Jagannath Ashtakam

About this stotra

Shri Jagannath Ashtakam was composed by Adi Sankracharya in praise of Lord Jagannath on his visit to Puri. The merit of reciting the sacred Jagannath ashtakam carefully is such that, one becomes sinless and pure hearted and gains entrance to Vishnuloka. In this poem, Shankaracharya sees Jagannath as Krishna, adored by Gopikas and as Vishnu, served by all demi Gods.
He prays that Jagannath Swami, who resides in a palace on the golden Nilachala hill on the shore of the great sea with his powerful brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra placed in the middle and worshipped by all gods, be the object of his vision. While travelling on a chariot, He was offered prayers by the Brahmins at every progress. Hearing these prayers He, who is Ocean of Mercy and Friend of all the Worlds, gives His grace to them. May that Jagannath Swami along with the daughter of the great ocean (Lakshmi, His divine consort), be the objective of our vision.
Adi Shankaracharya, the proponent of advaita philosophy, came to Puri and composed the highly popular devotional Sanskrit poem known as Sri Jagannath Astakam. He also established an Ashram in Puri which is known as Govardhan peetha. It is one of the four original mathas established by Adi Shankaracharya. Sri Nanak Dev came to Puri and is said to have offered his prayers at the lotus feet of Lord Jagannath even though Nanak was primarily a proponent of Nirguna Brahman. He stayed in Puri for some time and established a matha that is today known as Mangu Matha. There was a saint from Assam known as Shankar Dev who was also a Nirguna Panthi. But when he visited Puri he offered his devotion to the Lord who is a manifestation of Saguna Brahman.
Sant Kabir visited Puri and found that there was no difference between Allah and Jagannath. The Kabir Ghat on Puri seashore is testimony to his visit and stay at this divine town. In Puri there is a memorial called Tulsi Chaura. Saint Tulsi Das meditated here and as a result was able to see Lord Rama in the idol of Lord Jagannath. When Ganesha devotee Ganapati Bhatt came to Puri he saw lord Gansesha in Sri Jagannath.
There have been numerous such devotees from Non-Vaishnav and Non-Hindu backgrounds. When they came to Puri they became overwhelmed with devotion in spite of their backgrounds. The presence of large number of mathas and other memorials of different sects stand testimony to their devotion. Lord Jagannath also puts on different types of costumes and avatars to resemble different forms of Gods like Ganesha, Buddha etc. on specific days to signify that "He is in all" and "all are in Him".
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a great devotee of Lord Jagannath. Some people believe that he is an incarnation of Krishna. He preaches that chanting Krishna’s names is just enough to be a bhakta. It is a simple precept and anybody can do that. Thus a common man need not have to learn Sanskrit to pray God. Recitation of His name is enough and no less than any mantra in its effect. His chanting method has popularized the bhakti traditions. Because of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s love for Krishna, some people also believe that he is a male incarnation of Sri Radha.