shankaracharyahastamalakaadvaitavedanta

හස්තාමලකීයම් (හස්තාමලකස්තෝත්රම්)

ஹஸ்தாமலகீயம் (ஹஸ்தாமலக ஸ்தோத்திரம்) 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:(சங்கராசார்யர் கேட்கிறார்:) ஓ பாலகனே! நீ யார்? யாருடையவன்? எங்கே செல்கிறாய்? உன் பெயர் என்ன, எங்கிருந்து வந்தாய்? அன்புக் குழந்தாய், இவை அனைத்தும் எனக்குச் சொல் — நீ எனக்குப் பிரியமானவன், என் அன்பை வளர்க்கிறாய்.

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:(பாலகன் பதிலளிக்கிறான்:) நான் மனிதன் அல்ல, தேவன் அல்ல, யக்ஷன் அல்ல; பிராமணன், க்ஷத்திரியன், வைஶ்யன், ஶூத்திரன் அல்ல; பிரம்மசாரி அல்ல, கிருஹஸ்தன் அல்ல, வானப்ரஸ்தன் அல்ல, துறவி அல்ல — நான் என் போதஸ்வரூபமான (நிஜபோதரூப) ஆத்மாவே.

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:மனம், கண் முதலியவற்றின் செயல்பாட்டிற்கு நிமித்தமாயிருந்தும், அனைத்து உபாதிகளிலிருந்தும் விடுபட்டு, ஆகாயம் போல் நுண்மையானது — சூரியன் உலகின் அனைத்து செயல்களுக்கும் (நடுநிலையான) நிமித்தமாயிருப்பது போல் — அந்த நித்திய-உபலப்தி ஸ்வரூப ஆத்மா நானே.

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:அக்னியிலிருந்து வெப்பம் பிரிக்க முடியாதது போல், நித்தியபோத ஸ்வரூபமாயிருந்து, எந்த ஒரு அசையாத தத்துவத்தை ஆதரித்து அபோதாத்மக (ஜட) மனம்-கண் முதலியவை செயல்படுகின்றனவோ — அந்த நித்திய-உபலப்தி ஸ்வரூப ஆத்மா நானே.

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:கண்ணாடியில் தெரியும் முக பிரதிபிம்பம் முகத்திலிருந்து வேறான எந்த உண்மை வஸ்துவும் அல்ல; அவ்வாறே புத்திகளில் சைதன்யத்தின் ஆபாசமே ஜீவன் — அந்த நித்திய-உபலப்தி ஸ்வரூப ஆத்மா நானே.

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:கண்ணாடி இல்லாதபோது பிரதிபிம்பம் மறைந்தாலும் ஒரு முகம் கற்பனையற்று இருப்பது போல், புத்தி விலகும்போது எந்த நிராபாசம் எஞ்சுகிறதோ — அந்த நித்திய-உபலப்தி ஸ்வரூப ஆத்மா நானே.

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:தானே மனம்-கண் முதலியவற்றிலிருந்து விலகியிருந்தும், மனத்தின் மனமாகவும் கண்ணின் கண்ணாகவும் இருந்து, மனம்-இந்திரியங்களுக்கு எட்டாத ஸ்வரூபமுடையதோ — அந்த நித்திய-உபலப்தி ஸ்வரூப ஆத்மா நானே.

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:ஒரு ஶுத்தசேதனம் தானே பிரகாசித்து, பிரகாஶ ஸ்வரூபமாயிருந்தும் புத்திகளில் பலவாக போல் தோன்றுவதோ — நீர் நிறைந்த பல பாத்திரங்களில் ஒரே சூரியன் போல் — அந்த நித்திய-உபலப்தி ஸ்வரூப ஆத்மா நானே.

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:பல கண்களின் பிரகாஶகனான சூரியன் பிரகாஶிக்கப்படும் பொருட்களை வரிசையாக அல்ல, ஒருசேர பிரகாஶிப்பது போல், எந்த ஒரு பிரபோதம் பல புத்திகளை பிரகாஶிக்கச் செய்கிறதோ — அந்த நித்திய-உபலப்தி ஸ்வரூப ஆத்மா நானே.

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:கண் சூரியனால் பிரகாஶிக்கப்பட்ட உருவத்தை கிரஹிக்கிறது ஆனால் தான் பிரகாஶிக்கப்படாத சூரியனை அல்ல, அவ்வாறே எவன் தோன்றுவதால் கண் (முதலியவை) பிரகாஶித்து செயல்படுகின்றனவோ — அந்த நித்திய-உபலப்தி ஸ்வரூப ஆத்மா நானே.

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:ஒரே சூரியன் அசையும் நீர்களில் பலவாகவும் அசையா நீரில் அனன்யமாகவும் (ஒன்றாக) தோன்றி, தன் ஸ்வரூபத்தில் எப்போதும் ஒன்றாயிருப்பது போல் — அசையும் புத்திகளில் வேறாக போல், ஆனால் விவேகிகளில் ஒன்றாக — அந்த நித்திய-உபலப்தி ஸ்வரூப ஆத்மா நானே.

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:மேகங்களால் மறைக்கப்பட்ட பார்வையுடைய அதிமூடன் மேகத்தால் மறைக்கப்பட்ட சூரியனை ஒளியற்றதாக நினைப்பது போல், மூட பார்வைக்கு எந்த (நித்தியமுக்த ஆத்மா) கட்டுண்டது போல் தோன்றுகிறதோ — அந்த நித்திய-உபலப்தி ஸ்வரூப ஆத்மா நானே.

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:அனைத்து வஸ்துக்களிலும் ஊடுருவி ஒன்றாயிருந்து, அனைத்து வஸ்துக்களும் எதைத் தொடாதோ, ஆகாயம் போல் எப்போதும் ஶுத்தமாய் நிர்மலஸ்வரூபமாயிருப்பதோ — அந்த நித்திய-உபலப்தி ஸ்வரூப ஆத்மா நானே.

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:உண்மையான மணிகளில் வேறுபாடு அவற்றின் உபாதி (ஆதாரம்) காரணமாகவே தோன்றுவது போல், (உன்னில்) வேறுபாடு புத்திகளின் வேறுபாடு காரணமாகவே; மேலும் நீரில் சந்திரக் கிரணங்களின் அசைவு நீர் காரணமாக இருப்பது போல், ஓ விஷ்ணுவே, இந்த அசைவு உன்னிலும் (வெறும் ஆபாசமாத்திரமே).

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 ஹஸ்தாமலகீயம் (ஹஸ்தாமலக ஸ்தோத்திரம்)

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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 ஹஸ்தாமலகீயம் (ஹஸ்தாமலக ஸ்தோத்திரம்)

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 ஹஸ்தாமலகீயம் (ஹஸ்தாமலக ஸ்தோத்திரம்) 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.