Totakashtakam

Totakashtakam

विदिताखिलशास्त्रसुधाजलधे
महितोपनिषत् कथितार्थनिधे ।
हृदये कलये विमलं चरणं
भव शंकर देशिक मे शरणम् ॥ १॥

viditākhilaśāstrasudhājaladhe
mahitopaniṣat kathitārthanidhe .
hṛdaye kalaye vimalaṃ caraṇaṃ
bhava śaṃkara deśika me śaraṇam .. 1..

O thou, the knower of all the milk-Ocean of scriptures! The expounder of the topics of the great Upanisadic treasure-trove! On thy faultless feet I meditate in my heart. Be thou my refuge O master, Sankara.

करुणावरुणालय पालय मां
भवसागरदुःखविदूनहृदम् ।
रचयाखिलदर्शनतत्त्वविदं
भव शंकर देशिक मे शरणम् ॥ २॥

karuṇāvaruṇālaya pālaya māṃ
bhavasāgaraduḥkhavidūnahṛdam .
racayākhiladarśanatattvavidaṃ
bhava śaṃkara deśika me śaraṇam .. 2..

O the Ocean of compassion! Save me whose heart is tormented by the misery of the sea of birth! Make me understand the truths of all the schools of philosophy! Be thou my refuge, O master, Sañkara.

भवता जनता सुहिता भविता
निजबोधविचारण चारुमते ।
कलयेश्वरजीवविवेकविदं
भव शंकर देशिक मे शरणम् ॥ ३॥

bhavatā janatā suhitā bhavitā
nijabodhavicāraṇa cārumate .
kalayeśvarajīvavivekavidaṃ
bhava śaṃkara deśika me śaraṇam .. 3..

By thee the masses have been made happy, O thou who hast a noble intellect, skilled in the inquiry into self-knowledge! Enable me to understand the wisdom relating to god and the soul. Be thou my refuge, O master, Sañkara.

भव एव भवानिति मे नितरां
समजायत चेतसि कौतुकिता ।
मम वारय मोहमहाजलधिं
भव शंकर देशिक मे शरणम् ॥ ४॥

bhava eva bhavāniti me nitarāṃ
samajāyata cetasi kautukitā .
mama vāraya mohamahājaladhiṃ
bhava śaṃkara deśika me śaraṇam .. 4..

Knowing that thou art verily the supreme lord, there arises overwhelming bliss in my heart. Protect me from the vast ocean of delusion. Be thou my refuge, O master, Sankara.

सुकृतेऽधिकृते बहुधा भवतो
भविता समदर्शनलालसता ।
अतिदीनमिमं परिपालय मां
भव शंकर देशिक मे शरणम् ॥ ५॥

sukṛte’dhikṛte bahudhā bhavato
bhavitā samadarśanalālasatā .
atidīnamimaṃ paripālaya māṃ
bhava śaṃkara deśika me śaraṇam .. 5..

Desire for the insight into unity through thee will spring only when virtuous deeds are performed in abundance and in various directions. Protect this extremely helpless person. Be thou my refuge, O master, Sañkara.

जगतीमवितुं कलिताकृतयो
विचरन्ति महामहसश्छलतः ।
अहिमांशुरिवात्र विभासि गुरो
भव शंकर देशिक मे शरणम् ॥ ६॥

jagatīmavituṃ kalitākṛtayo
vicaranti mahāmahasaśchalataḥ .
ahimāṃśurivātra vibhāsi guro
bhava śaṃkara deśika me śaraṇam .. 6..

O teacher! For saving the world the great assume various forms and wander in disguise. Of them, thou shinest like the sun. Be thou my refuge, O master, Sañkara.

गुरुपुंगव पुंगवकेतन ते
समतामयतां नहि कोऽपि सुधीः ।
शरणागतवत्सल तत्त्वनिधे
भव शंकर देशिक मे शरणम् ॥ ७॥

gurupuṃgava puṃgavaketana te
samatāmayatāṃ nahi ko’pi sudhīḥ .
śaraṇāgatavatsala tattvanidhe
bhava śaṃkara deśika me śaraṇam .. 7..

O the best of teachers! The Supreme lord having the bull as banner! None of the wise is equal to thee! Thou who art compassionate to those who have taken refuge! The treasure-trove of truth! Be thou my refuge, O master Sankara.

विदिता न मया विशदैककला
न च किंचन काञ्चनमस्ति गुरो ।
द्रुतमेव विधेहि कृपां सहजां
भव शंकर देशिक मे शरणम् ॥ ८॥

viditā na mayā viśadaikakalā
na ca kiṃcana kāñcanamasti guro .
drutameva vidhehi kṛpāṃ sahajāṃ
bhava śaṃkara deśika me śaraṇam .. 8..

Not even a single branch of knowledge has been understood by me correctly. Not even the least wealth do I possess, O teacher. Bestow on me quickly thy natural grace. Be thou my refuge, O master Sañkara.

Description

The Toṭakāṣṭakam was composed by Giri (an enlightened disciple) in praise of his Guru Adi Sankara. Literally, it means a rhyme of eight (Sanskrit: aṣṭa) verses (ślokas) composed by Toṭaka. The poem’s meter is anapestic tetrameter, with four feet of unstressed-unstressed-stressed syllables (laghu-laghu-guru characters) per line, and four lines per stanza.This work is called Thōtakāshtakam because it consists of eight verses (ashtakam) and it is written by Thōtakachārya, one of the famous disciples of Adi Sankaracharya. Thōtakacharya is given as an ideal example for a disciple who gets everything merely by the grace of the teacher. According to the story, Thōtakachārya was a very dull disciple of Sankaracharya. The other disciples like Padmapada, Sureshwara, Hasthāmalaka etc were great in scholarship. It seems that they looked down upon Thōtakacharya because he could not grasp the Shastras well.

Per the Mādhavīya Śankaravijayam, when Adi Shankara was at Sringeri, he met a boy named Giri. Adi Shankara accepted the boy as his disciple. Giri was a hard-working and loyal servant of his Guru, Adi Shankara, though he did not appear bright to the other disciples. One day, Giri was washing his Guru’s clothes, when Adi Shankara sat down to begin a lesson on Advaita Vedanta. He however did not start the lesson saying he was waiting for Giri to come back from his chores. At this, another shishya, Padmapada pointed to a wall and said that teaching Giri would be the same as teaching this wall (a dumb object).

It seems that Sankaracharya wanted to humble them and also Sankaracharya was pleased with the devotion of Giri who was serving him. Sankaracharya did not say anything but kept waiting. Then the disciple came bringing the clothes and drying them. At that time, he was singing this song glorifying the greatness of his teacher Sankara. They thought Giri was an illiterate person not knowing Sanskrit and incapable of composing anything. Hearing this, all other disciples were wonderstruck. By mere Sankalpa, it is said that Sankaracharya gave all knowledge to him. This verse happens to be in a special Sanskrit metre known as Thōtaka Vruttam. So this particular metre is called Thōtaka metre. Thus Giri got the name Thōtakachary, after the metre.

His Pūrvāshrama name was something else and he got the name Thōtaka after this metre. Therefore, this work is called Thōtakāshtakam due to two reasons. One reason is that it is in Thōtakä metre and the other reason being that it is composed by Thōtakacharya.

Thōtakacharya has not written many works or many are not available for us. There is another work by Thōtaka. It is an advanced treatise on Vēdanta known as Shruti Sara Samuddharanam which literally means extracting the essence of the Vedas.

It is a work consisting of 174 or 178 verses in which Thōtakā analyzes the Mahāvākyam ‘Tatvamasi‘ and he establishes Jīvātma Paramātma Aikyam logically and he refutes all other systems of philosophy. This Shruti Sära Samuddharanam also is in Thōtaka metre. At the end of Shruti Sara Samuddharanam work, there is a Mangala Sloka on Lord Vishnu. That Mangala Sloka alone is the famous Dhyana Slöka used in Vishnu Sahasra Nama which is ‘bhooh padau yasya nābhirviyadasuranilash chandra suryau cha netre‘. This is also in the same metre.

In this composition, we do not find Vedāntic teaching here, but it is the glorification of his Guru Adi Sankara. This is the background of this work. And in all the eight verses, the fourth line is the same which is bhava sankara dēsika mē saranam

Dēsikaha means Acharyaha. A guru is called Desikaha. Shastra Tatvam Upadishati iti dēsikaha. The one who teaches the Shastram, the one who imparts the Shastric knowledge is called desika or Acharyaha. So Sankara dēsika means Sankaracharya.

Sankaracharya got the name because he did Mangalam, he did good to the entire world or the society. The word ‘Sam‘ means Mangalam, ‘Karaha’ means the one who brings about. Therefore, ‘Samkaraha‘ means Mangalakarta. Mangalakari is meaning of the word Sankara. The word Sankara originally belongs to Lord Shiva.

Since Sankaracharya is considered to be the incarnation of Lord Shiva, the Acharya also got this name ‘Sankara’.
Sankaram Sankaracharyam Keshavam Badarāyanam

Vyasacharya is supposed to be an incarnation Vishnu and Sankara is supposed to be an incarnation of Shiva.

Therefore, here Thōtakā addresses Sankaracharya, Shankara Desika, or Bhagavan Sankaracharya. Mē Saranam Bhava – May you become my refuge, my shelter, my savior. This is at the end of every verse.

Excerpt from ‘Thotakashtakam explanation by Swami Paramarthananda.’

Siva Aparadha Ksamapana Stotram

Totakashtakam – Devotion, Guru Bhakti, and Spiritual Wisdom