{{Short description|Hindu work of literature}} {{Infobox religious text|religion=Hinduism|author=Yamunacharya|language=Sanskrit|caption=Rajput painting of Vishnu upon Garuda.|image=File:8b Vishnu Carried by Garuda Through a Stormy Sky 1775 Kotah Bequest of Mrs. Horace W. Frost.jpg|verses=65|name=''Stotra Ratna''}}{{Italic title}} The '''''Stotra Ratna''''' ({{Langx|sa|स्तोत्ररत्नम्|translit=Stotraratnam}}), also rendered the '''''Alavandarstotra''''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Chandradhar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y3gQVd5WogsC&pg=PA401 |title=A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy |date=2000 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0365-7 |pages=401 |language=en}}</ref> is a Sanskrit work of Hindu literature written by the Sri Vaishnava philosopher Yamunacharya.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pintchman |first1=T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8boWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA179 |title=Woman and Goddess in Hinduism: Reinterpretations and Re-envisionings |last2=Sherma |first2=R. |date=2011-08-29 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-0-230-11992-5 |pages=179 |language=en}}</ref> The hymn consists of sixty-five stanzas that extol the deity Vishnu.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dasgupta |first=Surendranath |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jI2PUAa8B8oC&pg=PA99 |title=A History of Indian Philosophy |date=1991 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-0414-2 |pages=99 |language=en}}</ref>
== Etymology == The title of the work consists of the Sanskrit terms ''stotra'' (hymn) and ''ratnam'' (jewel), therefore literally meaning, 'the jewel of hymns'.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carman |first1=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aP5PA2OyJbMC&dq=Stotraratna+sixty-five&pg=PA314 |title=The Tamil Veda: Pillan's Interpretation of the Tiruvaymoli |last2=Narayanan |first2=Vasudha |date=1989-05-16 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-09306-2 |pages=314 |language=en}}</ref>
== Description == {{Vaishnavism}} The main theme of the ''Stotra Ratna'' is ''prapatti'', the concept of total surrender to God.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raman |first=Srilata |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O1c6KjcHf5AC&pg=PA48 |title=Self-Surrender (prapatti) to God in Shrivaishnavism: Tamil Cats Or Sanskrit Monkeys? |date=2007-01-24 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-16538-4 |pages=48 |language=en}}</ref> In the first few verses, the author pays tribute to his teachers. The subsequent verses establish the supremacy of Vishnu and his accessibility to his devotees, to whom he is referred to as a saviour. Yamunacharya offers his surrender to Vishnu, indicating that even simple acts of service such as offering salutations are effective to his worship. He states that divine mercy would be offered to all those who undertake the path of ''prapatti,'' also describing it to be the only means of attaining salvation. The relief of the author in entrusting his burdens to Vishnu and seeking the forgiveness of the deity is also a theme of the work. Vishnu is described to be the source of the power of Brahma and Shiva in the hymn, regarded to perform the functions of creation, preservation, as well as destruction. His consort, Lakshmi, is eulogised as the source of prosperity of the universe. The work is described to disseminate the central tenets of the philosophy of Vishishtadvaita.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/NarasimhacharyM.ContributionOfYamunacaryaToVisistadvaita |title=Narasimhachary, M. Contribution Of Yāmunācārya To Viśiṣṭādvaita |pages=62–69 |language=English}}</ref> The hymn also describes Vaikuntha, the abode of Vishnu, and the author's desire to witness the cosmic form of the deity in this realm.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tapasyananda |first=Swami |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tn7EDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT144 |title=Bhakti Schools of Vedānta: (Lives and Philosophies of Rāmānuja, Nimbārka, Madhva, Vallabha and Caitanya) |date=2019-12-18 |publisher=Sri Ramakrishna Math |pages=144 |language=en}}</ref> The closing line of the hymn describes Yamunacharya requesting Vishnu to look upon him kindly despite his wrongdoings, citing his relationship with his grandfather, the saint Nathamuni.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nayar |first=Nancy Ann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9vG1syVBXKAC&pg=PA92 |title=Poetry as Theology: The Śrīvaiṣṇava Stotra in the Age of Rāmānuja |date=1992 |publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag |isbn=978-3-447-03255-1 |pages=92 |language=en}}</ref>
Yamunacharya is regarded to have been influenced by the hymns of the poet-saints called the Alvars. He pays homage to Nammalvar at the outset of this work.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chari |first=S. M. Srinivasa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8TwHhuZrZ-wC&pg=PA235 |title=Philosophy and Theistic Mysticism of the Āl̲vārs |date=1997 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1342-7 |pages=235 |language=en}}</ref> thumb|''Murti'' of Yamunacharya.
== Hymns == The ninth hymn of this work glorifies the attributes of Vishnu:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yamunacharya |url=https://archive.org/details/yamunacharya/page/n345/mode/2up |title=Complete Works Of Yamunacharya (English) |pages=346}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|text=''kah srih sriyah parama-sattva-samasrayah kah<br>kah pundarika-nayanah purushottamah kah<br>kasyaytutayuta-sataika-kalamsakamse<br>visvam vicitra-cid-acit-pravibhaga-vrittam''}}{{Blockquote|text=Who is the splendor of the goddess of fortune? Who is the shelter of the pure devotees? Who has handsome lotus-eyes? Who is the Supreme Person? In a fraction of a fraction of a hundred-million-millionth part of whom is this world, filled with wonderful spiritual and material variety, manifested?|source=Verse 9|title=''Stotra Ratna''}}The thirty-eighth hymn of the work mentions Garuda, the ''vahana'' (mount) of the deity:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yamunacharya |url=http://archive.org/details/yamunacharya |title=Complete Works Of Yamunacharya (English)}}</ref> {{Blockquote|text=''dasah sakha vahanam asanam dhvajo<br>yas te vitanam vyajanam trayimayah<br> upasthitam tena puro garutmata<br>tvad-anghri-sammarda-kinanka-sobhina''}}{{Blockquote|text=O Lord before whom stands Garuda, who bears Your splendid footprints, and who is Your servant, friend, carrier, throne, flag, canopy, fan, and three Vedas|title=''Stotra Ratna''|source=Verse 38}}
== See also == * ''Chatuh Shloki'' * ''Siddhitraya'' * ''Dayashataka''
== References ==
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Category:Medieval literature Category:Vaishnava texts Category:Hindu literature