The Bhaktamar Stotra opens the way every Jain act of devotion opens: with a bow. But Manatunga’s first verse is also a complete theology in four lines, and the tradition has treasured it as the stotra’s key.
The Verse
मुद्योतकं दलित-पाप-तमो-वितानम् ।
सम्यक् प्रणम्य जिन-पाद-युगं युगादा-
वालम्बनं भव-जले पततां जनानाम् ॥१॥
Transliteration:
bhaktāmara-praṇata-mauli-maṇi-prabhāṇām
udyotakaṁ dalita-pāpa-tamo-vitānam |
samyak praṇamya jina-pāda-yugaṁ yugādāv
ālambanaṁ bhava-jale patatāṁ janānām ||1||
Meaning (following the widely used community translation): Having duly bowed to the two feet of the Jina, the lord of the beginning of this era — feet whose glow brightens the jewels in the crowns of the devoted gods who bow before them, feet that tear apart the canopy of the darkness of sin, feet that are the support of all beings falling into the ocean of rebirth…
The sentence deliberately does not finish: verses 1 and 2 form one grammatical unit, and the “I shall praise him” arrives only in the next verse. Manatunga makes you wait, kneeling, before he lets you speak.
What to Notice
The gods bow first. Before a single human voice is raised, the amara (gods) have already lowered their jeweled crowns to the Jina’s feet. In Jain theology this is precise, not poetic flattery: devas are unliberated beings who honor those who have conquered what they have not, and the light in their crown-jewels is reflected from the Jina. Whatever shines in us is reflected conquest.
The ocean of rebirth. Bhava-jala, the water of worldly existence, is the hymn’s controlling image, and the Jina’s feet are the alambana, the handhold. Not a rescuer who swims for you: a fixed support you grip while you climb out yourself. That is the whole Jain doctrine of effort in one image.
Traditional Use
The verse-by-verse practice tradition assigns the first verse to the removal of obstacles and success in new beginnings: recited before new ventures, journeys, and undertakings. The riddhi given for it in the modern practice manuals (following the system popularized by Dr. Manju Jain’s Jaina Method of Curing) is:
We quote this as one documented modern tradition, not canon: the medieval manuscripts themselves differ on the mantras and yantras attached to each verse, and Jainpedia’s scholars note that “several variants are found.” What is constant across every layer of the tradition is the verse itself and the bow it teaches.
Practicing It the Jain Way
- Recite the verse (or the full stotra) at a consistent time; sunrise suits the opening imagery.
- Nothing is purchased, offered in fire, or petitioned for. The recitation works on the reciter: it aligns the mind toward the qualities it praises, and in Jain terms, that alignment is what sheds karma.
- If Sanskrit is difficult, recite the Navkar Mantra and read the verse’s meaning. The tradition has always ranked understanding above pronunciation.
Next in the series: Verse 2, where Manatunga finally dares to speak.
Text verified across jinvani.in, DigJainWiki, and bhaktamarmantrahealing.com editions; background from Jainpedia's Bhaktamara-stotra article. Translation follows the widely circulated community rendering.