Editorial policy

This page explains how we write, source, check and update what you read on Shubhakshar. It covers stotra pages, meanings, articles and the text in our tools.

Who writes

The content is prepared by the Shubhakshar team and edited by Pradip Tambe, the founder, who decides what is published. Each article shows the writer's name, the reviewer's name where there is one, and the date it was last updated. On stotra pages, the scholar who checked a verse is named only after that check is done. Until then, the page says "Scholar review pending".

Sourcing rules

• Sanskrit text comes only from printed or published editions, and the edition is named on the page. The full method is on How we check the texts.
• Statements about a text, such as where it appears, who tradition names as its author, or when it is chanted, need a source we can name: the text itself, a printed edition or a known commentary.
• Where traditions differ, we say so instead of quietly picking one.
• Beliefs are written as beliefs. We write "the phalashruti says" or "it is traditionally believed", not "this will happen".
• Word meanings in our tools are taken from standard Sanskrit dictionaries.

No copied translations

Every meaning on this site is written by the Shubhakshar team from the Sanskrit. We do not copy anyone else's translation or reword it as our own. When an article draws on a commentary or a scholar's explanation, we name it.

How articles are checked

Before an article goes live, it goes through a separate review pass, done independently of the writing:

1. Every Sanskrit quotation is matched against the edition it comes from.
2. Every name, date and reference is checked against a source we can cite.
3. Anything we cannot confirm is removed, or clearly marked as tradition or opinion.
4. A meaning quoted in an article must match the meaning on the stotra page.

No promises of results

We do not claim that chanting a stotra will cure an illness, bring money, arrange a marriage or change anyone's fate. Many stotras end with a phalashruti, a passage that describes the fruit of recitation. We translate it faithfully as what the text says, not as a promise from us. More on this in the disclaimer.

Ads and our own products

• When ads are switched on, they are served by Google AdSense. We do not pick individual ads, and no advertiser has any say in what we write.
• We do not place ads inside the Sanskrit text or between a verse and its meaning.
• The name plates and mantra frames are our own products. Wherever they appear on a stotra page or in an article, they are labelled as ours. They never change a meaning, a source or the conclusion of an article.
• If we ever publish something that someone has paid for, it will be clearly marked as sponsored.

Updates

• We revisit a page when another edition has been compared, when a scholar completes a review, or when a reader reports a problem.
• Any change to a Sanskrit text or a meaning is dated on the page, as set out in our corrections policy.
• Small fixes, such as a spelling mistake in the surrounding text or a layout change, may be made without a separate note.
• Articles show the date they were last updated.

Questions about this policy? Email digitalpradip91@gmail.com or use the contact form.