| Religion: | Hinduism |
| Author: | Vedanta Desika |
| Language: | Prakrit (Maharashtri Prakrit)[1] |
| Caption: | Painting of Krishna and the gopis taking shelter from the rain, Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
| Achyuta Shataka | |
| Verses: | 100 |
The Achyuta Shataka is a Prakrit hymn written by the Hindu philosopher Vedanta Desika.[2] [3] Comprising 100 verses, the Achyuta Shataka extols Krishna, an avatar of the deity Vishnu. The hymn is composed in the arya metre. It is regarded to have been inspired by the Tiruvaymoli of Nammalvar.[4]
Achyuta is an epithet of Krishna and Vishnu, literally meaning, "the infallible one",[5] and shataka means "hundred", referring to a genre of literature containing one hundred verses.[6]
Vedanta Desika is regarded to have composed the Achyuta Shataka when he visited the Devanathaswamy temple located at Tiruvahindrapuram, addressing it to the deity. He is regarded to employ the theme of nāyikā-bhāva in the hymn, the mysticism of a heroine, owing to the prevailing dramatic convention of heroines speaking in Prakrit in Sanskrit dramas.[7] In the verses of this work, the poet asks Krishna to accept him as he would accept a bride.[8]
In the first hymn of the work, the poet extols Krishna:[9]