This brochure contains the essence of true Vaishnavism as revealed in the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Geeta, the Bhagavata etc., and their teachings put into practice by Shri Chaitanya Deva.

A devout Hindu believes that if he reads Ramayana (The story of Rama) daily, he would be nearing God. He also would like to meditate on the name 'Rama', so that all his sins are washed off. Nama Ramayana is the story of Rama written for this purpose. Apart from condensing the story, it helps the devotees to meditate on the different sterling aspects of Rama. Here is a translation in English to help the devotees to do just that.

Adi Sankara Bhagavatpada was born at Kalady in Kerala in a Namboodiri Family. His mother was Aryamba and his father died very early. When he wanted to take up sanyasa very much against the will of her mother, she finally agreed with a condition, that He should be present near her death bed and also he should perform the obsequies. Sankara agreed for this and took up Sanyasa. When he was at Sringeri, he realized that his mother was nearing death and by the power given to him by God reached there immediately. He was near his mother at the time of her death and also performed the funeral ceremonies. It was at this time he wrote this five slokas which came out deep from his mind.

Mahalakshmi, who is the consort of Vishnu is worshipped as goddess of wealth by the Hindus. In the beginning of creation she took form from the left side of Vishnu and was later born again from the sea of milk, when the devas churned it for getting nectar. She resides on the chest of Maha Vishnu as 'Sri Vatsa'. It was she who took birth as Seetha and Rukmani. This very simple prayer is very ancient and has been chanted by generations for solving all their problems.

asya indrakshi stotra maha mandrasya sasi purandara rishi anushtup chanda indrakshi durga devatha lakshmi beejam bhuvaneswari shakthi bhavani keelagam mama indrakshi prasad sidhyarthe jape viniyoga

This Indrakshi stotram was made known to the world by Purandara Rishi, has been written in Anushtup meter. The presiding deity for the stotra is Indrakshi Durga. The kernel of the chant is Lakshmi, the strength behing the Manthra is Bhuvaneswari and its axis is Bhavani. I am chanting this manthra to get the blessings of Indrakshi.

Here is the translation of another garland of prayers to Sri Hanuman. Please note that this contains most of the slokas listed under Anjaneya stotra which is translated separately.

Guha is another name of Lord Subramanya. Chanting of this five stanza poem is supposed to bring wealth, cure diseases and lead to a happy and prosperous life.

Among the stotras addressed to the mother Goddess Durga, the greatest is perhaps the Devi Mahatmya which is also known as Chandi. This book recounts the story of Durga in her several incarnations. First she came to kill the Asuras Madhu and Kaidabha at the request of Brahma, then she came to kill the terrible Mahishasura as a result of prayers of all devas and again came to Kill the Rakshasas Shumbha and Nishumbha along with their armies. Since reading Devi mahatmya daily needs a lot of time, this stotra summarizes the stories recounted in Devi Mahatmya in the form of an octet. It is believed reading this stotra daily will give the devotee the same effect as reading Devi Mahatmya.

Hindus worship Dattatreya a god in the form of a combination of the great trinity consisting of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. He took this form due to Anasuya, the wife of sage Athri. One story tells that Narada poisoned the minds of Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvathy and told them that Anasuya is much greater than them. Incensed by this they sent their lords to Anasuya, who went and requested her to give them alms without wearing any cloths. She made them into babies and combined them into one. This God was Dattatreya. Another story tells of the trinity being forced to approach Anasuya to save the world from the curse of Nalayani. She did this but asked them to become her babies. These babies were Dattatreya (Vishnu), Durvasa (Shiva) and Chandra (Brahma). Once in a hurry when all these babies were crying together, she took them together and they became one. There is a small sect of Hindus called data-panthis in Karnalaka and Maharashtra who worship only Lord Dattatreya. He is picturised as doing meditation along with four Vedas in the form dogs following him.

This great book was written and published in 1991 by the author with devotion so that the devotees going to the annual pilgrimage to Sabari mala can sing the story and fame our Lord on their way to the sannidhanam. He has dedicated the book to Thakkad Sastha. The first six verses though written in Malayalam are full of tough Sanskrit words And the rest of the stotra in mellifluous Malayalam. The transliteration is given in English with a full realization that English script is very inadequate to picturise the difficult Malayalam script.

These prayer gems addressed to Annapurneswari, the queen mother of Varanasi is one of the greatest stotras in existence. Chanting or singing this will help one to achieve all ambitions.

Sri Hanuman, the vanara-devotee of Rama, though never mentioned anywhere in puranas or other holy books as God, is worshipped as though he is God himself. He is the son of Kesari and Anjana. But he is more known as the son of Vayu - the wind god. There are also references that say that he is the son of Lord Shiva himself. People throughout the length and breadth of India worship him with great devotion. Here is a small collection of stotras about Sri Hanuman.

This prayer is possibly the greatest one addressed to the Sun and occurs in Yudha Kanda of Ramayana. Lord Rama after ceaseless battle with Ravana is not able to kill him and is perplexed. At that time the devas who have assembled in the sky advice him to ask the advice from Sage Agasthya and he does it. Sage Agasthya teaches him about this great prayer and Lord Rama subsequently was able to kill Ravana.

achyuthachutha, hare  paramathman,
rama krishna purushottama vishno,
vasudeva  bhagawan aniruddha,
sree pathe ! samaya dhukka masesham

That Hari who is the soul of soul,
Who has no death,
Who causes death at time of deluge,
Who is Rama and Krisna rolled in one,
Who is the greatest among males,
Who is the God of all the world,
Who never can be stopped,
And who is the lord of Goddess Lakshmi,
Be pleased to destroy all my sorrows.

Abhirami is the Goddess of Thirukadayur near Mayiladuthurai town of Tamil Nadu. The Lord Shiva who presides over the temple is called Amritha Gateswarar. It is believed that while transporting the Nectar (Amritha) which they got by churning the ocean of milk, the Devas kept a pot of Amritha in Thirukadayur. This pot became one with the land and became the siva linga. It is also believed that it is at this temple that the Sage Markandeya prayed Lord Shiva and could avoid death forever.

Taking shelter at the lotus feet of the pure devotees of the  Lord with respectful obeisances, I now will begin the brief  explanation of Navadvipa dhama and its glories.  The sacred land  of Navadvipa Mandala possesses unlimited transcendental glories  which even great demigods like Lord Brahma, Shiva and others  cannot fully comprehend.

All glories to this Personality of Godhead known as the son of Srimati Devakidevi! All glories to Lord Sri Krishna, the brilliant light of the Vrishni dynasty! All glories to the Personality of Godhead, the hue of whose soft body resembles the blackish color of a new cloud! All glories to Lord Mukunda, who removes the burdens of the earth!

Meditating on the lotus feet of Sri Sri Radha-Muralimanohara, placing myself at the dust of Lord Caitanya's feet, and respectfully offering obeisances to the great devotees of the Lord, who are so many oceans of transcendental virtue. I shall now happily begin to praise the transcendental opulences of Sri Vrindavan.

Brihaspati said: Long ago there was a brahmana named Heli, in the beautiful city Pampapura. He was a worshipper of the sun-god and he knew the 64 arts. He avoided the mood of accepting dakshina (donations) and he became an artist, having established a workshop for clothes, paintings, pictures, metal statues etc. He spent five thousand coins to establish it.

Brihaspati said: Long ago, during the age of treta, O Indra, there was a brahmana named Shakrasharma, in Ayodhya. He worshipped demigods such as the Asvini Kumaras, Rudras, Vasus, and Surya with the mantras mentioned in the Yajur-veda. After worshipping, he satisfied them by offering oblations every day.