अधरं मधुरं वदनं मधुरं नयनं मधुरं हसितं मधुरम्।
हृदयं मधुरं गमनं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्॥१॥
Adharam madhuram vadanam madhuram nayanam madhuram hasitam madhuram
Hridayam madhuram gamanam madhuram madhuradhipater akhilam madhuram (1)
Lyrics with meaning
वचनं मधुरं चरितं मधुरं वसनं मधुरं वलितं मधुरम्।
चलितं मधुरं भ्रमितं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्॥२॥
Vachanam madhuram charitam madhuram vasanam madhuram valitam madhuram
Chalitam madhuram bhramitam madhuram madhuradhipater akhilam madhuram (2)
वेणुर्मधुरो रेणुर्मधुरः पाणिर्मधुरः पादौ मधुरौ।
नृत्यं मधुरं सख्यं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्॥३॥
Venur madhuro renur madhurah panir madhurah padau madhurau
Nrityam madhuram sakhyam madhuram madhuradhipater akhilam madhuram (3)
गीतं मधुरं पीतं मधुरं भुक्तं मधुरं सुप्तं मधुरम्।
रूपं मधुरं तिलकं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्॥४॥
(verses 4-8 continue in the same form: his song, his form, his deeds, the gunja berries, the Yamuna, the gopis, the cowherds, the cows, the creation itself — all madhuram, ending each time 'everything of the sweet Lord is sweet')
करणं मधुरं तरणं मधुरं हरणं मधुरं रमणं मधुरम्।
वमितं मधुरं शमितं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्॥५॥
गुञ्जा मधुरा माला मधुरा यमुना मधुरा वीची मधुरा।
सलिलं मधुरं कमलं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्॥६॥
गोपी मधुरा लीला मधुरा युक्तं मधुरं मुक्तं मधुरम्।
दृष्टं मधुरं शिष्टं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्॥७॥
गोपा मधुरा गावो मधुरा यष्टिर्मधुरा सृष्टिर्मधुरा।
दलितं मधुरं फलितं मधुरं मधुराधिपतेरखिलं मधुरम्॥८॥
Meaning
Sweet are his lips, sweet his face, sweet his eyes, sweet his smile; sweet his heart, sweet his gait — everything of the sweet Lord (of Mathura) is sweet. Sweet is his speech, sweet his conduct, sweet his garment, sweet his posture; sweet his moving, sweet his wandering — everything of the sweet Lord is sweet. Sweet is his flute, sweet the dust of his feet, sweet his hands, sweet his feet; sweet his dance, sweet his friendship — everything of the sweet Lord is sweet. His song, his drinking, his eating, his sleeping are sweet; his form and his tilak are sweet. His doing, his crossing, his stealing, his loving, even his chiding are sweet. Sweet are the gunja-berry ornaments, the garland, the Yamuna and her waves, the water and the lotus. Sweet are the gopis, his play, union and separation, his glance and his courtesy. Sweet are the cowherds, the cows, his staff, the whole creation; sweet what is crushed and what bears fruit — everything of the sweet Lord of Mathura is sweet.
About this stotra
The Madhurashtakam is an eight-verse Sanskrit hymn composed by Vallabhacharya (1479–1531), the founder of the Pushtimarg devotional tradition. Its theme is a single word — madhuram, “sweet” — repeated until the whole of Krishna, the Lord of Mathura (Madhuradhipati), dissolves into sweetness. His lips are sweet, his face is sweet, his eyes, his smile, his flute, his walk, the Yamuna, the gopis, even the dust of Vrindavan: “everything about the sweet Lord is sweet.”
Each verse ends with the same refrain, madhuradhipater akhilam madhuram, so that reciting it is like tasting honey again and again. It is one of the most loved expressions of madhurya bhava — the mood of sweetness in which the devotee delights simply in the Lord’s beauty.
How to recite it
- Sing it slowly and lovingly before an image of Krishna, ideally Bala Krishna or Krishna with his flute.
- Beautiful in the early morning and during Janmashtami and Krishna kirtans.
- Let the refrain linger; the sweetness is in the repetition.
Why devotees love it
Madhurashtakam asks for nothing. It is pure savouring — the soul looking at Krishna and finding that there is nothing in him, or in his world, that is not sweet. For the Pushtimarg tradition it is a doorway into loving God not out of fear or need, but out of delight.
More for Krishna
Sources
- Madhurashtakam by Vallabhacharya (c. 16th century)
- Gita Press, Gorakhpur, Stotra collections
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