The Śrī Rāma Bhujanga Prayāta Stotram, traditionally attributed to Ādi Śaṅkarācārya, offers a remarkable journey through the language of sacred praise. It begins with the highest metaphysical vocabulary—Para, Sat-Cit-Ānanda, Tāraka-Brahman, Vedavedya, Puruṣottama—and gradually expands into an immense constellation of names, attributes, relationships, cosmic functions, and divine forms.
Yet beneath this expanding vocabulary remains a single subject: Rāma.
This becomes especially significant when the stotra is read alongside the foundational declaration of the Amogha Stuti in the Ādikāvya:
परमाख्यं परं यच्च त्वमेव परिगीयसे ।
Whatever is designated as the supreme, whatever is Para, and whatever lies beyond even Para—You alone are being sung.
The phrase त्वमेव परिगीयसे therefore gives us a powerful way to understand the expanding language of later sacred praise. Names may multiply. Narratives may multiply. Scriptures may multiply. But the subject of the praise need not multiply.
1. The Bhujanga Prayāta Begins with Para
The very first verse of the stotra places Rāma within the vocabulary of the supreme:
विशुद्धं परं सच्चिदानंदरूपं
गुणाधारमाधारहीनं वरेण्यम् ।
महांतं विभांतं गुहांतं गुणांतं
सुखांतं स्वयं धाम रामं प्रपद्ये ॥ १ ॥
The opening movement is already metaphysical.
Rāma is described as:
- परम् — the supreme;
- सच्चिदानंदरूपम् — of the nature of existence, consciousness, and bliss;
- गुणाधारम् — the support of qualities;
- आधारहीनम् — Himself without another support;
- महान्तम् — the Great;
- विभान्तम् — the Radiant;
- गुहान्तम् — the One dwelling in the innermost space;
- गुणान्तम् — the culmination or end of qualities;
- सुखान्तम् — the culmination of bliss;
- स्वयं धाम — the self-luminous abode.
The important point is that the hymn does not begin with a merely historical Rāma and then abandon Him in order to reach an abstract Absolute.
It begins with Rāma Himself as Para.
2. One Rāma, Many Superlatives
शिवं नित्यमेकं विभुं तारकाख्यं
सुखाकारमाकारशून्यं सुमान्यम् ।
महेशं कलेशं सुरेशं परेशं
नरेशं निरीशं महीशं प्रपद्ये ॥ २ ॥
The vocabulary now expands.
Rāma is called Śiva, Nitya, Eka, Vibhu, and Tārakākhya. He is Maheśa, Sureśa, Pareśa, Nareśa, Nurīśa, and Mahīśa.
Notice the range.
The same subject is approached through transcendental, cosmic, and human language.
नरेशम् places Rāma in the language of earthly sovereignty.
परेशम् places Him in the language of supreme lordship.
निरीशम् goes further still: He has no superior.
The names do not create different ultimate subjects. They create an expanding field of designation around the same subject.
3. From Rāma-Nāma to Tāraka-Brahman
यदावर्णयत्कर्णमूलेऽंतकाले
शिवो राम रामेति रामेति काश्याम् ।
तदेकं परं तारकब्रह्मरूपं
भजेऽहं भजेऽहं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥ ३ ॥
The name Rāma is now connected with Tāraka-Brahman.
The movement is significant:
Rāma → Rāma-nāma → Tāraka → Tāraka-Brahman.
The personal name does not have to be discarded in order to reach the highest metaphysical designation.
The name itself becomes the vehicle of the highest designation.
4. The Formless and the Form Are Not Separated
महारत्नपीठे शुभे कल्पमूले
सुखासीनमादित्यकोटिप्रकाशम् ।
सदा जानकीलक्ष्मणोपेतमेकं
सदा रामचंद्रं भजेऽहं भजेऽहम् ॥ ४ ॥
Immediately after the language of Tāraka-Brahman, the stotra gives us an unmistakably personal Rāma.
Rāma is seated upon the jeweled throne beneath the wish-fulfilling tree, accompanied by Jānakī and Lakṣmaṇa.
This is one of the central characteristics of the Ram Rahasya perspective:
The metaphysical Rāma and the personal Rāmacandra are not required to become two different subjects.
The Para of the opening verse remains Rāmacandra.
5. The Expansion of the Sacred Vocabulary
The subsequent verses continue this extraordinary expansion.
Rāma is worshipped by Brahmā and Rudra. He is the refuge of devotees. He is the protector who manifests His divine form at the moment of danger. He is served by Lakṣmaṇa, Hanumān, Sugrīva, and countless devotees.
Then comes one of the clearest declarations:
त्वमेवासि दैवं परं मे यदेकं
सुचैतन्यमेतत्त्वदन्यं न मन्ये ।
यतोऽभूदमेयं वियद्वायुतेजो
जलोर्व्यादिकार्यं चरं चाचरं च ॥ ११ ॥
Here we encounter त्वमेव directly.
त्वमेवासि दैवं परं मे यदेकम् — You alone are my supreme deity, the One.
The statement is followed by the assertion that from this One arise the immeasurable manifestations of space, air, fire, water, earth, and everything moving and unmoving.
The language has therefore moved from the personal to the cosmic without abandoning the subject.
6. Rāma as Vedavedya and the Lord of the Universe
नमो भक्तियुक्तानुरक्ताय तुभ्यं
नमः पुण्यपुंजैकलभ्याय तुभ्यम् ।
नमो वेदवेद्याय चाद्याय पुंसे
नमः सुंदरायेंदिरावल्लभाय ॥ १३ ॥
Rāma is now Vedavedya—the One known through the Veda.
He is Ādya, the primordial One.
He is Pumān, the primordial Person.
And He remains Sundara, the beloved of Indirā.
The vocabulary of metaphysics and the vocabulary of divine relationship coexist within the same subject.
Then the hymn expands further:
नमो विश्वकर्त्रे नमो विश्वहर्त्रे
नमो विश्वभोक्त्रे नमो विश्वमात्रे ।
नमो विश्वनेत्रे नमो विश्वजेत्रे
नमो विश्वपित्रे नमो विश्वमात्रे ॥ १४ ॥
Rāma is addressed as:
- विश्वकर्ता — creator of the universe;
- विश्वहर्ता — dissolver of the universe;
- विश्वभोक्ता — experiencer of the universe;
- विश्वनेत्र — guide or eye of the universe;
- विश्वजेता — conqueror of the universe;
- विश्वपिता — father of the universe.
The universe itself becomes a vocabulary of praise.
7. The Superlative Does Not Exhaust the Subject
This is where the structure of the stotra becomes especially important.
A conventional reading can treat every name separately:
Rāma is this.
Rāma is that.
Rāma performs this function.
Rāma possesses this attribute.
But the cumulative structure reveals something more profound.
The hymn repeatedly approaches Rāma through superlatives and totalizing designations:
- परम्
- एकम्
- विभुम्
- परेशम्
- निरीशम्
- तारकब्रह्मरूपम्
- वेदवेद्यम्
- विश्वकर्तृ
- विश्वहर्तृ
- पुरुषोत्तमम्
- परम्
Yet no individual designation exhausts the subject.
The more the hymn says, the more apparent it becomes that the Subject exceeds every individual name.
This is precisely the point at which the Ādikāvya gives us the deeper principle.
8. The Ādikāvya and त्वमेव परिगीयसे
In the Amogha Stuti, Brahmā first presents an extraordinary cascade of divine designations:
भवान् नारायणो देवः श्रीमांश्चक्रायुधः प्रभुः ।
Then:
अक्षरं ब्रह्म सत्यं च …
Then:
शार्ङ्गधन्वा हृषीकेशः पुरुषः पुरुषोत्तमः ।
Then:
विष्णुः … कृष्णश्चैव बृहद्बलः ॥
And then:
त्वं यज्ञस्त्वं वषट्कारः त्वमोङ्कारः परात्परः ॥
The vocabulary keeps rising.
And then comes the crucial transition:
यत् परं श्रूयते ज्योतिर्यत् परं श्रूयते तमः ।
यत् परं परतश्चैव परमात्मेति कथ्यसे ॥ २७ ॥
There is Para.
And then there is परतः—that which lies beyond Para.
The movement does not terminate with the highest designation already reached.
It goes beyond it.
Then comes:
परमाख्यं परं यच्च त्वमेव परिगीयसे ॥ २८ ॥
This is the key to the entire architecture of sacred praise.
परमाख्यम् — whatever is designated as supreme.
परम् — whatever is Para.
यच्च — and whatever that may be.
And even beyond that:
त्वमेव परिगीयसे.
You alone are being sung.
9. What Does परिगीयसे Do?
The verbal form परिगीयसे is especially significant.
The statement is not framed as a simple declaration that “You were once sung.”
The verb expresses the ongoing act of being sung or celebrated.
The field is therefore open:
what has been sung, what is being sung, and what may be sung.
The names can continue to expand.
The narratives can continue to expand.
The scriptures can continue to expand.
But the declaration remains:
त्वमेव परिगीयसे
You alone are being sung.
10. The Bhujanga Prayāta as an Illustration of त्वमेव परिगीयसे
Now the Bhujanga Prayāta becomes especially illuminating.
Consider the extraordinary sequence:
हरे राम सीतापते रावणारे
खरारे मुरारेऽसुरारे परेति ।
लपंतं नयंतं सदाकालमेवं
समालोकयालोकयाशेषबंधो ॥ २६ ॥
The names accumulate:
Rāma.
Sītāpati.
Rāvaṇāri.
Kharāri.
Murāri.
Asurāri.
Para.
The vocabulary moves across different narrative and theological registers.
Yet the hymn continues to address the same subject.
This is precisely the phenomenon that त्वमेव परिगीयसे makes visible.
The names multiply.
The subject does not.
11. The Name Kṛṣṇa Within the Expanding Vocabulary
The same principle helps us approach the appearance of the name Kṛṣṇa in later sacred literature.
Even the Amogha Stuti itself includes:
कृष्णश्चैव बृहद्बलः ॥
The name therefore already appears within the cascade of designations through which Rāma is praised.
It is immediately important not to isolate that name from the sequence in which it occurs.
The text first multiplies the designations.
It then reaches the superlatives.
It then moves beyond Para.
And finally:
त्वमेव परिगीयसे
The later appearance of an ākhyāna centered upon Kṛṣṇa can therefore be contemplated within this larger architecture of sacred naming: a new narrative can expand the vocabulary of divine praise without requiring that the ultimate Subject of the sacred song be multiplied.
12. The Ākhyānas May Multiply
This distinction is essential.
The sacred tradition can generate innumerable ākhyānas—narratives, accounts, tellings, and retellings.
Each narrative may develop its own setting, characters, names, relationships, and modes of revelation.
But the Ādikāvya has already given us a principle for understanding this expansion:
परमाख्यं परं यच्च त्वमेव परिगीयसे ॥
The ākhyāna can change.
The name can change.
The narrative emphasis can change.
The language can change.
The theological vocabulary can expand.
Yet the Subject of the sacred song remains the invariant.
13. From the Ādikāvya to the Expanding Sacred Tradition
This is why the significance of त्वमेव परिगीयसे should not be confined to one later stotra.
The Ādikāvya establishes the foundational field of sacred narrative and praise.
From that field, the literary and scriptural tradition expands:
Ādikāvya → Kāvyabīja → Śāstra → Itihāsa → Purāṇa → Stotra → Nāma → Bhakti.
New narratives appear.
New names appear.
New forms of divine expression appear.
But the foundational question remains:
Who is being sung?
The answer supplied by the declaration is:
त्वम् एव
You alone.
14. The Final Verse of the Bhujanga Prayāta
The stotra closes with another remarkable use of परम्:
भुजंगप्रयातं परं वेदसारं
मुदा रामचंद्रस्य भक्त्या च नित्यम् ।
पठन्संततं चिंतयन्स्वांतरंगे
स एव स्वयं रामचंद्रः स धन्यः ॥ २९ ॥
The hymn calls itself:
परं वेदसारम् — the supreme essence of the Veda.
Once again, the language reaches for the highest designation.
But the subject remains explicitly:
रामचंद्रस्य.
The entire movement therefore comes full circle:
Veda → Vedānta → Para → sacred names → praise → Rāma → contemplation → Rāma.
15. The Architecture of Sacred Sound
We can now see the deeper relationship between the Amogha Stuti and the Bhujanga Prayāta Stotram.
The Ādikāvya gives the principle:
परमाख्यं परं यच्च त्वमेव परिगीयसे ।
The later stotra demonstrates the operation of that principle through an expanding vocabulary of sacred praise.
The subject may be approached as:
- Rāma
- Rāmacandra
- Sītāpati
- Viṣṇu
- Nārāyaṇa
- Kṛṣṇa
- Puruṣottama
- Tārakabrahman
- Vedavedya
- Viśvakartṛ
- Viśvahartṛ
- Para
But these designations do not have to be understood as competing ultimate subjects.
They can be understood as different openings through which the same Subject is praised.
16. त्वमेव परिगीयसे: The Invariant Behind the Expansion
This is the deeper Ram Rahasya insight.
The names may multiply.
The ākhyānas may multiply.
The scriptures may multiply.
The languages of praise may multiply.
But sacred language continually points beyond itself toward the One whom it is attempting to praise.
The Amogha Stuti therefore does something extraordinary.
It does not merely provide another name for Rāma.
It gives us a principle governing the multiplication of names itself.
परमाख्यं परं यच्च त्वमेव परिगीयसे ॥
Whatever is designated as Paramākhyam.
Whatever is Para.
Whatever lies beyond Para.
त्वमेव परिगीयसे.
You alone are being sung.
Conclusion: When Every Sacred Name Returns to the Subject
The Śrī Rāma Bhujanga Prayāta Stotram is therefore more than a devotional hymn containing many names of Rāma.
It is a remarkable example of how sacred praise expands.
It begins with Para.
It moves through Sat-Cit-Ānanda, Tāraka-Brahman, Vedavedya, Puruṣottama, Viśvakartṛ, Viśvahartṛ, and countless other designations.
It reaches even the language of Para.
Yet it never loses the Subject.
And that is precisely what makes the ancient declaration so powerful:
परमाख्यं परं यच्च त्वमेव परिगीयसे ॥
Whatever the sacred tradition calls supreme, whatever it calls Para, whatever it places beyond Para—
त्वमेव परिगीयसे.
You alone are being sung.
The names may change.
The narratives may expand.
The scriptures may become innumerable.
But the Subject remains the invariant.
That is the architecture of sacred sound.
That is the deeper resonance of त्वमेव परिगीयसे.
जय श्री राम
रामनाम ही आधार है। रामकथा ही विस्तार है। और उस समस्त विस्तार में—त्वमेव परिगीयसे।
Complete text: The complete
Śrī Rāma Bhujaṅga Prayāta Stotram
may be read here.