Shrinathji Stotram – Madhurashtakam
श्री नाथजी स्तोत्रम् (मधुराष्टकम्)
What is the Shrinathji Stotram?
Madhurashtakam The hymn commonly called the Shrinathji Stotram is the Madhurashtakam, an eight-verse Sanskrit prayer by Vallabhacharya that calls every feature of Krishna sweet, from his face and speech to his flute and his glance. It is the defining hymn of Pushti Marg seva and is sung before Shrinathji at Nathdwara rather than being a separate composition written for that deity under its own title.
There is no separately preserved Sanskrit text called a Shrinathji Ashtakam. What Nathdwara actually sings as the Shrinathji Stotram is the Madhurashtakam, eight verses composed by Vallabhacharya, founder of the Pushti Marg, in praise of Krishna’s sweetness. Every line ends on the same word, madhuram, sweet, turning the whole hymn into one unbroken statement about the form worshipped daily as Shrinathji in the Nathdwara haveli.
Shrinathji Stotram Lyrics (Madhurashtakam) in Sanskrit and Roman Transliteration
No independent Shrinathji Ashtakam survives in any manuscript or text collection checked for this page. The text below is the Madhurashtakam of Vallabhacharya, the actual hymn used as the Shrinathji prayer in Pushti Marg seva, given here in Devanagari and plain Roman transliteration verse by verse.
Adharam madhuram vadanam madhuram nayanam madhuram hasitam madhuram
Hridayam madhuram gamanam madhuram madhuradhipateh akhilam madhuram
अधरं मधुरं वदनं मधुरं नयनं मधुरं हसितं मधुरम्
हृदयं मधुरं गमनं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्
Meaning
This opening verse praises Krishna's lips, face, eyes, smile, heart and every gesture of his walk as sweet. At Nathdwara it reads almost like a description of the first sight of Shrinathji's face the moment the curtain opens for Mangala darshan at dawn.
Vachanam madhuram charitam madhuram vasanam madhuram valitam madhuram
Chalitam madhuram bhramitam madhuram madhuradhipateh akhilam madhuram
वचनं मधुरं चरितं मधुरं वसनं मधुरं वलितं मधुरम्
चलितं मधुरं भ्रमितं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्
Meaning
Here his speech, his deeds, his garments, his glance and his playful movements are each called sweet in turn. Pushti Marg seva dresses Shrinathji in fresh vastra for every darshan through the day, so this verse maps closely onto how the deity is adorned and watched change by change.
Venur madhuro renur madhurah panir madhurah padau madhurau
Nrityam madhuram sakhyam madhuram madhuradhipateh akhilam madhuram
वेणुर्मधुरो रेणुर्मधुरः पाणिर्मधुरः पादौ मधुरौ
नृत्यं मधुरं सख्यं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्
Meaning
The flute, the dust his feet stir on the Braj paths, his hand, his feet, his dance and his friendship with the cowherds are all named sweet. It keeps Krishna's pastoral life in Vrindavan present even in temple worship far from the Yamuna, since the Shrinathji image was carried away from Braj centuries ago.
Geetam madhuram peetam madhuram bhuktam madhuram suptam madhuram
Rupam madhuram tilakam madhuram madhuradhipateh akhilam madhuram
गीतं मधुरं पीतं मधुरं भुक्तं मधुरं सुप्तं मधुरम्
रूपं मधुरं तिलकं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्
Meaning
Singing, drinking, eating, sleeping, his form and the tilak on his forehead are each called sweet. The verse sits close to the daily bhog offerings at Nathdwara, where food, rest and adornment are literally what priests present to Shrinathji at fixed hours through the day.
Karanam madhuram taranam madhuram haranam madhuram ramanam madhuram
Vamitam madhuram shamitam madhuram madhuradhipateh akhilam madhuram
करणं मधुरं तरणं मधुरं हरणं मधुरं रमणं मधुरम्
वमितं मधुरं शमितं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्
Meaning
His actions, his crossing over, his taking away, his lovemaking, his casting off and his quieting are all sweet. The verse moves from Krishna's deeds to their effect on a devotee, calming restlessness the way seva calms the mind of anyone who comes for darshan.
Gunja madhura mala madhura yamuna madhura veechi madhura
Salilam madhuram kamalam madhuram madhuradhipateh akhilam madhuram
गुञ्जा मधुरा माला मधुरा यमुना मधुरा वीची मधुरा
सलिलं मधुरं कमलं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्
Meaning
The gunja beads, the garland, the Yamuna, its ripples, its water and the lotus growing in it are all sweet. Nathdwara stands on the banks of the Banas, not the Yamuna, yet this verse keeps devotees tied in memory to the river that shaped Krishna's childhood in Braj.
Gopi madhura leela madhura yuktam madhuram muktam madhuram
Drishtam madhuram shishtam madhuram madhuradhipateh akhilam madhuram
गोपी मधुरा लीला मधुरा युक्तं मधुरं मुक्तं मधुरम्
दृष्टं मधुरं शिष्टं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्
Meaning
The gopis, his play with them, union, parting, his glance and his restraint are each named sweet. It is the most intimate of the eight verses, describing love in its fullness including its distance, and is often sung softly during evening Shringar or Aarti when the mood turns tender.
Gopa madhura gavo madhura yashtir madhura srishtir madhura
Dalitam madhuram phalitam madhuram madhuradhipateh akhilam madhuram
गोपा मधुरा गावो मधुरा यष्टिर्मधुरा सृष्टिर्मधुरा
दलितं मधुरं फलितं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्
Meaning
The cowherds, the cows, his staff, all creation, what is broken and what bears fruit are each called sweet. The closing verse widens outward from Krishna's own body to everything around him, ending the hymn on the idea that once he is seen as sweet, the whole world he touches becomes sweet too.
Meaning of the Shrinathji Stotram
Every one of the eight verses follows the same pattern. A short list of things about Krishna is named, and each one is called madhuram, sweet, before the line closes on the same refrain: everything about the lord of sweetness is sweet. There is no argument being made and no boon being asked for. The hymn simply looks at Krishna, feature by feature, and repeats one word until it becomes the only word left.
Read as the Shrinathji prayer, the verses move from his face and gestures (verses 1-2) to his flute and life among the cowherds (verse 3), his food and rest (verse 4), his effect on those who love him (verse 5), the Yamuna and Braj around him (verse 6), the gopis (verse 7), and finally the whole of creation surrounding him (verse 8). It is less a description of one moment of darshan than a walk through everything darshan is meant to bring to mind.
Vallabhacharya taught that grace, not effort, draws a soul toward Krishna, and Madhurashtakam reads like an illustration of that idea. The devotee is not asked to understand or achieve anything here, only to keep noticing that this is sweet and that is sweet, until affection for Krishna becomes the plain, repeated fact of the poem.
When to Chant the Shrinathji Stotram
- Sit facing your Krishna or Shrinathji image, – with a lit diya if one is kept, and settle the breath before starting.
- Say the verses in order, one through eight, – without skipping any, since the hymn's effect builds through the repetition across all eight.
- Keep the pace unhurried, – madhuram is meant to be lingered on, not rushed past.
- If Devanagari is unfamiliar, read the Roman transliteration aloud first, – then follow along with the Devanagari once the sounds feel steady.
- Pause briefly after each verse, – letting the meaning settle rather than moving straight into the next line.
- Close with the final phrase madhuradhipateh akhilam madhuram – said once more on its own, since it is the line the whole hymn builds toward.
- End with a moment of silent darshan, – looking at the image, or simply sitting with eyes closed before rising.
Benefits of Chanting the Shrinathji Stotram
Devotees who recite Madhurashtakam as the Shrinathji prayer describe it less as a hymn for asking and more as one for looking. The points below explain why Pushti Marg households keep it as a daily practice.
- Steadies the mind before darshan: Repeating one idea, that Krishna is sweet, in eight variations gives the mind a single point to return to instead of wandering during puja.
- Builds affection through routine: Vallabhacharya's Pushti Marg holds that love for Krishna grows through steady daily contact rather than sudden effort, and this short hymn is easy enough to keep as a genuine daily habit.
- Connects home worship to Nathdwara seva: Since it is the actual hymn sung in the haveli, reciting it at home links a personal shrine to the rhythm of temple seva many kilometers away.
- Suits both quick and slow use: Eight verses are short enough for a rushed morning yet dense enough to sit with slowly on a festival day, so the same text serves a five-minute puja and a longer Janmashtami vigil alike.
- Keeps attention on gratitude rather than requests: The hymn contains no plea, wish or complaint, only naming what is already sweet about Krishna, which shifts the mood of prayer from asking to noticing.
- Works well for children learning Sanskrit prayer: The single repeated word, madhuram, and the short, even lines make it one of the easier stotras for a child to memorize.
Origin: Vallabhacharya, Pushti Marg and Shrinathji of Nathdwara
Vallabhacharya (1479-1531) founded the Pushti Marg, the Path of Grace, teaching that a soul reaches Krishna through his grace and through loving daily service rather than through austerity alone. Madhurashtakam is attributed to him and is treated within the tradition as a direct, personal statement of that teaching, eight verses that do nothing but notice sweetness in Krishna.
Shrinathji, the child form of Krishna lifting Govardhan hill, is the central deity of Pushti Marg. The image was moved from Braj to Mewar in the late seventeenth century and eventually settled in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, where it has been served ever since inside a haveli rather than a conventional temple, with a daily cycle of eight darshans mirroring a day in Krishna’s own life in Braj.
Because Madhurashtakam is Vallabhacharya’s own composition, and because its subject, a Krishna whose every feature is sweet, matches how Shrinathji is described and worshipped, it became the hymn most closely tied to Shrinathji seva. That is the basis for calling it the Shrinathji Stotram here, an identification of use and devotion rather than a claim that Vallabhacharya wrote a separate text under that title.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a separate text called the Shrinathji Ashtakam?
No verified standalone Sanskrit hymn by that exact name could be confirmed from independent sources for this page. What is actually sung as the Shrinathji prayer in Pushti Marg seva is the Madhurashtakam of Vallabhacharya, given here in full.
Who wrote the Madhurashtakam?
Vallabhacharya, the fifteenth-century founder of the Pushti Marg and the philosophy of Shuddhadvaita, is credited with composing it. It is one of his best known short works and is treated as a direct expression of Pushti Marg devotion to Krishna.
Why does every line end with the word madhuram?
Madhuram means sweet, and the hymn repeats it deliberately so that by the final verse the word has stopped feeling like a description and started feeling like the only true fact about Krishna, which is the effect the poem is built to produce.
How is this hymn connected to Shrinathji specifically?
Shrinathji is Krishna in the form most closely associated with Pushti Marg worship, and Madhurashtakam is Vallabhacharya's own hymn to that same sweetness, so it is sung as part of the daily seva offered to Shrinathji at Nathdwara and by Pushti Marg households elsewhere.
Can this be recited by anyone, or only initiated Pushti Marg followers?
The verses are open Sanskrit devotional poetry and can be recited by any devotee of Krishna. Formal initiation, brahmasambandha, is a separate Pushti Marg rite and is not required simply to read or chant this hymn.
What is the correct way to pronounce madhuram?
It is said muh-dhu-rum, with a soft dh sound as in the English word the rather than a hard d, and the stress falling evenly rather than on any one syllable.
Is Madhurashtakam suitable for Janmashtami?
Yes. Many households close Janmashtami night, after the midnight birth is marked, with these eight verses, since the hymn's praise of Krishna's sweetness in every form suits the mood of that celebration well.
Does chanting it require any particular ritual?
No special ritual is required. Sitting quietly facing an image of Krishna or Shrinathji and reciting the verses at an unhurried pace, ideally at the same time each day, is the common practice.
॥ श्रीकृष्णः शरणं मम ॥