[1] Comprising thirty-three verses,[2] the hymn extols Hayagriva, an incarnation of the deity Vishnu.

[3] Adherents of the Vadakalai school of the Sri Vaishnava tradition hold this hymn to be the poetic idealisation of the esotericism of the Hayagriva Mantra.

The Hayagriva Stotra is regarded to be the first devotional composition of Vedanta Desika.

According to the Sri Vaishnava narrative, the philosopher once propitiated Garuda, the mount of Vishnu, upon the hillock of Oshada located in Tiruvanthipuram, Cuddalore.

The second verse serves as a panegyric of the deity:[8] svatassiddhaṁ śuddhasphaṭikamaṇi bhūbhṛtpratibhaṭaṁsudhā sadhrīcībhir dhutibhir avadātatribhuvanamanantaistrayyantair anuvihita heṣā halahalaṁhatāśeṣāvadyaṁ hayavadana mīḍī mahi mahaḥWe sing the glories of the radiant Hayagriva, born to banish the worldly afflictions of his devotees.