According to the tradition, Sankara was once walking in the streets of Varanasi accompanied by fourteen of his disciples when he overheard an elderly scholar reciting grammatical rules. Feeling compassion for the scholar, Sankara approached him and advised him to turn his mind to god and not waste his valuable time on grammar. Sankara is said to have composed twelve verses on that occasion, and the hymn is therefore known as the Dvadasamanjarikastotra. Furthermore, each of the fourten disciples present added one verse each; these fourteen verses are collectively known as the Caturdasamanjarikastotra. In addition to these 12+14 verses, a few additional verses (sesa) have become part of the generally accepted form of the text. The present edition consists of thirty-one verses and bears the title Mohamudgara. The hymn is popularly referred to as Bhaja Govindam after the opening words of the refrain. (From Toke's introduction in which he quotes Mahadevan)

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