Nageshwar Stotram

By the BhaktiRas Editorial Team · Updated 16 July 2026

Say the words Nageshwar Stotram to most Shiva devotees and they picture a full hymn built only around this one Jyotirlinga, the way Kashi Vishwanath or Somnath sometimes get their own extended stotras. For Nageshwar, that particular text does not appear to exist in a verifiable, multi-verse form. What genuinely exists, and what this page presents honestly, is the Nageshwar verse embedded inside the larger Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Stotram traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya, along with the naming line from the shorter, widely chanted mnemonic verse that lists all twelve shrines. Both fragments are authentic, both are still recited daily by pilgrims and households across India, and together they carry the full weight of devotion that this page is built to serve.Nageshwar, sometimes written Nagnath or Nageshvara, is counted among the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shiva and is traditionally located at Darukavana, identified with the temple near Dwarka in Gujarat (a rival claim places the original site near Aundha in Maharashtra, and the debate has run for centuries without a settled answer). Nagesha means Lord of Serpents, and the temple is closely tied to protection from poison, fear and hidden harm, themes that carry straight through into the verses below.

Nageshwar Stotram Lyrics (Sanskrit & English)

Meaning & Significance

The Naganatha verse is doing something specific with its words. It does not describe Nageshwar through a long list of attributes the way some other Jyotirlinga verses do; it narrows everything down to one line, sad-bhakti-mukti-pradam, the one who grants both true devotion and final release. That pairing matters. Bhakti is the path, mukti is the destination, and the verse says Nageshwar’s grace covers both ends of the journey at once, not one without the other.

Read together with the naming line from the shorter mnemonic verse, the picture fills out. Nagesha, Lord of Serpents, is placed at Darukavana, the forest of the daruka tree, and that forest setting is not incidental. Serpents in Indian tradition carry both danger and protection in the same image: venom and the power to guard against venom sit in the same creature. A temple named for the Lord of Serpents, standing in a forest named for the daruka tree, is remembered above all as a shield against poison, fear, and the hidden harm that a snake symbolizes across so much of Indian folklore and scripture.

The phalashruti then widens the frame one more time. It does not promise anything unique to Nageshwar; it promises the same washing-away of old sin to anyone who remembers any or all of the twelve Jyotirlingas, morning or evening. Reciting the Nageshwar lines is, in that sense, also a way of joining the larger circle of the twelve, not a separate practice standing apart from it.

How to Chant the Nageshwar Stotram

1. Sit facing east or north – Settle in a clean, quiet spot, ideally before a Shiva lingam or an image of Shiva, and sit with the spine upright.
2. Light a diya and offer water – A simple oil lamp and a few drops of water offered to Shiva is enough; elaborate ritual is not required.
3. Recite the Naganatha verse slowly – Say the verse once with attention to each word rather than rushing through it; the meaning lands better at a slower pace.
4. Add the naming line and phalashruti – Follow with the Setubandhe/Nagesham line and close with the phalashruti verse to complete the remembrance.
5. Sit in silence briefly – A minute of quiet after the recitation lets the words settle before returning to the day's tasks.
6. Repeat on Mondays or during Shravan – Regular repetition, especially on Mondays and through Shravan, is the traditional pattern rather than a one-time recitation.

What Are the Benefits of Chanting?

Devotees who chant the Nageshwar verses describe the practice less as a request for favours and more as a way of steadying the mind before facing something that frightens them.

• Protection from fear: The Lord of Serpents association is read as a guard against fear itself, not only literal snakebite, since fear is often described in Indian tradition through the image of a hidden snake.
• Freedom from poison and harm: Traditional belief holds that sincere recitation shields the devotee from poison in its many forms, physical, verbal, or circumstantial.
• Support on the path to liberation: The verse's own words, sad-bhakti-mukti-pradam, tie the practice directly to spiritual progress rather than only worldly relief.
• A sense of being held: Regular chanters often describe a settling effect, a feeling of being accompanied rather than alone when facing a hard decision or a health worry.
• Connection to the wider Jyotirlinga circle: Because the verses sit inside the larger twelve-Jyotirlinga stotram, chanting them also links the devotee's practice to pilgrimage traditions spanning the length of India.
• A simple daily discipline: At under two minutes, the practice is short enough to sustain daily, which matters more for lasting benefit than any single elaborate recitation.

Who Composed This Stotram?

The verses on this page trace back to two different, well-attested strands of the same tradition rather than one single authored work. The elaborate Naganatha verse belongs to the Dwadasha Jyotirlinga Stotram, a Sanskrit hymn traditionally attributed to Adi Shankaracharya that takes up each of the twelve Jyotirlingas in turn, giving Nageshwar one full verse describing the place and the boon it grants. The shorter naming line, Setubandhe tu Ramesham, Nagesham Darukavane, comes from a separate and even more widely known mnemonic verse, the one that begins Saurashtre Somanatham cha, which most households recite as a simple way of remembering where all twelve Jyotirlingas stand.

Both texts have been chanted for generations, are still printed side by side in most stotra collections, and are treated as complementary rather than competing. Neither claims to be a dedicated, stand-alone hymn to Nageshwar with many original verses of its own, and this page does not pretend otherwise. What it offers is the authentic Nageshwar material from both established sources, presented together with an honest note on what it is and is not.

Frequently Asked Questions

॥ ॐ नमः शिवाय ॥