekā dhiyo yas tathaikaḥ prabodhaḥ sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmā ||9||

Meaning:जैसे अनेक नेत्रों का प्रकाशक सूर्य प्रकाश्य पदार्थों को क्रमशः नहीं, अपितु एक साथ प्रकाशित करता है, वैसे ही जो एक प्रबोध अनेक बुद्धियों को प्रकाशित करता है — वह नित्य-उपलब्धिस्वरूप आत्मा मैं हूँ।

Verse 10

විවස්වත්ප්රභාතං යථා රූපමක්ෂං ප්රගෘහ්ණාති නාභාතමේවං විවස්වාන්. යදාභාත ආභාසයත්යක්ෂමේකඃ ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපෝ(අ)හමාත්මා..10..

vivasvat-prabhātaṃ yathā rūpam akṣaṃ pragṛhṇāti nābhātam evaṃ vivasvān | yad-ābhāta ābhāsayaty akṣam ekaḥ sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmā ||10||

Meaning:जैसे नेत्र सूर्य से प्रकाशित रूप को ग्रहण करता है पर स्वयं अप्रकाशित सूर्य को नहीं, वैसे ही जिसके भासने से नेत्र (आदि) प्रकाशित होकर कार्य करते हैं — वह नित्य-उपलब्धिस्वरूप आत्मा मैं हूँ।

Verse 11

යථා සූර්ය ඒකෝ(අ)ප්ස්වනේකශ්චලාසු ස්ථිරාස්වප්යනන්යද්විභාව්යස්වරූපඃ. චලාසු ප්රභින්නඃ සුධීෂ්වේක ඒව ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපෝ(අ)හමාත්මා..11..

yathā sūrya eko'psv aneka-ścalāsu sthirāsv apy ananyad vibhāvya-svarūpaḥ | calāsu prabhinnaḥ sudhīṣv eka eva sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmā ||11||

Meaning:जैसे एक ही सूर्य चंचल जलों में अनेक और स्थिर जल में अनन्य (एक) भासता है, अपने स्वरूप में सदा एक रहता है — चंचल बुद्धियों में भिन्न-सा, किन्तु विवेकी जनों में एक ही — वह नित्य-उपलब्धिस्वरूप आत्मा मैं हूँ।

Verse 12

ඝනච්ඡන්නදෘෂ්ටිර්ඝනච්ඡන්නමර්කං යථා නිෂ්ප්රභං මන්යතේ චාතිමූඪඃ. තථා බද්ධවද්භාති යෝ මූඪදෘෂ්ටේඃ ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපෝ(අ)හමාත්මා..12..

ghana-cchanna-dṛṣṭir ghana-cchannam arkaṃ yathā niṣprabhaṃ manyate cātimūḍhaḥ | tathā baddhavad bhāti yo mūḍha-dṛṣṭeḥ sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmā ||12||

Meaning:जैसे बादलों से ढकी दृष्टि वाला अत्यन्त मूढ़ व्यक्ति बादल से ढके सूर्य को निष्प्रभ मान लेता है, वैसे ही मूढ़ दृष्टि को जो (नित्यमुक्त आत्मा) बद्ध-सा भासता है — वह नित्य-उपलब्धिस्वरूप आत्मा मैं हूँ।

Verse 13

සමස්තේෂු වස්තුෂ්වනුස්යූතමේකං සමස්තානි වස්තූනි යන්න ස්පෘශන්ති. වියද්වත්සදා ශුද්ධමච්ඡස්වරූපං ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපෝ(අ)හමාත්මා..13..

samasteṣu vastuṣv anusyūtam ekaṃ samastāni vastūni yan na spṛśanti | viyadvat sadā śuddham accha-svarūpaṃ sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmā ||13||

Meaning:जो समस्त वस्तुओं में अनुस्यूत एक है, जिसे समस्त वस्तुएँ स्पर्श नहीं करतीं, जो आकाश के समान सदा शुद्ध और निर्मलस्वरूप है — वह नित्य-उपलब्धिस्वरूप आत्मा मैं हूँ।

Verse 14

උපාධෞ යථා භේදතා සන්මණීනාං තථා භේදතා බුද්ධිභේදේෂු තේ(අ)පි. යථා චන්ද්රිකාණාං ජලේ චඤ්චලත්වං තථා චඤ්චලත්වං තවාපීහ විෂ්ණෝ..14..

upādhau yathā bhedatā san-maṇīnāṃ tathā bhedatā buddhi-bhedeṣu te'pi | yathā candrikāṇāṃ jale cañcalatvaṃ tathā cañcalatvaṃ tavāpīha viṣṇo ||14||

Meaning:जैसे सच्चे मणियों में भेद उनकी उपाधि (आधार) के कारण ही प्रतीत होता है, वैसे ही (आप में) भेद बुद्धियों के भेद के कारण ही है; और जैसे जल में चन्द्रकिरणों की चंचलता जल के कारण है, वैसे ही हे विष्णो, यह चंचलता आप में भी (केवल आभासमात्र) है।

Word-by-Word Meaning

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කඃ ත්වං ශිශෝ🔊kaḥ tvaṃ śiśoWho are you, O child? (Shankara's opening question)

කස්ය කුතඃ අසි ගන්තා🔊kasya kutaḥ asi gantāWhose are you, from where do you come, where are you going?

කිං නාම තේ🔊kiṃ nāma teWhat is your name?

නාහං මනුෂ්යඃ🔊nāhaṃ manuṣyaḥI am not a human being (the boy's reply)

න ච දේවයක්ෂෞ🔊na ca deva-yakṣaunor a god nor a yaksha

න බ්රහ්මචාරී න ගෘහී වනස්ථඃ භික්ෂුඃ🔊na brahmacārī na gṛhī vanastho bhikṣuḥneither a celibate student, nor householder, nor forest-dweller, nor mendicant (the four ashramas)

නිජබෝධරූපඃ🔊nija-bodha-rūpaḥI am of the nature of pure self-luminous Consciousness

නිමිත්තං මනශ්චක්ෂුරාදිප්රවෘත්තෞ🔊nimittaṃ manaś-cakṣur-ādi-pravṛttauthe cause behind the activity of the mind, eyes and the other senses

නිරස්තාඛිලෝපාධිඃ🔊nirastākhilopādhiḥfree from (having cast off) every limiting adjunct (upadhi)

ආකාශකල්පඃ🔊ākāśa-kalpaḥsubtle and all-pervading like space

රවිඃ ලෝකචේෂ්ටානිමිත්තං යථා🔊raviḥ loka-ceṣṭā-nimittaṃ yathāas the sun is the (impartial) cause of all activity in the world

ස නිත්යෝපලබ්ධිස්වරූපඃ අහම් ආත්මා🔊sa nityopalabdhi-svarūpo'ham ātmāthat Self, whose very nature is eternal awareness, am I (the recurring refrain)

අග්න්යුෂ්ණවත්🔊agny-uṣṇavatas heat is inseparable from fire

නිත්යබෝධස්වරූපම්🔊nitya-bodha-svarūpamof the nature of eternal consciousness/awareness

මනශ්චක්ෂුරාදීනි අබෝධාත්මකානි🔊manaś-cakṣur-ādīny abodhātmakānithe mind, eyes and the rest, which are themselves insentient (without their own consciousness)

මුඛාභාසකඃ දර්පණේ🔊mukhābhāsako darpaṇethe reflection of a face in a mirror

චිදාභාසකඃ ධීෂු ජීවඃ අපි තද්වත්🔊cid-ābhāsako dhīṣu jīvo'pi tadvatlikewise the jiva is but the reflection of Consciousness in the intellects

ශරාවෝදකස්ථඃ යථා භානුඃ ඒකඃ🔊śarāvodaka-stho yathā bhānur ekaḥas the one sun (appears multiple) reflected in many bowls of water

යථා සූර්යඃ ඒකඃ අප්සු අනේකඃ🔊yathā sūrya ekaḥ apsu anekaḥas the one sun appears as many in (moving) waters

ඝනච්ඡන්නදෘෂ්ටිඃ🔊ghana-cchanna-dṛṣṭiḥone whose sight is veiled by clouds

බද්ධවත් භාති යඃ මූඪදෘෂ්ටේඃ🔊baddhavad bhāti yaḥ mūḍha-dṛṣṭeḥthe Self (ever-free) appears as though bound to the deluded vision

සමස්තේෂු වස්තුෂු අනුස්යූතම් ඒකම්🔊samasteṣu vastuṣv anusyūtam ekamthe one (consciousness) threaded through all objects

වියද්වත් සදා ශුද්ධම් අච්ඡස්වරූපම්🔊viyadvat sadā śuddham accha-svarūpamever pure and untainted like space (which nothing can stain)

තථා චඤ්චලත්වං තව අපි ඉහ විෂ්ණෝ🔊tathā cañcalatvaṃ tavāpīha viṣṇoso too, O all-pervading Lord (Vishnu), the apparent restlessness is attributed to You (though You are ever still)

Benefits of Chanting हस्तामलकीयम् (हस्तामलकस्तोत्रम्)

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Presents the essence of Advaita Vedanta through vivid, easy-to-grasp similes (sun, mirror, reflected moon)

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Strengthens the realization 'I am the eternal witness-consciousness, not the body or mind'

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An excellent text for Self-enquiry (atma-vichara) and meditation on the true 'I'

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Calms the mind by revealing the ever-free, untainted nature of the Self

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Treasured in the Advaita tradition as the spontaneous utterance of a Self-realized child-sage

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Recited for clarity of understanding (viveka) and steadiness in non-dual awareness

How to Chant हस्तामलकीयम् (हस्तामलकस्तोत्रम्)

Repetitions1times

Best TimeEarly morning after bath, or during meditation and Vedantic study (svadhyaya)

Sit calmly facing east or north. Begin with Shankara's opening question and then recite the twelve reply verses slowly, dwelling on the refrain 'sa nityopalabdhi-svarupo'ham atma' — 'that Self of eternal awareness am I'. Contemplate each simile (the sun reflected in many waters, the face in the mirror) as a pointer to your own witness-nature. A single attentive recitation daily is ideal for contemplation; it may also be studied with its meaning.

Frequently Asked Questions

This page shows the complete हस्तामलकीयम् (हस्तामलकस्तोत्रम्) 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 is a short Advaita Vedanta hymn, also called Hastamalaka Stotram, composed of twelve verses (with an opening question and a concluding verse). It records the answer of the boy-sage Hastamalaka to Adi Shankaracharya's question about his identity.

'Hasta' means hand and 'amalaka' means a gooseberry (myrobalan). The name signifies that the truth of the Self was as clear and direct to this sage as a fruit held in the palm of one's hand. It is also the name given to him by Shankara, who made him one of his principal disciples.

It means 'that Self, whose very nature is eternal awareness (constant cognition), am I'. Every verse ends with this line, affirming that one's true identity is the unchanging, self-luminous consciousness that witnesses the mind and senses.

Yes. Shankara was so struck by the depth of the young Hastamalaka's spontaneous reply that he himself wrote a commentary (bhashya) on these verses, and the boy became one of his four chief disciples, alongside Sureshvara, Padmapada and Totaka.