Mucukunda Stuti
मुचुकुन्द स्तुति in English · English
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✦ Meaning
The Mucukunda Stuti is the prayer of the ancient king Mucukunda to Lord Krishna, found in the Tenth Canto of the Srimad Bhagavata Purana (Chapter 51, verses 46–57). Awakening after ages of sleep and meeting the Lord face to face in a mountain cave, the king pours out a profound confession of the vanity of royal power, the inevitability of death, and the futility of worldly ambition. He rejoices that the loss of his kingdom was actually the Lord's grace, and prays for nothing but pure devotional service and shelter at Krishna's lotus feet. It is celebrated as one of the Bhagavata's great hymns of detachment (vairagya).
Origin & Story
Srimad Bhagavata Purana, Canto 10, Chapter 51, verses 46–57 (Mucukunda-stuti) · Sage Veda-Vyasa (as spoken by King Mucukunda) · Classical Puranic era
When the barbarian king Kalayavana attacked Mathura, Lord Krishna lured him into a dark mountain cave where the ancient king Mucukunda lay sleeping. Long ago Mucukunda had aided the demigods in war and, exhausted, was granted the boon of undisturbed sleep, with the power to reduce to ashes anyone who woke him. Kalayavana, mistaking the sleeping king for Krishna, kicked him; Mucukunda awoke, and his angry glance burned the demon to ashes. Then the king beheld the effulgent form of Lord Krishna and, recognizing Him as the Supreme Lord, offered this heartfelt prayer of detachment and surrender. The Lord blessed him to perform austerity and attain Him in his next life.
✦ As told in scripture
By the boon recorded in the Bhagavata, the mere glance of the awakened Mucukunda instantly reduced the mighty demon Kalayavana to ashes — accomplishing what whole armies could not, and showing that the Lord arranges even a sleeping devotee's awakening for a divine purpose. Mucukunda then walked out of the cave a transformed soul, his ages of kingship dissolved into longing for God alone.
Complete Text with Meaning
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labdhvā jano durlabham atra mānuṣaṃ kathañcid avyaṅgam ayatnato 'nagha | pādāravindaṃ na bhajaty asan-matir gṛhāndha-kūpe patito yathā paśuḥ || 46 ||
Meaning:O sinless Lord, having obtained this rare and complete human form without any effort, the foolish person who does not worship Your lotus feet is like a beast fallen into the blind well of household life.
mamaiṣa kālo 'jita niṣphalo gato rājya-śriyonnaddha-madasya bhū-pateḥ | martyātma-buddheḥ suta-dāra-kośa-bhūṣv āsajjamānasya duranta-cintayā || 47 ||
Meaning:O unconquerable one, this lifetime of mine has been wasted; for as a king puffed up with the pride of royal fortune, identifying this mortal body as the self, ever attached to sons, wife, treasury and lands, I was consumed by endless anxiety.
kalevare 'smin ghaṭa-kuḍya-sannibhe nirūḍha-māno nara-deva ity aham | vṛto rathebhāśva-padāty-anīkapair gāṃ paryaṭaṃs tvāgaṇayan su-durmadaḥ || 48 ||
Meaning:Thinking 'I am a king, a god among men,' falsely proud of this body which is no better than a clay pot or a mud wall, surrounded by chariots, elephants, horses and infantry and their commanders, I roamed the earth in arrogant folly, taking no account of You.
pramattam uccair iti-kṛtya-cintayā pravṛddha-lobhaṃ viṣayeṣu lālasam | tvam apramattaḥ sahasābhipadyase kṣul-lelihāno 'hir ivākhum antakaḥ || 49 ||
Meaning:While a man is thus heedless, intent on his schemes, swollen with greed and hankering after sense objects, You, ever vigilant, suddenly fall upon him — just as a hungry serpent, licking its fangs, seizes a mouse, so does death seize him.
purā rathair hema-pariṣkṛtaiś caran mataṃ-gajair vā nara-deva-saṃjñitaḥ | sa eva kālena duratyayena te kalevaro viṭ-kṛmi-bhasma-saṃjñitaḥ || 50 ||
Meaning:The very body that once moved about in gold-bedecked chariots and on mighty elephants, bearing the title of 'king', is by Your insurmountable time reduced to that which is called stool, worms, or ashes.
nirjitya dik-cakram abhūta-vigraho varāsana-sthaḥ sama-rāja-vanditaḥ | gṛheṣu maithunya-sukheṣu yoṣitāṃ krīḍā-mṛgaḥ pūruṣa īśa nīyate || 51 ||
Meaning:Having conquered all directions and freed himself of foes, seated on a royal throne and praised by equal kings, a man is yet led about like a pet animal for the pleasures of women in the privacy of his home, O Lord.
karoti karmāṇi tapaḥ-suniṣṭhito nivṛtta-bhogas tad-apekṣayādadat | punaś ca bhūyāsam ahaṃ sva-rāḍ iti pravṛddha-tarṣo na sukhāya kalpate || 52 ||
Meaning:Striving in fruitive work, firmly fixed in austerity, renouncing enjoyment for the sake of future gain, thinking 'may I become a self-ruler again and again' — with ever-swelling thirst, he never attains happiness.
bhavāpavargo bhramato yadā bhavej janasya tarhy acyuta sat-samāgamaḥ | sat-saṅgamo yarhi tadaiva sad-gatau parāvareśe tvayi jāyate matiḥ || 53 ||
Meaning:When a wandering soul is at last destined for release from material existence, O Acyuta, he gains the company of saintly devotees; and the very moment such association comes, his mind turns toward You, the goal of the saints, the Lord of all higher and lower beings.
manye mamānugraha īśa te kṛto rājyānubandhāpagamo yadṛcchayā | yaḥ prārthyate sādhubhir eka-caryayā vanaṃ vivikṣadbhir akhaṇḍa-bhūmi-paiḥ || 54 ||
Meaning:I consider, O Lord, that You have shown me Your grace, for by Your own will my entanglement with kingdom has been removed — that very freedom which saintly kings of unbroken sovereignty pray for when they wish to retire alone to the forest.
na kāmaye 'nyaṃ tava pāda-sevanād akiñcana-prārthyatamād varaṃ vibho | ārādhya kas tvāṃ hy apavarga-daṃ hare vṛṇīta āryo varam ātma-bandhanam || 55 ||
Meaning:I desire no benediction other than the service of Your feet, O almighty Lord — the boon most prized by those who are free of all material desire. What noble soul, having worshipped You, the giver of liberation, O Hari, would ask of You a boon that only binds him further to material life?
tasmād visṛjyāśiṣa īśa sarvato rajas-tamaḥ-sattva-guṇānubandhanāḥ | nirañjanaṃ nirguṇam advayaṃ paraṃ tvāṃ jñāpti-mātraṃ puruṣaṃ vrajāmy aham || 56 ||
Meaning:Therefore, O Lord, casting aside all blessings that are bound up with the modes of passion, ignorance and goodness, I come to You — the unblemished, attributeless, non-dual, supreme Person, who are pure consciousness alone.
ciram iha vṛjinārtas tapyamāno 'nutāpair avitṛṣa-ṣaḍ-amitro 'labdha-śāntiḥ kathañcit | śaraṇa-da samupetas tvat-padābjaṃ parātman abhayam ṛtam aśokaṃ pāhi māpannam īśa || 57 ||
Meaning:Long have I suffered in this world, scorched by remorse and afflicted by my six unconquered enemies, never anywhere finding peace. O shelter-giving Supreme Soul, I have now come to Your lotus feet — fearless, true and free of sorrow. O Lord, protect me, who has taken refuge in You.
Word-by-Word Meaning
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Benefits of Chanting मुचुकुन्द स्तुति
A profound hymn of detachment (vairagya) that reveals the emptiness of wealth, power and worldly ambition.
Teaches that loss and adversity may be the hidden grace of the Lord, freeing the soul for devotion (verse 54).
The famous verse 'bhavapavargo bhramato' shows that liberation begins with the association of saints (sat-sanga).
Inspires the prayer for pure, motiveless devotion — desiring nothing but service to the Lord's feet (verse 55).
Awakens sober remembrance of death and the impermanence of the body, redirecting the mind to the eternal.
Held to grant fearlessness, peace and shelter at Krishna's lotus feet for the surrendered soul.
How to Chant मुचुकुन्द स्तुति
Recite the verses slowly and reflectively before an image of Lord Krishna, meditating on Mucukunda's realization of the vanity of worldly power and his turning fully to the Lord. This stuti is best chanted as a meditation on detachment and surrender; pause over the verses on death and on the grace hidden in misfortune. Conclude with the final prayer for shelter, offering the mind to Krishna as the one fearless, sorrowless refuge.
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