(‘Bakth’ + ‘Amar’)
Chhanda (Verse), s is very popular Stotra among Jains,
daily recited in so many families. It is supposed that
every verse (Chhanda) of this Stotra has the power of
Mantra and is helpful in getting the dreams
materialized

True story depicting the miracle of Bakthamar stotra
King Bhoj seated on the throne of Dhara Nagari
(presently city of Dhar) in year 1100 AD. Great poet
‘Kalidas’ was one of the members of his assembly –
Royal Court. One Jain poet ‘Dhananjaya’ was also
becoming famous those days in the city. One day King
Bhoj called Dhananjaya in his royal court and get
introduced with him and praised him for his poems &
wisdom.
Shri Dhananjaya told the king very politely that his all
wisdom & knowledge was due to his teacher (Guru)
Acharya Mantunga – a Jain Muni (Saint), he said that
all the knowledge is due to the blessings of Acharya
Mantunga.
After knowing about the praise worth Acharya
Mantunga, King Bhoj desired to meet with Acharya. King
Bhoj ordered his servants to bring Acharya Mantunga to
his royal court with honor.
At that time Acharya were staying at Bhojpur and doing
Tapa (Penance) for self – realization – purification.
Servants of King Bhoj reached there, prayed Acharya
again & again to go with them to city of Dhara to meet
their King Bhoj. But ascetic saints have no purpose in
meeting with King or any other persons. So Acharya
gave no reply to servants and engrossed in deep Tapa
or meditation.
Servants returned to King and told about their failure.
So the King Bhoj became angry and he ordered to bring
the Acharya forcefully in his royal court. Servants do the
same and thus Acharya were brought before King Bhoj.
The king praised Acharya and requested to give some
religious precepts to the audience present there. But up
to that time looking unfavorable situations, Acharya
decided to remain silent during such conditions.
So all the prayers & requests of King were all in vain, so
King became angry and he ordered to his soldiers to
place the Acharya in prison. Thus Acharya were placed
in prison.
In the prison Acharya Mantunga started the prayer of
Bhagwan Adinath (the 1st Teerthankar), thus he wrote
in Sanskrit language a great poem – the ‘Bhaktamar
Stotra’ having 48 Chhanda (Verse), this is very popular
Stotra among Jains, daily recited in so many families. It
is supposed that every verse (Chhanda) of this Stotra
has the power of Mantra and is helpful in getting the
dreams materialized.
Due to the effect of Bhaktamar Stotra, Acharya
Mantunga automatically came out of prison. The
watchman saw this miracle, but thinking about the self-
ignorance, he again closed Acharya in prison and
checked the locks firmly. But after sometime locks of
prison again opened and Acharya were free again.
Seeing this the watchman hurried to the king and told
him about the event. King came there and he ordered
the soldiers to tie Acharya firmly with strong chains and
kept in the prison having 48 locks. Acharya again recited
Bhaktamar Stotra and all the 48 locks with chains
broken. Acharya automatically came out of prison.
Looking this miracle, King Bhoj felt down in the feet of
Acharya, he pardoned for his mistake again & again.
After this, Acharya Mantunga entered the city of Dhara,
due the effect of preaches & Tapa of Mantunga, so
many peoples accepted Jain Dharma (religion).
Later on Acharya Mantunga stayed at Bhojpur he
practiced for penance & meditation, tried to get rid of
worldly affection & aversion. At the end, he accepted
‘Sallekhana Vrit’ and give up his body doing Tapa.
Shrine of Acharya Mantunga and his Siddha Shila (a
rock where Acharya seated for Tapa & meditation) is
also here in Bhojpur. A pair of footprints of Acharya
Mantunga are installed on the shrine.
At a distance of 13 km from Dhara, in the village ‘Ahu’,
ruins of 44 pillars may be seen where Acharya were kept
during prison.

It is said that some specific stanzas are
miraculously effective for fulfillment of different
purposes
• For wealth – 2nd, 36th,
• For improving knowledge – 6th
• For improving oratory to be true – 10th
• For relief from disturbances – 7th
• For relief from diseases and pain – 17th
• For cure of snakebite and poisoning – 41st
• For protection of bewitching spells – 9th
• For fulfillment of needs – 19th