Base reading
01Normalized Devanagari
Compared against commonly circulated Old Awadhi readings; spelling and word division can vary between printed and recited traditions.
Source-aware · line & word study edition
श्री हनुमान चालीसा
Authentic Hanuman Chalisa
Śrī Hanumān Cālīsā
A complete, line-by-line study edition of the beloved praise-poem—its Old Awadhi text, word-level romanization, close meaning, literary form, and Tulsidas attribution presented with care.
राम
On-site scope
86 annotated lines
Old Awadhi · Devanagari + reader-friendly romanization
2 opening dohās · 40 caupāīs · 1 closing dohā
Before opening the reader
What becomes audible when familiarity slows down?
Would you read this differently knowing it's Old Awadhi devotional poetry, not Sanskrit scripture?
Is Tulsidas's authorship something the evidence shows, or something tradition has decided?
01 / Authenticity ledger
What “authentic” means here.
Source disclosed. Language named. Attribution qualified. Editorial choices made visible. It does not mean that one modern web page has erased every living recension or interpretive tradition.
Language
02Old Awadhi
The Chalisa is an early Hindi devotional poem, not a Sanskrit composition. Devanagari is its common modern presentation.
Form
03Dohā + caupāī
Forty numbered caupāī stanzas are framed by opening and concluding dohās.
Attribution
04Traditionally Tulsidas
The attribution is longstanding and generally accepted, while no surviving authorial autograph establishes a single exclusive wording.
02 / Word & compound reader
The text, opened carefully.
Complete line reader
All forty numbered caupāīs are included, together with the opening and closing dohās. The word boundaries and concise English glosses are editorial study aids.
Reader controls
Move between script, sound, and sense.
Search every layer, narrow the list by section, or switch to the uncluttered line view. Only a small set is rendered at once, so the reader stays quick on phones as well as larger screens.
Showing 12 of 86 entries
Opening dohā · line 1: śrī · guru · charan · saroj · raj · nij · man · mukur · sudhāri
Opening dohā · line 1 permalinkOpening dohās
श्रीगुरु चरन सरोज रज, निज मन मुकुर सुधारि।
śrī · guru · charan · saroj · raj · nij · man · mukur · sudhāri
Close meaning
Having polished the mirror of my mind with the dust of the lotus feet of the revered Guru.
Word & compound study
श्री + गुरुśrī · guru
revered, holy; teacher
चरनcharan
feet
सरोजsaroj
lotus
रजraj
dust
निजnij
one's own
मनman
mind
मुकुरmukur
mirror
सुधारिsudhāri
having cleaned / polished
Opening dohā · line 2: barnaun · raghuvar · bimal · jasu · jo · dāyaku · phal · chāri
Opening dohā · line 2 permalinkOpening dohās
बरनउँ रघुबर बिमल जसु, जो दायकु फल चारि॥
barnaun · raghuvar · bimal · jasu · jo · dāyaku · phal · chāri
Close meaning
I describe the pure glory of Rama, which gives the four fruits of life.
Word & compound study
बरनउँbarnaun
I narrate / describe
रघुबरraghuvar
the best of the Raghu lineage (Rama)
बिमलbimal
pure
जसुjasu
glory / fame
जोjo
which
दायकुdāyaku
giver
फलphal
fruits / rewards
चारिchāri
four
Opening dohā · line 3: buddhi-hīn · tanu · jānikē · sumiraun · pavan-kumār
Opening dohā · line 3 permalinkOpening dohās
बुद्धिहीन तनु जानिके, सुमिरौं पवन-कुमार।
buddhi-hīn · tanu · jānikē · sumiraun · pavan-kumār
Close meaning
Knowing myself to be lacking in wisdom, I remember the Son of the Wind.
Word & compound study
बुद्धिहीनbuddhi-hīn
lacking wisdom
तनुtanu
body / self
जानिकेjānikē
knowing
सुमिरौंsumiraun
I remember / invoke
पवन-कुमारpavan-kumār
son of the wind
Opening dohā · line 4: bal · buddhi · vidyā · dehu · mohin / mohi · harahu · kales · vikār
Opening dohā · line 4 permalinkOpening dohās
बल बुधि विद्या देहु मोहिं, हरहु कलेस विकार॥
bal · buddhi · vidyā · dehu · mohin / mohi · harahu · kales · vikār
Close meaning
Give me strength, intellect, and knowledge, and remove affliction and defects.
Word & compound study
बलbal
strength
बुधिbuddhi
intellect
विद्याvidyā
knowledge / learning
देहुdehu
give
मोहिंmohin / mohi
to me
हरहुharahu
remove
कलेसkales
affliction / distress
विकारvikār
faults / impurities / distortions
Caupāī 1 · line 1: jai · Hanumān · jñān · gun · sāgar
Caupāī 1 · line 1 permalinkForty caupāīs
जय हनुमान ज्ञान गुन सागर।
jai · Hanumān · jñān · gun · sāgar
Close meaning
Hail Hanuman, ocean of knowledge and virtues.
Word & compound study
जयjai
victory / hail
हनुमानHanumān
Hanuman
ज्ञानjñān
knowledge
गुनgun
virtues / qualities
सागरsāgar
ocean
Caupāī 1 · line 2: jai · kapīś · tihũ lok · ujāgar
Caupāī 1 · line 2 permalinkForty caupāīs
जय कपीस तिहुँ लोक उजागर॥
jai · kapīś · tihũ lok · ujāgar
Close meaning
Hail the monkey-lord who illumines the three worlds.
Word & compound study
जयjai
hail
कपीसkapīś
lord of the monkeys
तिहुँ लोकtihũ lok
the three worlds
उजागरujāgar
illumined / made manifest
Caupāī 2 · line 1: Rām · dūt · atulit · bal · dhāmā
Caupāī 2 · line 1 permalinkForty caupāīs
राम दूत अतुलित बल धामा।
Rām · dūt · atulit · bal · dhāmā
Close meaning
Messenger of Rama, abode of incomparable strength.
Word & compound study
रामRām
Rama
दूतdūt
messenger
अतुलितatulit
incomparable
बलbal
strength
धामाdhāmā
abode / repository
Caupāī 2 · line 2: Anjani-putra · pavan-sut · nāmā
Caupāī 2 · line 2 permalinkForty caupāīs
अंजनि-पुत्र पवनसुत नामा॥
Anjani-putra · pavan-sut · nāmā
Close meaning
Called the son of Anjani and the son of the Wind.
Word & compound study
अंजनि-पुत्रAnjani-putra
son of Anjani
पवनसुतpavan-sut
son of the wind
नामाnāmā
named / called
Caupāī 3 · line 1: mahā-bīr · bikram / vikram · bajarangī
Caupāī 3 · line 1 permalinkForty caupāīs
महाबीर बिक्रम बजरंगी।
mahā-bīr · bikram / vikram · bajarangī
Close meaning
Great hero, mighty in valour, with thunderbolt-like body.
Word & compound study
महाबीरmahā-bīr
great hero
बिक्रमbikram / vikram
valour / prowess
बजरंगीbajarangī
thunderbolt-bodied / one with vajra-like limbs
Caupāī 3 · line 2: kumati · nivār · sumati · ke sangī
Caupāī 3 · line 2 permalinkForty caupāīs
कुमति निवार सुमति के संगी॥
kumati · nivār · sumati · ke sangī
Close meaning
Remover of bad thinking, companion of good sense.
Word & compound study
कुमतिkumati
wrong thinking / bad intellect
निवारnivār
remover
सुमतिsumati
right thinking / good intellect
के संगीke sangī
companion of / allied with
Caupāī 4 · line 1: kanchan · baran · birāj · subesā
Caupāī 4 · line 1 permalinkForty caupāīs
कंचन बरन बिराज सुबेसा।
kanchan · baran · birāj · subesā
Close meaning
Golden in complexion, resplendent in beautiful attire.
Word & compound study
कंचनkanchan
gold
बरनbaran
complexion / colour
बिराजbirāj
resplendent / shining
सुबेसाsubesā
fine attire / beautiful dress
Caupāī 4 · line 2: kānan · kuṇḍal · kuñchit · kesā
Caupāī 4 · line 2 permalinkForty caupāīs
कानन कुंडल कुंचित केसा॥
kānan · kuṇḍal · kuñchit · kesā
Close meaning
With earrings in the ears and curly hair.
Word & compound study
काननkānan
ears
कुंडलkuṇḍal
earrings
कुंचितkuñchit
curled
केसाkesā
hair
hanuman chalisa · editorial study edition
03 / Attribution & biography
People, voices, and tradition.
A sacred text can have a poet, a speaker inside its story, a traditional compiler, and later commentators. These roles are named separately so reverence never requires blurred history.
Historical profile01
Poet traditionally credited
Goswami Tulsidas
16th–early 17th century
Tulsidas was one of early modern North India’s most influential Rama-bhakti poets. Writing in literary vernaculars including Awadhi and Braj, he brought theology, ethics, and poetry to audiences far beyond Sanskrit-reading circles. His Ramcharitmanas, begun in 1574, became foundational to North Indian literary and performance culture. Exact birth details remain uncertain, and many familiar stories about his life belong to devotional biography rather than independently documented history.
04 / What the closing dohā promises
The forty caupāīs end with their own promise.
I'm presenting this as the closing dohā's own devotional promise, already fully glossed line by line in the reader above—not as a separate, independently verified claim.
- 01
Sat bar path kare koi—recite it a hundred times, the closing dohā says, and one is freed from bondage and reaches great bliss.
- 02
Protection carried through the whole poem: courage, strength and steadiness against fear and obstacles, in Hanuman's own character as Sankat Mochan, remover of troubles.
- 03
A settled mind—the poem is recited daily by millions precisely to steady attention before the day's first real decision, not only at moments of crisis.
05 / Editorial method
Designed for honest study.
- 01
The Devanagari line is presented before interpretation so readers can always see the reading being glossed.
- 02
The Awadhi layer is a reader-friendly romanization that retains familiar recitation spellings and selected diacritics; it is deliberately not labeled as strict IAST.
- 03
Word divisions are editorial. Awadhi compounds, particles, and recited pronunciation can reasonably be parsed in more than one way.
- 04
The English meanings are newly prepared, close study glosses—not copied devotional translations and not exhaustive commentary.
06 / Source shelf
Read beyond this edition.
Primary texts, manuscript records, and scholarly studies are linked directly. External texts remain with their custodians and under their stated terms.
- 01The Hanuman Chalisa: text, translation and glossaryHAL / CNRS · Denis MatringeA 2024 scholarly treatment of the Old Awadhi poem, metre, vocabulary, and transmission. (opens in a new tab)
- 02Two Poems in Praise of Hanuman (Attributed to Tulsidas)Oxford Academic · Philip LutgendorfA source-aware scholarly framing of the Tulsidas attribution. (opens in a new tab)
- 03Tulasīdāsa authority recordBibliothèque nationale de FranceLibrary authority data for Tulsidas, his works, language, dates, and literary identity. (opens in a new tab)
- 04Hanumana ChalisaSanskrit DocumentsA volunteer-maintained comparison text; linked for study rather than reposted. (opens in a new tab)