Stotra Ratnāvali — invocation preceding the Stotra Ratnam

Chatuḥślokī

चतुःश्लोकी

Yāmunācārya (Āḷavandār)·10th–11th c. CE (Pre-Rāmānuja Āḻvār-Ācārya transition)·4 verses·Preceding every recitation of the Stotra Ratnam; daily during the morning ārādhana of Śrīvaiṣṇava households

Yāmunācārya's four verses establish that Śrī Lakṣmī is the eternal consort and inseparable companion of Sriman Nārāyaṇa — the doctrinal foundation that Bhagavad Rāmānuja inherited and crystallized as the puruṣakāra doctrine.

The Chatuḥślokī — literally "the four ślokas" — is the brief, dense, and luminous hymn that Yāmunācārya placed at the head of his Stotra Ratnam. In every Śrīvaiṣṇava temple and household where Yāmuna's Stotra Ratnam is recited, the Chatuḥślokī is recited first. These four verses are the gateway. They establish, before a single śloka is offered to the Lord, that the Lord cannot be approached except in the company of Śrī.

Yāmunācārya — known in the Sampradāya by his Tamil epithet Āḷavandār ("He Who Came to Rule") — was the grandson of Nāthamuni and the spiritual grandfather of Bhagavad Rāmānuja. He stands at the hinge of two traditions: behind him the Āḻvārs, whose Drāviḍa Veda he inherited; before him Rāmānuja, to whom he bequeathed the doctrinal system that would become Viśiṣṭādvaita. Yāmuna himself did not meet Rāmānuja in the body — but the Sampradāya holds that as Yāmuna lay on his deathbed at Srirangam, three fingers of his hand remained curled in unfulfilled wishes, and that Rāmānuja, upon arriving and seeing them, vowed to complete all three: to compose the Sri Bhāṣya, to honor the Āḻvārs (especially Nammāḻvār and Parāśara), and to spread the Sampradāya. The Chatuḥślokī is part of what Yāmuna left behind for Rāmānuja to inherit.

Why four verses for Lakṣmī before approaching the Lord? Because Yāmuna saw with absolute clarity the doctrine that Rāmānuja would later crystallize as Puruṣakāra: the eternal mediation of the Mother. The Lord and the Mother are never separable; one cannot prostrate to the Lord without first prostrating to Her. In the four ślokas, Yāmuna names Her as kāntā of the Puruṣottama (the Beloved of the Supreme Person), declares the universe a play of Her glance, and seals every soul's salvation in Her grace. These are not preliminary verses — they are the foundation upon which the entire Stotra Ratnam stands.

Every Śrīvaiṣṇava who has been initiated into the Sampradāya has heard the Chatuḥślokī recited at the beginning of every formal stotra-pāṭha. To recite the Stotra Ratnam without it would be to approach the King without first greeting the Queen. Yāmunācārya gave the Sampradāya this etiquette, and Rāmānuja received it. Through these four verses the puruṣakāra doctrine entered Śrīvaiṣṇava liturgy in its most concentrated form.

Curated Selection

Verses 2 and 3 are reproduced from the Sadagopan.org edition of the Stotra Ratnāvali; users consulting alternate editions may find minor pāṭha-bheda variants.

Sanskrit·Always shownIAST·Always shownతెలుగు · Telugu·Always shown

Verse 1

कान्तस्ते पुरुषोत्तमः फणिपतिः शय्यासनं वाहनं वेदात्मा विहगेश्वरो यवनिका माया जगन्मोहिनी। ब्रह्मेशादिसुरव्रजः सदयितस्त्वद्दासदासीगणः श्रीरित्येव च नाम ते भगवति ब्रूमः कथं त्वां वयम्॥

kāntas te puruṣottamaḥ phaṇi-patiḥ śayyāsanaṃ vāhanaṃ vedātmā vihageśvaro yavanikā māyā jagan-mohinī | brahmeśādi-sura-vrajaḥ sa-dayitas tvad-dāsa-dāsī-gaṇaḥ śrīr ity eva ca nāma te bhagavati brūmaḥ kathaṃ tvāṃ vayam ||

తెలుగు · Telugu

నీ ప్రియతముడు సాక్షాత్ పురుషోత్తముడే; ఫణిపతి (అనంతుడు) నీ శయ్యయు, ఆసనమును; వేదాత్ముడైన గరుత్మంతుడు నీ వాహనము; జగన్మోహినియైన మాయ నీ యవనిక (తెర) మాత్రమే; బ్రహ్మ, శివ, ఆది దేవతలు తమ పత్నులతో సహా నీ దాస-దాసీగణము; నీ నామమో కేవలము 'శ్రీ' — ఓ భగవతీ! నిన్ను మేము ఎట్లు వర్ణింపగలము?

English

Thy beloved is the Supreme Person Himself; the King of serpents (Ananta) is Thy couch and seat; the Lord of birds, the embodied Veda (Garuḍa), is Thy vehicle; the cosmos-bewildering Māyā is but Thy curtain; Brahmā, Śiva, and the hosts of gods together with their consorts are Thy maidservants and manservants; and Thy very name is 'Śrī' — O Bhagavatī, how then shall we even speak of Thee?

Meaning

The opening verse — a cosmic confession of inadequacy. Yāmunācārya names Her supreme attendants one by one: the Lord Himself is Her beloved, the infinite serpent Her couch, the eagle Garuḍa Her vehicle, the world-bewildering Māyā Her stage curtain, the trinity of gods Her household staff. The Sampradāya reads this verse as the most concentrated statement of Lakṣmī's paratva (supremacy): every entity in cosmology — including the Lord's own intimate retinue — is Hers.

Verse 2

यस्यास्ते महिमानमात्मन इव त्वद्वल्लभोऽपीश्वर- र्न क्रान्तुं प्रभवेद् भुवश्च गणनां सच्चित्तविस्तारिकाम्। सा त्वं वक्ष्यसि किं नु मां वद कथं स्वाभाविकं श्रीनिधे त्वत्संरक्षणसम्भृतेन यशसा देवस्य देवो हरिः॥

yasyās te mahimānam ātmana iva tvad-vallabho 'pi īśvaro na krāntuṃ prabhaved bhuvaś ca gaṇanāṃ sac-citta-vistārikām | sā tvaṃ vakṣyasi kiṃ nu māṃ vada kathaṃ svābhāvikaṃ śrī-nidhe tvat-saṃrakṣaṇa-sambhṛtena yaśasā devasya devo hariḥ ||

తెలుగు · Telugu

నీ మహిమను — అది ఈశ్వరుని స్వీయ మహిమవలెనే అపరిమితమైనది — నీ ప్రియతముడైన భగవంతుడే పూర్తిగా దాటలేడు. ఓ శ్రీనిధే! నేను నీ విషయమున ఏమి చెప్పగలను? హరి స్వయము దేవదేవుడై ఉన్నాడంటే అది నీ సంరక్షణ చేత పొందిన యశస్సుచేతనే.

English

Even Thy Beloved, the Lord Himself, cannot fully traverse the immensity of Thy glory — that glory which is His own, no different from it. O Treasure of Śrī, what could I, then, ever utter of Thee? Hari Himself is the God-of-gods only by the renown of being upheld in Thy protection.

Meaning

A staggering doctrinal statement: Hari is **devadeva** — God of gods — by the renown of being upheld in Her protection. The verse reverses the conventional hierarchy: the Lord is not glorified despite Her, but **through** Her. His protection of the worlds is itself rooted in Her protection of Him. In Śrīvaiṣṇava theology this verse is the textual seed of the doctrine that Śrī is **abhinna** (non-different) from Bhagavān while remaining eternally His consort. Note: Verse 2's wording follows the Sadagopan.org Stotra Ratnāvali edition; minor pāṭha-bheda may appear in other publications.

Verse 3

ईश्वरीं सर्वभूतानां त्वामनिन्द्यां जगन्मयीम्। भगवद्वासुदेवस्य महिषीं धीमहि श्रियम्॥

īśvarīṃ sarva-bhūtānāṃ tvām anindyāṃ jagan-mayīm | bhagavad-vāsudevasya mahiṣīṃ dhīmahi śriyam ||

తెలుగు · Telugu

సర్వభూతముల ఈశ్వరివి, అనింద్యవు, జగన్మయివి, భగవాన్ వాసుదేవుని మహిషివి అయిన నిన్ను — ఓ శ్రీ! మేము ధ్యానించుచున్నాము.

English

Thee — the sovereign Mother of all beings, the blameless One, in whom the cosmos has its very substance, the Queen of Bhagavān Vāsudeva — Thee, O Śrī, we meditate upon.

Meaning

Composed in the rhythm of a Gāyatrī-like meditation formula (dhīmahi — "we meditate upon"), this verse names Her as īśvarī sarva-bhūtānām — the very phrase used in the ninth verse of the Śrī Sūktam, deliberately echoing the Veda. Yāmuna links his stotra to the Vedic source, and identifies Her as Vāsudeva's mahiṣī (royal consort). The verse is short, dense, and is itself used as a stand-alone dhyāna-mantra during Lakṣmī ārādhana.

Verse 4

श्रीरस्तु ते भगवती श्रियमादधाना त्वत्पादलब्धमहिमाः खलु यान्ति देवाः। त्वत्संश्रयाद् भवति यद्भगवान् हृषीकेशो जायते जगदिदं त्वदपाङ्गभूतम्॥

śrīr astu te bhagavati śriyam ādadhānā tvat-pāda-labdha-mahimāḥ khalu yānti devāḥ | tvat-saṃśrayād bhavati yad bhagavān hṛṣīkeśo jāyate jagad idaṃ tvad-apāṅga-bhūtam ||

తెలుగు · Telugu

ఓ భగవతీ! శ్రీని ప్రసాదించు నీకు శ్రీ కలుగుగాక (నమస్కారము). దేవతలు నీ పాదాశ్రయము పొందినందువల్లనే మహిమను పొందుదురు. నిన్ను శరణు పొందుటచేతనే భగవాన్ హృషీకేశుడు తానైనవాడగును; ఈ సకల జగత్తు నీ ఏక కటాక్షము నుండి జన్మించును.

English

Auspiciousness be unto Thee, O Bhagavatī, who bestowest auspiciousness upon all. The gods attain their glory only by reaching Thy feet. By taking refuge in Thee, Bhagavān Hṛṣīkeśa Himself becomes what He is — and this entire universe is born of Thy single sidelong glance.

Meaning

The fourth and concluding verse seals the doctrine. Three astonishing claims are made in quick succession: the gods derive their glory from Her feet; Hṛṣīkeśa Himself **becomes what He is** by taking refuge in Her (tvat-saṃśrayāt); and the entire universe is born from a single sidelong glance of Her eyes (tvad-apāṅga-bhūtam). The Sampradāya teaches that this fourth verse is the cornerstone of the puruṣakāra doctrine: Lakṣmī's apāṅga (sidelong glance of grace) is the cause of liberation. Without Her glance falling upon the soul, no surrender ascends to the Lord.

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Tiruppāvai pāsurams 1–5