Bhaja Govindam is a famous devotional composition in Sanskrit attributed to Adi Shankaracharya. It underscores the view that devotion to God is a vastly important part of general spirituality.

Significance

This timeless composition is a reminder that the author, Adi Shankaracharya, who is often regarded as a stalwart advocate of the Gnana Marga or the "Path of Knowledge" to attain Mukti, yielded to none in appreciating, indeed enjoining the Bhakti Marga or the "Path of Faith/Devotion" to the same goal. In this prayer, Adi Shankaracharya emphasizes the importance of devotion for God as a means to spiritual development and to liberation from the cycle of birth and death. The prayer leaves one in no doubt that the renunciation of our egotistical differences and surrender to God makes for salvation. Many scholars hold that this composition encapsulates with both brevity and simplicity the substance of all Vedantic thought found in whatever other works that Adi Shankaracharya wrote.

The refrain "Bhaja Govindam" which defines the composition and gives it its name invokes the almighty in the aspect of Vishnu; it is therefore very

Legend

There is a story attached to the composition of this Hymn. It is said that Adi Shankaracharya, accompanied by his disciples, was walking along a street in Varanasi one day when he came across an aged scholar teaching the rules of Sanskrit grammar to his students by rote. Taking pity on him, Adi Shankaracharya went up to the scholar and advised him not to waste his time on grammar at his age but to turn his mind to God in worship and adoration. The hymn "Bhaja Govindam" is said to have been composed on this occasion.

The composition consists of twenty-seven verses. Besides the refrain of the song beginning with the words "Bhaja Govindam", Shankara is said to have sung twelve other verses. Hence, the hymn bears the title "Dvadasamanjarika-Stotra" (A hymn which is a bunch of twelve verse-blossoms). The fourteen disciples who were with the Master on that occasion are believed to have added one verse each. These fourteen verses are together called "Chaturdasa-manjarika-Stotra" (A hymn which is a bunch of fourteen verse-blossoms)