Dvadasha Stotram
वन्दे वन्द्यं सदानन्दं वासुदेवं निरञ्जनम् ।
इन्दिरापतिमाद्यादिवरदेशवरप्रदम् ।।
Dvadasha Stotra is an assortment of twelve devotional prayers composed by Sri Madhwacharya in praise of Lord Vishnu. That these twelve prayers are sung everyday in all Vaishnava households speaks a lot about the importance and spiritual power of these stotras. This is one of the very few stotra works which run into more than one chapter.
Two-fold importance
The importance of Dvadasha Stotra can be envisaged in two ways
- Composer Sri Madhwacharya went to the west coast to receive the idol of Lord Krishna arriving from Dwaraka. All along, Sri Acharya sang these twelve praises of Lord Sri Hari with his heart drenched in overflowing devotion. One can feel those vibrations while chanting these verses. That these verses were composed by Sri Madhwacharya himself, who is the third incarnation of Lord Vayu, makes them very special.
- Curing Power Dvadasha Stotra is believed to have special curing powers. According to a popular legend, Sri Acharya once brought back a dead ox to life by sprinkling water reciting this stotra. From that time, this stotra is recited during the offering of Naivedya to the Lord in daily worship.
Gist of 12 Stotras
» The first prayer extols the beauty of the Lord from toe to head in eleven soothing verses. Acharya gives a clarion call to always meditate upon Lord Sri Hari, specially so towards the end of one’s life.
» In this second prayer, Sri Acharya extols the Lord through the thoughts envisaged in the Upanishads in nine verses.
» The third prayer is in the form of an advice (Hitopadesha) to devotees in nine verses.
» The fourth prayer praises the Lord as being full of auspicious qualities in eight verses.
» In the fifth prayer, the twelve forms of the Lord from Keshava to Damodara beginning with the Vasudeva form are saluted.
» The sixth prayer melodiously extolls the Dashavataras of Lord Sri Hari in twelve verses. This is popularly sung at the time of Tottilu Seva (Cradle service) to Lord Sri Hari.
» In the seventh prayer, the Lord is extolled as Supreme Power, by whose grace, Goddess Rama, creates everyone.
» Pleasing the Lord is the highest purpose of the mortals. This is nicely told by the eight prayer that can be very nicely tuned to music.
» The ninth prayer addresses Lord Vishnu and praises him with great devotion.
» In the tenth prayer, Sri Acharya pleads to the Lord to bless him to always hear His pastimes.
» In the eleventh prayer, by way of repeatedly bowing to the Lord, Acharya makes it a point for the devotees to always praise the Lord.
» In the twelfth prayer, Sri Acharya depicts how much he is blessed by Lord Sri Hari.
Conclusion
Dvadasha Stotra is a necklace of precious prayers to Lord Sri Hari. When recited, they incite a great feeling of devotion in the hearts of the devotee. In addition to be very soothing and musical to the ears, these prayers are pregnant with deep meaning. These verses also depict the divine poetic prowess of Sri Acharya, using spell bounding similes and poetic embellishments.
अशेषकल्याणगुणनित्यानुभवसत्तनुः ।
अशेषदोषरहितः प्रीयतां पुरुषोत्तमः ।।