Shivaji Maharaj Quotes With Meaning: The Rajmudra and Sanskrit Shlokas for Bio and Status
People search for Shivaji Maharaj quotes every day — for an Instagram bio, a WhatsApp status, a tattoo, or a line under his photo frame. Here is the honest version. Shivaji Maharaj left no book of sayings. What he did leave, in his own name, is a Sanskrit royal seal (राजमुद्रा) that stamped his letters. And in his lifetime, his son Sambhaji Maharaj and the poet Bhushan wrote verses about him that still survive.
Below are those verses, each one complete — for a bio, a status or a tattoo — with how to read it, its Hindi and English meaning, and its true source. Near the end are the famous "Shivaji Maharaj quotes" he never said, and where they actually come from.
Shivaji Maharaj Sanskrit shlokas with meaning
Every card is the whole verse. The seal is read from a facsimile of the seal itself. The Budhabhushanam verses are from H. D. Velankar's edition (Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 1926) of the Sanskrit book Sambhaji Maharaj wrote; its opening verses praise his grandfather and his father. Bhushan wrote in Braj Bhasha, an older form of Hindi, not in Sanskrit.
शाहसूनोः शिवस्यैषा मुद्रा भद्राय राजते॥
śāhasūnoḥ śivasyaiṣā mudrā bhadrāya rājate
जगतः पतिरंशतोऽवतीर्णः स शिवच्छत्रपतिर्जयत्यजेयः॥
jagataḥ patir aṃśato 'vatīrṇaḥ sa śivacchatrapatir jayaty ajeyaḥ
पौन बारिबाह पर, संभु रतिनाह पर, ज्यौं सहस्रबाह पर राम-द्विजराज हैं॥
दावा द्रुम दंड पर, चीता मृगझुंड पर, भूषन वितुंड पर, जैसे मृगराज हैं।
तेज तम अंस पर, कान्ह जिमि कंस पर, त्यौं मलिच्छ बंस पर, सेर शिवराज हैं॥
pauna bāribāha para, saṃbhu ratināha para, jyauṃ sahasrabāha para rāma-dvijarāja haiṃ
dāvā druma daṃḍa para, cītā mṛgajhuṃḍa para, bhūṣana vituṃḍa para, jaise mṛgarāja haiṃ
teja tama aṃsa para, kānha jimi kaṃsa para, tyauṃ malichcha baṃsa para, sera śivarāja haiṃ
निर्जित्यावनिमण्डलं च करदीकृत्याखिलान्भूमिपान्।
श्रौतं धर्ममवाप्य सद्भिरुदितं राजाभिषेके परं
छत्राद्यैर्नृपलक्षणैरनुदिनं सिंहासने राजते॥
nirjityāvanimaṇḍalaṃ ca karadīkṛtyākhilān bhūmipān
śrautaṃ dharmam avāpya sadbhir uditaṃ rājābhiṣeke paraṃ
chatrādyair nṛpalakṣaṇair anudinaṃ siṃhāsane rājate
र्दुर्गाणि क्षितिपालनाय नृपतेर्यो बागलाणावधि।
आकृष्णातटमासमुद्रमभितः कृत्वा कृती दुर्गमे
दुर्गे रायरिसंज्ञके विजयते भूमीभृतामग्रणीः॥
durgāṇi kṣitipālanāya nṛpater yo bāgalāṇāvadhi
ākṛṣṇātaṭam āsamudram abhitaḥ kṛtvā kṛtī durgame
durge rāyarisaṃjñake vijayate bhūmībhṛtām agraṇīḥ
संतर्प्यातुलतोलितैर्बहुधनैर्वस्त्रैर्गजैर्वाजिभिः।
चन्द्रप्रेरितचन्द्रिकेव विमला गेया बुधैर्बन्दिभिः
कीर्तिः सर्वदिगन्तरेषु जयिना विस्तारिता भूभृता॥
saṃtarpyātulatolitair bahudhanair vastrair gajair vājibhiḥ
candraprerita-candrikeva vimalā geyā budhair bandibhiḥ
kīrtiḥ sarvadigantareṣu jayinā vistāritā bhūbhṛtā
प्रत्यर्थिक्षितिपालमौलिनिवहैरभ्यार्चि विश्वंभरा।
यस्यानेकवसुंधरापरिवृढप्रोत्तुङ्गचूडामणेः
पुत्रत्वं समुपागतः शिव इति ख्यातः पुराणो विभुः॥
pratyarthikṣitipālamaulinivahair abhyārci viśvaṃbharā
yasyānekavasuṃdharāparivṛḍhaprottuṅgacūḍāmaṇeḥ
putratvaṃ samupāgataḥ śiva iti khyātaḥ purāṇo vibhuḥ
A word on these verses
The Budhabhushanam verses are court poetry, written by a son about his father. "From the Setu to the Himalaya" is the standard way Sanskrit poets praised a king, not a map of the kingdom. The seal, too, has no known author — guesses that name Dadoji Konddev, Samarth Ramdas or Gagabhatta have no evidence behind them. What these lines do show, reliably, is how Shivaji Maharaj chose to present himself (in Sanskrit, on every letter he sealed) and how his own family saw him.
Famous "Shivaji Maharaj quotes" he never said
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हे हिंदवी स्वराज्य व्हावे ही श्रींची इच्छाThe most shared Shivaji line, and it is on our own poster. It is a modern wording based on a letter dated 1645 to Dadaji Naras Prabhu of Rohidkhore. Several historians doubt that letter, because its language does not read like 17th-century Marathi (Setumadhavrao Pagadi, 1975). Others say his whole life shows the idea of Swarajya, whether or not he wrote that letter. Treat it as a tradition, not a document.Disputed letter of 17 April 1645
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गड आला पण सिंह गेला"The fort is won, but the lion is gone" — said to be his words when Tanaji Malusare died taking Kondhana (Sinhagad) in 1670. No record from the time has it. It became famous as the title of Hari Narayan Apte's 1903 Marathi novel.Tradition · H. N. Apte's novel, 1903
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निश्चयाचा महामेरू…A Marathi verse about Shivaji, not by him. Tradition credits Samarth Ramdas. Historians note that Shivaji Maharaj met Ramdas only late in his life, and we could not check the verse against a scholarly edition.Traditionally attributed to Samarth Ramdas
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"When you are enthusiastic, the mountain also looks like a clay pile."A favourite of quote websites and Shiv Jayanti posts. None of them give a source, and it isn't in his letters, his seal or any chronicle of his time.Modern, unsourced
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"Freedom is a boon, which everyone has the right to receive."Another widely shared English line with no source behind it. His surviving letters are in Marathi, and none of them says this.Modern, unsourced
Questions people ask
What is written on Shivaji Maharaj's Rajmudra?
“प्रतिपच्चंद्रलेखेव वर्धिष्णुर्विश्ववंदिता। शाहसूनोः शिवस्यैषा मुद्रा भद्राय राजते॥” — like the first-day crescent moon, ever growing and honoured by the world, this seal of Shiva, son of Shahaji, shines for the good of all. His parents' seals were in Persian; his was in Sanskrit. Maharashtra's state emblem still uses the same verse, with the state's name in place of his.
What does क्षत्रियकुलावतंस mean?
“Crest-jewel of the Kshatriya line” — कुल is lineage and अवतंस is an ornament worn on the head. It is one of the titles linked to his coronation at Raigad in 1674, often written in full as “क्षत्रियकुलावतंस सिंहासनाधीश्वर राजा शिवछत्रपति”.
What does “इन्द्र जिमि जंभ पर” mean?
“As Indra is upon the demon Jambha.” It is the first line of a poem in Braj Bhasha by Kavi Bhushan, a 17th-century poet who wrote in praise of Shivaji Maharaj. Each line pairs a hero with the enemy he overpowers, and the poem ends by calling Shivaji the lion.
Did Shivaji Maharaj say “हे हिंदवी स्वराज्य व्हावे ही श्रींची इच्छा”?
Not in those words. It comes from a 1645 letter whose authenticity historians still debate. We print it on a poster because it is how millions remember his purpose — but we won't call it his proven words.
Which old books were written about Shivaji Maharaj?
Two from his own time: Kavindra Paramananda's Sanskrit epic Shivabharata, and the opening verses of Budhabhushanam by his son Sambhaji Maharaj, quoted above. We could not find a free copy of the Shivabharata to check, so none of its verses appear here.
Bring the line home
