Bhaktamara Stotra

Bhaktamara Stotra
Mantunga Acharya Shrine, at Bhojpur, Madhya Pradesh
Information
Religion	Jainism
Author	Manatunga
Language	Sanskrit
Period	7th century CE
Verses	48

Bhaktamara Stotra is a famous Jain Sanskrit prayer. It was composed by Acharya Manatunga (seventh century CE). The name Bhaktamara comes from a combination of two sanskrit names, "Bhakta" (Devotee) and "Amar" (Immortal).

The prayer praises Rishabhanatha (Adinath), the first Tirthankara of Jainism. There are forty-eight verses in total. The last verse gives the name of the author Manatunga.

Bhaktamar verses have been recited as a stotra (prayer), and sung as a stavan (hymn), somewhat interchangeably. Other Jain prayers have taken after these (such as the Kalyānamandira stotra, devoted to the twenty-third tirthankara, and the Svayambhu stotra, to all twenty-four); additional verses here praise the omniscience of Adinatha, while devotionals are considered a source for lay understandings of Jain doctrine.

According to legends, the Jain monk Manatunga was chained and imprisoned by the local King Bhoja. The shasandevi yakshi Chakreshvari of Bhagwan Adinath appeared before Acharya Manatunga and inspired him to praise the first tirthankar Adinath. Mantungacharya composed this stotra (hymn) in the prison. With the completion of each verse, a chain broke, or a door opened. Manatunga was free when all the verses were finished.

Legends associate Manatunga with a ruler named Bhoja. However Manatunga probably lived a few centuries before Raja Bhoja of Dhara. He is identified by some scholars as Kshapanaka, one of the Navaratnas in the court of legendary Vikramaditya. An unidentified Sanskrit poet Matanga, composer of "Brahaddeshi" on music theory, may also have been the same person. Bhaktamara stotra was composed sometime in the Gupta or the post-Gupta period, making Manatunga approximately contemporary with other navaratnas like Kalidasa and Varahamihira. Several spots near Bhopal and Dhar are traditionally associated with Manatunga.