The Shikshashtakam (IAST:) is a 16th-century Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu prayer of eight verses composed in the Sanskrit language. They are the only verses left personally written by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486 – 1534)[1] with the majority of his philosophy being codified by his primary disciples, known as the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan.[2] The Shikshashtakam is quoted within the Chaitanya Charitamrita,[3] Krishnadasa Kaviraja Goswami's biography of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, written in Bengali. The name of the prayer comes from the Sanskrit words , meaning 'instruction', and aṣṭaka, meaning 'consisting of eight parts', i.e., stanzas. The teachings contained within the eight verses are believed to contain the essence of all teachings on Bhakti yoga within the Gaudiya tradition.
The first eight verses of the following are the complete text of the Shikshashtakam, as written in Sanskrit by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They are found in Krishnadasa Kaviraja's Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita (Antya-līlā, chapter 20, verses 12, 16, 21, 29, 32, 36, 39 and 47).[4] The final verse is a Bengali quotation from Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Antya-līlā 20.65 - it is not part of the actual Shikshashtakam, but is often appended to the end when it is recited, describing the result of reciting the Shikshashtakam faithfully.[5] [6]
Literal:
Glory to the Shri Krishna sankirtana (congregational chanting of the Lord's holy names), which cleanses the heart of all the dust accumulated for years and extinguishes the fire of conditional life, of repeated birth and death. That sankirtana movement is the prime benediction for humanity at large because it spreads the rays of the benediction moon. It is the life of all transcendental knowledge. It increases the ocean of transcendental bliss, and it enables us to fully taste the nectar for which we are always anxious.
Literal:In your (divine) names manifested various kinds of full potencies (shaktis) therein bestowed, with no rules according to time for remembering them, O Lord, you are so merciful, but it is my misfortune here that I have no anuraga (interest) in those names.
Literal:
One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, feeling oneself lower than the straw in the street. One should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige, and ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind, one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.
Literal:
No wealth, no followers, no beauty or poetic praise desire I; in birth after birth let there be devotion unmotived unto thee o ishvara.
Alternatively:
O Lord of the Universe, I do not desire wealth, followers, beautiful women, nor the flowery language of the vedas; let me have only causeless devotion to you, birth after birth.
Literal:
O son of Nanda (Krishna), I am Your eternal servant, yet somehow I have fallen into the ocean of birth and death. Please consider me as a particle of dust at Your lotus feet.
Literal:
O Lord, when will my eyes be filled with tears of love flowing incessantly as I chant Your holy names? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?
Literal:
A moment seems like an eternity, tears flow from my eyes like torrents of rain, and the whole world feels empty in Your absence, O Govinda (Krishna).
Literal:
Let Krishna tightly embrace this maidservant who has fallen at His feet, or let Him trample me or break my heart by not appearing before me. He is a debauchee after all and can do whatever He likes, but He is still none other than the worshipable Lord of my heart.
This verse follows the 8 verses written by Chaitanya in Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta:
If anyone recites or hears these eight verses of instruction by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, their ecstatic love and devotion (prema-bhakti) for Kṛṣṇa increases day by day.[7]