śrī veṅkaṭeśāṣṭaka stotram

Eight verses by Prabhākara, whose colophon gives an unusually full pedigree — of the Gārgya line, born of Yaśodā, son of Keśava — and whose tone is the boldest in this group. The third verse is close to a rebuke: everyone in the ranks of the lords of wealth, even in Vaikuṇṭha, has been led into the way of humiliation by trusting you, so this is no time for joking words; fulfil what is desired. The fourth sets its own independence out plainly: let some worship rich men and some the lords of the earth and some the company of kings — I worship you alone, who are without stain. And the sixth turns the relation upside down in a way few hymns risk: lord of Śeṣādri, by you I am one who has a master; truly I tell you, lord, that you are the one who has none. Its last verse asks mercy even for those who wrong parents, teacher and brother.