Ram Raksha Stotra in English
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॥ oṃ śrīgaṇeśāya namaḥ॥
asya śrīrāmarakṣāstotramantrasya। budhakauśika ṛṣiḥ।śrīsītārāmacandro devatā। anuṣṭup chandaḥ।sītā śaktiḥ। śrīmad hanumāna kīlakam।śrīrāmacandraprītyarthe rāmarakṣāstotrajape viniyogaḥ॥
dhyāyedājānubāhuṃ dhṛtaśaradhanuṣaṃ baddhapadmāsanasthaṃpītaṃ vāso vasānaṃ navakamaladalaspardhinetraṃ prasannam।vāmāṅkārūḍha sītāmukhakamalamilallocanaṃ nīradābhaṃnānālaṅkāradīptaṃ dadhatamurujaṭāmaṇḍanaṃ rāmacandram॥
caritaṃ raghunāthasya śatakoṭi pravistaram।ekaikamakṣaraṃ puṃsāṃ mahāpātakanāśanam 1
dhyātvā nīlotpalaśyāmaṃ rāmaṃ rājīvalocanam।jānakīlakṣmaṇopetaṃ jaṭāmukuṭamaṇḍitam 2
sāsitūṇadhanurbāṇapāṇiṃ naktañcarāntakam।svalīlayā jagattrātumāvirbhūtamajaṃ vibhum 3
rāmarakṣāṃ paṭhetprājñaḥ pāpaghnīṃ sarvakāmadām।śiro me rāghavaḥ pātu bhālaṃ daśarathātmajaḥ 4
kausalyeyo dṛśau pātu viśvāmitrapriyaḥ śrutī।ghrāṇaṃ pātu makhatrātā mukhaṃ saumitrivatsalaḥ 5
jihvāṃ vidyānidhiḥ pātu kaṇṭhaṃ bharatavanditaḥ।skandhau divyāyudhaḥ pātu bhujau bhagneśakārmukaḥ 6
karau sītāpatiḥ pātu hṛdayaṃ jāmadagnyajit।madhyaṃ pātu kharadhvaṃsī nābhiṃ jāmbavadāśrayaḥ 7
sugrīveśaḥ kaṭī pātu sakthinī hanumatprabhuḥ।ūrū raghūttamaḥ pātu rakṣaḥkulavināśakṛt 8
jānunī setukṛtpātu jaṅghe daśamukhāntakaḥ।pādau bibhīṣaṇaśrīdaḥ pātu rāmo'khilaṃ vapuḥ 9
etāṃ rāmabalopetāṃ rakṣāṃ yaḥ sukṛtī paṭhet।sa cirāyuḥ sukhī putrī vijayī vinayī bhavet 10
pātālabhūtalavyomacāriṇaśchadmacāriṇaḥ।na draṣṭumapi śaktāste rakṣitaṃ rāmanāmabhiḥ 11
rāmeti rāmabhadreti rāmacandreti vā smaran।naro na lipyate pāpaiḥ bhuktiṃ muktiṃ ca vindati 12
jagajjaitraikamantreṇa rāmanāmnābhirakṣitam।yaḥ kaṇṭhe dhārayettasya karasthāḥ sarvasiddhayaḥ 13
vajrapañjaranāmedaṃ yo rāmakavacaṃ smaret।avyāhatājñaḥ sarvatra labhate jayamaṅgalam 14
ādiṣṭavān yathā svapne rāmarakṣāmimāṃ haraḥ।tathā likhitavān prātaḥ prabuddho budhakauśikaḥ 15
ārāmaḥ kalpavṛkṣāṇāṃ virāmaḥ sakalāpadām।abhirāmastrilokānāṃ rāmaḥ śrīmān sa naḥ prabhuḥ 16
taruṇau rūpasampannau sukumārau mahābalau।puṇḍarīkaviśālākṣau cīrakṛṣṇājināmbarau 17
phalamūlāśinau dāntau tāpasau brahmacāriṇau।putrau daśarathasyaitau bhrātarau rāmalakṣmaṇau 18
śaraṇyau sarvasattvānāṃ śreṣṭhau sarvadhanuṣmatām।rakṣaḥ kulanihantārau trāyetāṃ no raghūttamau 19
āttasajjadhanuṣāviṣuspṛśāvakṣayāśuganiṣaṅgasaṅginau।rakṣaṇāya mama rāmalakṣmaṇāvagrataḥ pathi sadaiva gacchatām 20
sannaddhaḥ kavacī khaḍgī cāpabāṇadharo yuvā।gacchanmanoratho'smākaṃ rāmaḥ pātu salakṣmaṇaḥ 21
rāmo dāśarathiḥ śūro lakṣmaṇānucaro balī।kākutsthaḥ puruṣaḥ pūrṇaḥ kausalyeyo raghūttamaḥ 22
vedāntavedyo yajñeśaḥ purāṇapuruṣottamaḥ।jānakīvallabhaḥ śrīmān aprameya parākramaḥ 23
ityetāni japannityaṃ madbhaktaḥ śraddhayānvitaḥ।aśvamedhādhikaṃ puṇyaṃ samprāpnoti na saṃśayaḥ 24
rāmaṃ dūrvādalaśyāmaṃ padmākṣaṃ pītavāsasam।stuvanti nāmabhirdivyaiḥ na te saṃsāriṇo narāḥ 25
rāmaṃ lakṣmaṇapūrvajaṃ raghuvaraṃ sītāpatiṃ sundaram।kākutsthaṃ karuṇārṇavaṃ guṇanidhiṃ viprapriyaṃ dhārmikam।rājendraṃ satyasandhaṃ daśarathatanayaṃ śyāmalaṃ śāntamūrtim।vande lokābhirāmaṃ raghukulatilakaṃ rāghavaṃ rāvaṇārim 26
rāmāya rāmabhadrāya rāmacandrāya vedhase।raghunāthāya nāthāya sītāyāḥ pataye namaḥ 27
śrīrāma rāma raghunandana rāma rāmaśrīrāma rāma bharatāgraja rāma rāma।śrīrāma rāma raṇakarkaśa rāma rāmaśrīrāma rāma śaraṇaṃ bhava rāma rāma 28
śrīrāmacandracaraṇau manasā smarāmiśrīrāmacandracaraṇau vacasā gṛṇāmi।śrīrāmacandracaraṇau śirasā namāmiśrīrāmacandracaraṇau śaraṇaṃ prapadye 29
mātā rāmo matpitā rāmacandraḥsvāmī rāmo matsakhā rāmacandraḥ।sarvasvaṃ me rāmacandro dayālu-rnānyaṃ jāne naiva jāne na jāne 30
dakṣiṇe lakṣmaṇo yasya vāme tu janakātmajā।purato mārutiryasya taṃ vande raghunandanam 31
lokābhirāmaṃ raṇaraṅgadhīraṃrājīvanetraṃ raghuvaṃśanātham।kāruṇyarūpaṃ karuṇākaraṃ taṃśrīrāmacandram śaraṇaṃ prapadye 32
manojavaṃ mārutatulyavegaṃjitendriyaṃ buddhimatāṃ variṣṭham।vātātmajaṃ vānarayūthamukhyaṃśrīrāmadūtaṃ śaraṇaṃ prapadye 33
kūjantaṃ rāmarāmeti madhuraṃ madhurākṣaram।āruhya kavitāśākhāṃ vande vālmīkikokilam 34
āpadāmapahartāraṃ dātāraṃ sarvasampadām।lokābhirāmaṃ śrīrāmaṃ bhūyo bhūyo namāmyaham 35
bharjanaṃ bhavabījānāmarjanaṃ sukhasampadām।tarjanaṃ yamadūtānāṃ rāmarāmeti garjanam 36
rāmo rājamaṇiḥ sadā vijayate rāmaṃ rameśaṃ bhajerāmeṇābhihatā niśācaracamū rāmāya tasmai namaḥ।rāmānnāsti parāyaṇaṃ parataraṃ rāmasya dāso'smyahaṃrāme cittalayaḥ sadā bhavatu me bho rāma māmuddhara 37
rāmarāmeti rāmeti rame rāme manorame।sahasranāmatattulyaṃ rāmanāma varānane 38
iti śrībudhakauśikaviracitaṃ śrīrāmarakṣāstotraṃ sampūrṇam॥
॥ śrīsītārāmacandrārpaṇamastu॥
Meaning & Benefits
The Ram Raksha Stotra is a kavacha — an armour. That word is not decoration. Most devotional hymns praise a deity or ask something of them; this one does something more specific. In six shlokas at its centre it goes down the body part by part and sets a different aspect of Rama over each one: Raghava over the head, the son of Kausalya over the eyes, the treasury of learning over the tongue, the builder of the bridge over the knees, and finally "may Rama guard my body entire".
Every guardian in that list is named by something Rama did. He is not "Rama" over the arms but "he who broke Shiva's bow"; not "Rama" over the feet but "he who gave Vibhishana his fortune". Reciting the kavacha therefore means walking through the whole Ramayana in the space of six verses, which is why it is often the first long stotra a child is taught after the Hanuman Chalisa.
The text names its own author and how it came to him. Shloka 15 says that Shiva gave this Ram Raksha to the sage Budhakaushika in a dream, and that he wrote it down the next morning on waking. The stotra also gives itself a second name in shloka 14 — vajra-panjara, the diamond cage — and states what it is for:
- a long life, happiness, children, victory and humility (shloka 10)
- that beings of the underworld, the earth and the sky, and those who move in disguise, cannot so much as look at the reciter (shloka 11)
- freedom from the stain of sin, and both worldly enjoyment and release (shloka 12)
- every attainment "in the palm of the hand" for one who keeps the text at his throat (shloka 13)
- an unobstructed word, victory and good fortune (shloka 14)
After the armour and its fruits, the last twenty-three shlokas turn into pure praise of the name itself. This is the part most people know by heart even when they cannot recite the rest — "Shri Rama Rama raghunandana", the four-fold refuge of mind, speech, head and self, and "Rama is my mother, Ramachandra my father". The closing verse makes a claim worth noticing: the name of Rama, by itself, is equal to the thousand names — a direct nod to the Vishnu Sahasranamam.
Hanuman appears twice, and both times structurally rather than in passing. He is the kilaka of the mantra in the opening viniyoga — the pin that holds it shut — and shloka 33, "manojavam maruta-tulya-vegam", is a complete Hanuman prayer set inside this one. That shloka is recited on its own across India, and it is the same verse that opens the Hanuman Vadvanal Stotra.
How to Chant
There is no initiation required and no fixed number of repetitions. Shloka 24 asks only for daily recitation with faith. What follows is the ordinary practice, not a rule.
- Begin with the invocation to Ganesha and then the viniyoga, which names the sage, the deity, the metre and the purpose. Reciting it is how you state what the recitation is for.
- Read the dhyana shloka slowly enough to actually picture what it describes — arms to the knees, yellow cloth, Sita on the left, the dark rain-cloud colouring. It is a set of instructions for the mind's eye, not a description for its own sake.
- Take the six kavacha shlokas at a steady pace and let the attention move down the body with the words, from the head to the feet. This is the part that gives the stotra its name.
- Do not stop at shloka 15. The phalashruti and the praise that follow are part of the text, and the closing arpanam — the offering to Sita and Ramachandra — is how it is properly finished.
- If you have only a minute, shloka 38 alone is traditionally held to carry the weight of the whole.
Tuesdays and Saturdays, the days associated with Hanuman, are commonly chosen, as are Ram Navami and the nine days of Chaitra Navratri. Many families recite it at dusk. A complete recitation takes about eight to ten minutes once the verses are familiar.
Sit facing east if it is convenient, with a lamp lit. None of this is required for the stotra to be recited correctly — a clean place and attention are enough.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I download the Ram Raksha Stotra in English PDF for free?
Yes. The Download PDF button on this page is completely free and needs no sign-up. The file carries the full text — the viniyoga, the dhyanam, all 38 shlokas and the closing offering.
Who composed the Ram Raksha Stotra?
The sage Budhakaushika. The stotra says so itself, in shloka 15: Shiva gave it to him in a dream, and he wrote it down the following morning on waking. The viniyoga at the start names him as the rishi of the mantra.
What does "Ram Raksha" actually mean?
"Raksha" means protection or armour, so the title is "Rama's protection". It is a kavacha rather than a hymn of praise: its central six verses place a different aspect of Rama over each part of the body in turn, from the head down to the feet. Shloka 14 gives it a second name — vajra-panjara, the diamond cage.
How long does it take to recite?
About eight to ten minutes for the complete text of 38 shlokas once the verses are familiar. There is no requirement to finish it in one sitting, though it is usual to.
Do I need to be initiated by a guru to recite it?
No. Shloka 24 asks only that it be recited daily and with faith. There is no initiation, no fixed count and no restriction on who may read it.
Is it the same as the Hanuman Chalisa or the Bajrang Baan?
No, and the difference is worth knowing. The Hanuman Chalisa is forty verses of praise for Hanuman; the Bajrang Baan is an urgent appeal to him. The Ram Raksha Stotra is addressed to Rama and works as armour — it assigns a guardian to each part of the body. Hanuman does appear in it twice, as the kilaka of the mantra and in shloka 33.
Which part should I learn first if I cannot manage the whole thing?
Most people begin with the six kavacha shlokas, 4 to 9, because they are the heart of the text and follow an order that is easy to hold — head, eyes, ears, mouth, throat, arms, hands, heart, waist, thighs, knees, feet. Shloka 38 is the other common starting point.
Can I recite it for someone else's protection?
Yes. The verses are written in the first person — "guard my head" — but reciting them on behalf of another person, particularly a child or someone unwell, is long-established practice. Nothing in the text restricts it.
Is the English on this page a translation or a transliteration?
Both, kept separate. The verses are given in Roman transliteration, so you recite the original Sanskrit sounds, and the meaning of each verse is given beneath it in English. The diacritical marks — ā, ṃ, ṣ — mark the Sanskrit vowels and consonants precisely.
Can I print the PDF or share it with family?
Yes. The PDF is laid out to print cleanly on ordinary A4 paper, and you are welcome to pass it on, print copies for a group, or use it at a temple or a school.