Adhi Shankara's Dhanyashtakam

Dhanyashtakam
(The octet on he who is blessed)
By
Adhi Shankara Bhagawat Pada
Translated by
P.R.Ramachander


That jnanam prasamakaram yadheendryanam
thathjneyam yadupanishatsu nischithartham,
They dhanya bhuvi paramarth nischitheha,
Seshasthu bramanilaye paribramanthi. 1

That is wisdom, which maintains senses at peace,
That is knowledge , which is the understanding of Upanishads,
He who does all the work towards understanding this truth is blessed,
And all others are in the state of utter confusion in the maze called the world.

Aadhou vijithya vishayan mada moha raga
-dweshadhi shathru ganamahrutha yoga rajya,
Jnathwamrutham samanu bhootha parathma vidhya,
Kanthasukha bhatha gruhe vicharanthi dhanya. 2

He indeed is blessed , who wins over the enemies within
of the Passion, desire hatred and excess of emotions
And gets in to the kingdom of yoga and reaches,
The deathless state, and lives happily with,
The wife called knowledge in the house of reasoning .

Thyakthwa gruhe rathi madho gathi hethu bhootha
maathmachayo upanishadatha rasam pibantha,
Veethaspruha vishaya bhoga pade viraktha
Dhanyascharanthi vijaneshu viraktha sangha. 3

He indeed is blessed who forsakes the desire created by passion,
In the home which is the reason for his downfall,
Who drinks the essence of Upanishads leading ,
To the desire to know about Athma ,
Who becomes detached , not getting interested ,
In the passion and the material wealth,
And who wanders in solitude far away from society .

Thyakthwa mamaahamithi bhandakare pade dwe
maanavamaana sadrusa samadarsanascha,
Kartharamanyamavagamya thadarpithani
Kurvanthi karma paripaka phalani dhanya. 4

He is indeed blessed who forsakes the two words, “me” and “mine”,
Who views insult and praise as equal and the same,
Who understands himself as different from the “doer “ within him ,
And who dedicates all his actions and their results to the “doer”.

Thyakthvaishana traya mavekshitha moksha marga
baikshamruthena parikalpitha deha yathra,
Jyothi parathparatharam paramathma samgnam
Dhanya dwijaa rahasi hrudyavalokayanthi. 5

That twice born is indeed blessed who forsakes,
The three desires for wealth recognition and family,
Who practices and walks in the path of salvation,
Who manages his walk of life with the nectar of alms,
And who researches in his heart about the eternal light ,
Of the eternal soul and understands it.

Nasanna sanna sadasanna mahanna chanu
na sthree pumanna na napumsaka meka bheejam,
Yairbrahma thath samanupasitha meka chitha
Dhanya virejurithare bhava pasa bhaddha. 6

He is indeed blessed, who is not good nor bad, nor great.,
Not man nor woman and nor an eunuch,
Who is the only cause of the world,
Who with concentration only searches for the eternal truth,
And who becomes person of luster without getting entangled ,
In the desires for reaching the eternal..

Agnana panga parimagna mabhedha saram
dukhalayam marana janma jaravasaktham,
Samsara bhandana manithya maveksha dhanya
Gnaasina thadavaseerya vinaschayanthi. 7

He is indeed blessed , who gets free of the mire of ignorance,
Sorrow, death, birth and disability due to aging,
Who understands that these ties of the world are transient,
And cuts the bondage with the knife of wisdom,
And who understands that this is the philosophy of life.

Santhairananya madhibhir maduhra swabhavai
rekathwa nischithamanobhira petha mohai,
Sakam vaneshu vijithathma pada swaroopam
Sasthreshusamyaganisam vimrusanthi dhanya. 8

He is indeed blessed, who decides on the oneness,
Who forsakes passion, who gets the company of peaceful,
Incomparably intelligent people with sweet nature,
Who live in the forest and who forever think and analyze,
Scientifically about the significance of the soul.


Two more stanzas which are not found in other versions are found in the version given by Kalyan Press, Gorakhpur in their book Sthothra Rathnavali. .

Ahimiva janayogam sarvadha varjayedhya,
Kunapamiva sunareem thyakthu kamo viragee,
Vishamiva vishayanyo manyamano duranthagn,
Jayathi parama hamso mukthi bhavam samethi. 9

Victory to that great realized soul,
Who avoids crowds of people like a snake,
Who disregards a pretty woman like a corpse,
And who leaves out bad thoughts just like poison,
With an assurance that he will surely attain salvation.

Sampoorna jagadeva nandanavanam sarvepi kalpa dhruma,
Gangavari samasthavarinivaha, punyaa samastha kriya,
Vacha prakrutha samskrutha sruthi siro Varanasi medhini,
SArvavasthithirasya vasthu vishaya drushte parabrahmani. 10

To him who realizes para brahma , the entire world is a garden,
All trees are wish giving trees, all water is the water of Ganga,
All his actions are pure and blessed, all his talks whether,
In prakrit* or in Sanskrit are summary of Vedas, the entire
World for him is the holy city of Kasi all his actions,
Are fully filled with Para Brahma, the eternal truth.

*Colloquial form of Sanskrit