Caturviṃśati Mūrti Stotra: Twenty-Four Forms of Vishṇu

The Caturviṃśati Mūrti Stotra is a hymn in chapter 48 of the Agni Mahā Purāṇa. It praises the twenty-four forms (mūrtis) of Bhagavān Vishṇu one after another. For each form it says what he holds in his four hands. The weapons and signs are the śaṅkha (conch), the cakra (discus), the gadā (mace) and the padma (lotus). Bhagavān Hayagrīva tells it to Brahmā.

The first letters of the first twelve verses spell the twelve-syllable mantra “Oṃ Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya”. For this reason the stotra has a second name, the Dvādaśāksharī Stotra (the hymn of the twelve syllables).

The setting

Bhagavān Hayagrīva tells the stotra to Brahmā. It stands inside the long section on pūjā in the Agni Purāṇa (chapters 21 to 100). The twenty-four Vaishṇava mūrtis are described earlier, in chapter 25. This stotra is the closing hymn to those twenty-four forms, and it speaks of their link with the four vyūhas.

The twelve-syllable mantra in the verses

The first letters of the twelve verses on the first twelve mūrtis, from Keśava to Dāmodara, read in order as “Oṃ Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya”. This is the dvādaśāksharī mantra, the main mantra of Bhagavān Vāsudeva.

So the stotra has two names: the Caturviṃśati Mūrti Stotra (the hymn of the twenty-four forms) and the Dvādaśāksharī Stotra (the hymn of the twelve syllables).

The twenty-four mūrtis

The forms are given in their usual order. They come from the four vyūhas. From Vāsudeva come the first three, from Saṃkarshaṇa the next three, from Pradyumna the third three and from Aniruddha the fourth three. The second twelve, from Saṃkarshaṇa to Kṛshṇa, are the vyūha mūrtis in their wider forms.

No.	Mūrti	What he holds in the four hands	Praise in the stotra
1	Keśava	padma, śaṅkha, cakra, gadā	He is Oṃkāra-svarūpa, the form of the sacred sound Oṃ. He is saluted with pradakshiṇā (walking around) at his feet.
2	Nārāyaṇa	śaṅkha, padma, gadā, cakra	He is praised as the source and ground of all that is.
3	Mādhava	gadā, cakra, śaṅkha, padma	He is the consort of Mā (Lakshmī), the master of spring and sweetness.
4	Govinda	cakra, gadā, padma, śaṅkha	He is mighty (balaśālī). He protects the earth and its creatures.
5	Vishṇu	gadā, padma, śaṅkha, cakra	He is the all-pervading one. His presence reaches through all that is, as the inner ruler.
6	Madhusūdana	śaṅkha, cakra, padma, gadā	He is the slayer of the asura Madhu and the giver of moksha. Hayagrīva bows to him with devotion (bhaktyā praṇamāmi).
7	Trivikrama	padma, gadā, cakra, śaṅkha	He measured the three worlds in three steps. His third step rested on the head of Bali and set the order of the worlds.
8	Vāmana	śaṅkha, cakra, gadā, padma	He is the dwarf avatāra who hid endless power in the smallest form. “May he always protect me.”
9	Śrīdhara	kamala (lotus), śaṅkha, cakra, dhanus (bow)	He is the bearer of Śrī (Lakshmī). He gives sadgati (the good path) to all.
10	Hṛshīkeśa	gadā, cakra, padma, śaṅkha	He is the master of the senses (hṛshīka is the senses, īśa is master). “May he protect all.”
11	Padmanābha	śaṅkha, padma, cakra, gadā	He is the giver of varas, and from the lotus on his navel the universe is born.
12	Dāmodara	padma, śaṅkha, gadā, cakra	He is Dāmodara, “the one bound by a rope around his belly” by his mother Yaśodā. He is saluted with a bow to the ground.
13	Saṃkarshaṇa	gadā, śaṅkha, cakra, padma	He arose from Vāsudeva. He is the first power of drawing the world back in. “May he protect all.”
14	Vāsudeva (in the wider form)	gadā, śaṅkha, padma, cakra	He is the ādi-mūrti, the first form, from whom all the others arise. He made the whole universe (sampūrṇa jagat).
15	Pradyumna	cakra, śaṅkha, gadā, padma	He is skilled in battle (yuddha-kuśala), the divine hero.
16	Aniruddha	cakra, gadā, śaṅkha, padma	He arose from Pradyumna. “May he protect all.”
17	Purushottama	cakra, kamala (lotus), śaṅkha, gadā	He is the master of the suras (sureśvara), the highest Purusha, who is beyond both the perishable and the imperishable.
18	Adhokshaja	padma, gadā, śaṅkha, cakra	He cannot be reached by the senses (adha is below, aksha is the senses, ja is born). “May he protect you.”
19	Narasiṃha	cakra, padma, gadā, śaṅkha	He is the fierce man-lion avatāra. Hayagrīva salutes him with a bow to the ground.
20	Acyuta	gadā, padma, cakra, śaṅkha	He is the Unfallen, the Imperishable, who never slips from his own high state. “May he protect all.”
21	Janārdana	śaṅkha, gadā, cakra, padma	He is the one to whom the prayer for freedom from suffering is made.
22	Upendra	padma, cakra, śaṅkha, gadā	He is the younger brother of Indra in the Vāmana avatāra, and he has divine beauty.
23	Hari	śaṅkha, padma, cakra, gadā	He is Yajña-svarūpa, the very form of yajña. He is Śrī Hari, the self of all.
24	Kṛshṇa	śaṅkha, gadā, padma, cakra	He is the beloved Kṛshṇa, the full avatāra. “May he give me both bhoga (enjoyment) and moksha.”

How the twenty-four forms arise from the four vyūhas

The Agni Purāṇa ends the stotra by telling where the twenty-four mūrtis come from. Vāsudeva is the ādi-mūrti, the first form. From Vāsudeva arose Saṃkarshaṇa. From Saṃkarshaṇa arose Pradyumna. From Pradyumna arose Aniruddha.

Each of these four vyūha mūrtis then appeared in three forms, which gives the twenty-four:

From Vāsudeva: Keśava, Nārāyaṇa and Mādhava.
From Saṃkarshaṇa: Govinda, Vishṇu and Madhusūdana.
From Pradyumna: Trivikrama, Vāmana and Śrīdhara.
From Aniruddha: Hṛshīkeśa, Padmanābha and Dāmodara.

The second group of twelve, from Saṃkarshaṇa to Kṛshṇa, are the wider forms of the same fourfold being. All twenty-four forms are in the end one: the one Bhagavān Vāsudeva, appearing in different aspects to meet the different devotion of all beings in all ages.

The phalaśruti

The phalaśruti comes at the end of the stotra. Those who recite this stotra of the twenty-four forms, and those who hear it, together with the dvādaśāksharī mantra, become nirvala (pure and without blemish). All their wishes are fulfilled (sampūrṇa manorathāḥ).

Sources

Agni Mahā Purāṇa, chapter 48
Agni Mahā Purāṇa, chapters 21 to 100 (the section on pūjā) and chapter 25 (the twenty-four mūrtis)