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,
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
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
Are fully filled with
*Colloquial form of Sanskrit