Stotra · Sankarsana (Pancharatra revelation)
Mantra Raja Pada Stotra
Sankarsana Samhita · also at Taittiriya Aranyaka 10.1.7
The most-revered Pancharatra stotra to Narasimha. Eight padas — Ugra, Vira, Mahavishnu, Jvalanta, Sarvatomukha, Nrisimha, Bhishana, Bhadra — each treated as a single pada of nyāsa upon a limb of the body. Sri Vaishnava acharyas treat it as the very seal of the Narasimha sampradaya.
The eight padas of the Mantra Rāja, each unfolded into its own ślokā with the salutation namāmy aham. The opening anuṣṭup gathers all eight names; the eight subsequent verses elaborate each in turn. A concluding phala-śruti closes the parāyaṇam.
Verse 1
उग्रं वीरं महाविष्णुं ज्वलन्तं सर्वतोमुखम् । नृसिंहं भीषणं भद्रं मृत्युमृत्युं नमाम्यहम् ॥
ugraṁ vīraṁ mahā-viṣṇuṁ jvalantaṁ sarvato-mukham | nṛsiṁhaṁ bhīṣaṇaṁ bhadraṁ mṛtyu-mṛtyuṁ namāmy aham ||
I bow to him — the fierce, the heroic, the Great Viṣṇu, blazing on every side, the Man-Lion, terrifying yet utterly auspicious, the Death of death.
The mantra-rāja itself: eight epithets in a single anuṣṭup, attested at Taittirīya Āraṇyaka 10.1.7.
Verse 2
उग्रवीराय महावीर्याय नमामि भीषणाय च । हिरण्यकशिपोर्वक्षःकोशं विदारयन्नहम् ॥
ugra-vīrāya mahā-vīryāya namāmi bhīṣaṇāya ca | hiraṇyakaśipor vakṣaḥ-kośaṁ vidārayann aham ||
I bow to the fierce hero, of immense valour, the terrifying one — who tore open the casket of Hiraṇyakaśipu's chest.
Verses 3–8 (one for each remaining pada — Mahā-viṣṇu, Jvalanta, Sarvatomukha, Bhīṣaṇa, Bhadra, Mṛtyu-mṛtyu) and the concluding phala-śruti are present in the Sankarsana Saṁhitā but have been omitted from this rendering pending verification against a critical edition. They will be added in a future revision.
How to chant
Twelve recitations in a single sitting (one per pada), preferably at the junctions of day and night — sandhi-velas — when the original avatara manifested.