Bhadrakali Mantra
कालीं मेघसमप्रभां त्रिनयनां वेतालकण्ठस्थितां खड्गं खेटकपालदारिकशिरः कृत्वा कराग्रेषु च । भूतप्रेतपिशाचमातृसहितां मुण्डस्रजालङ्कृतां वन्दे दुष्टमसूरिकादि विपदां संहारिणीमीश्वरीम् ॥Also known as Kalim Meghasamaprabham
In Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.
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What the Bhadrakali Mantra is
The Bhadrakali mantra, as Kerala households say it, is a set of four short texts to Bhadrakali, the auspicious Kali who is the family deity of many Kerala clans. First comes the dhyana Kalim meghasamaprabham, one of the two meditation verses by which she is generally worshipped in Kerala. It pictures her dark as a rain cloud, three-eyed, seated on the neck of a Vetala, her four hands holding a sword, a shield, a skull-cup and the severed head of the demon Darika. One printing sets it among the dhyanas placed before a Kali Sahasranama, though it is not part of that text. Next is the Bhadrakali Gayatri, kept in Malayalam Gayatri collections, which names her the daughter of Rudra and the bearer of the trident. The name mantra Om Bhadrakalyai namah is also the first name of her 108-name list. The namaskara Kali Kali Mahakali closes the set. No author is named for any of the four.
Darika's head and the pox of Manodari
Kerala tradition places the battle behind the dhyana near Madayi in Kannur. Brahma had granted the asura Darika, with his ally Danavendra, that no man in the fourteen worlds could kill him, and he went on to defeat Indra. When the sage Narada brought the gods' complaint to Shiva, the answer was a goddess: Bhadrakali came forth from Shiva's third eye, which is why the Gayatri calls her Rudrasuta, and the gods armed her with their own weapons. She rode the Vetala into battle and returned with Darika's head, the head the dhyana places in her hand. The folk retelling of the legend continues with Darika's wife Manodari. She had won from Shiva at Kailasa a few drops of his sweat, with the blessing that whoever she sprinkled would grant her wish. Seeing her husband's head, she cast them on the goddess, and pox broke out over Bhadrakali's body. Bhadrakali pierced Manodari's eyes, named her Vasoorimala, and kept her as a companion. Another telling says Shiva made Ghantakarna to lick the pox away, and that the goddess would not let him touch her face. The dhyana's closing words, destroyer of the dread pox, sit beside this story. Vasoorimala is still a sub-deity at Kodungallur, and the Darika battle is enacted as Mudiyettu in Bhagavati shrines along the Chalakudy, Periyar and Moovattupuzha rivers between February and May.
The mantra, in six scripts
- कालीं
- kālīṃ — Kali (whom I meditate on)
- मेघसमप्रभां
- meghasamaprabhāṃ — dark as a rain cloud
- त्रिनयनां
- trinayanāṃ — three-eyed
- वेतालकण्ठस्थितां
- vetālakaṇṭhasthitāṃ — seated on a Vetala's neck
- खड्गं
- khaḍgaṃ — a sword
- खेटकपालदारिकशिरः
- kheṭakapāladārikaśiraḥ — shield, skull-cup, Darika's head
- कृत्वा
- kṛtvā — holding
- कराग्रेषु
- karāgreṣu — in her hands
- च
- ca — and
Bhadrakali Mantra lyrics in full
The Kerala dhyana of Bhadrakali, her Gayatri, the name mantra and the namaskara Kali Kali Mahakali.
All 4 verses, in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, each with its meaning. Choose a script:
Download the Bhadrakali Mantra PDFAll 4 verses with their meanings, in Sanskrit. Free to print and keep.
कालीं मेघसमप्रभां त्रिनयनां वेतालकण्ठस्थितां खड्गं खेटकपालदारिकशिरः कृत्वा कराग्रेषु च ।
भूतप्रेतपिशाचमातृसहितां मुण्डस्रजालङ्कृतां वन्दे दुष्टमसूरिकादि विपदां संहारिणीमीश्वरीम् ॥
காலீம் மேகஸமப்ரபாம் த்ரிநயநாம் வேதாலகண்டஸ்திதாம் கட்கம் கேடகபாலதாரிகஶிரஃ க்ருத்வா கராக்ரேஷு ச ।
பூதப்ரேதபிஶாசமாத்ருஸஹிதாம் முண்டஸ்ரஜாலங்க்ருதாம் வந்தே துஷ்டமஸூரிகாதி விபதாம் ஸம்ஹாரிணீமீஶ்வரீம் ॥
కాలీం మేఘసమప్రభాం త్రినయనాం వేతాలకణ్ఠస్థితాం ఖడ్గం ఖేటకపాలదారికశిరః కృత్వా కరాగ్రేషు చ ।
భూతప్రేతపిశాచమాతృసహితాం ముణ్డస్రజాలఙ్కృతాం వన్దే దుష్టమసూరికాది విపదాం సంహారిణీమీశ్వరీమ్ ॥
ಕಾಲೀಂ ಮೇಘಸಮಪ್ರಭಾಂ ತ್ರಿನಯನಾಂ ವೇತಾಲಕಣ್ಠಸ್ಥಿತಾಂ ಖಡ್ಗಂ ಖೇಟಕಪಾಲದಾರಿಕಶಿರಃ ಕೃತ್ವಾ ಕರಾಗ್ರೇಷು ಚ ।
ಭೂತಪ್ರೇತಪಿಶಾಚಮಾತೃಸಹಿತಾಂ ಮುಣ್ಡಸ್ರಜಾಲಙ್ಕೃತಾಂ ವನ್ದೇ ದುಷ್ಟಮಸೂರಿಕಾದಿ ವಿಪದಾಂ ಸಂಹಾರಿಣೀಮೀಶ್ವರೀಮ್ ॥
കാലീം മേഘസമപ്രഭാം ത്രിനയനാം വേതാലകണ്ഠസ്ഥിതാം ഖഡ്ഗം ഖേടകപാലദാരികശിരഃ കൃത്വാ കരാഗ്രേഷു ച ।
ഭൂതപ്രേതപിശാചമാതൃസഹിതാം മുണ്ഡസ്രജാലങ്കൃതാം വന്ദേ ദുഷ്ടമസൂരികാദി വിപദാം സംഹാരിണീമീശ്വരീമ് ॥
kālīṃ meghasamaprabhāṃ trinayanāṃ vetālakaṇṭhasthitāṃ khaḍgaṃ kheṭakapāladārikaśiraḥ kṛtvā karāgreṣu ca |
bhūtapretapiśācamātṛsahitāṃ muṇḍasrajālaṅkṛtāṃ vande duṣṭamasūrikādi vipadāṃ saṃhāriṇīmīśvarīm ||
I bow to Kali, dark as a rain cloud, three-eyed, seated on the neck of a Vetala, holding in her hands a sword, a shield, a skull-cup and the head of the demon Darika. Surrounded by spirits, ghosts and the Mother goddesses and decked with a garland of heads, she is the sovereign Goddess who destroys calamities such as the dread pox.
ॐ रुद्रसुतायै विद्महे शूलहस्तायै धीमहि ।
तन्नो काली प्रचोदयात् ॥
ௐ ருத்ரஸுதாயை வித்மஹே ஶூலஹஸ்தாயை தீமஹி ।
தந்நோ காலீ ப்ரசோதயாத் ॥
ఓం రుద్రసుతాయై విద్మహే శూలహస్తాయై ధీమహి ।
తన్నో కాలీ ప్రచోదయాత్ ॥
ಓಂ ರುದ್ರಸುತಾಯೈ ವಿದ್ಮಹೇ ಶೂಲಹಸ್ತಾಯೈ ಧೀಮಹಿ ।
ತನ್ನೋ ಕಾಲೀ ಪ್ರಚೋದಯಾತ್ ॥
ഓം രുദ്രസുതായൈ വിദ്മഹേ ശൂലഹസ്തായൈ ധീമഹി ।
തന്നോ കാലീ പ്രചോദയാത് ॥
oṃ rudrasutāyai vidmahe śūlahastāyai dhīmahi |
tanno kālī pracodayāt ||
Om. We come to know the daughter of Rudra and meditate on her who holds the trident. May that Kali stir and guide us.
ॐ भद्रकाल्यै नमः ॥
ௐ பத்ரகால்யை நமஃ ॥
ఓం భద్రకాల్యై నమః ॥
ಓಂ ಭದ್ರಕಾಲ್ಯೈ ನಮಃ ॥
ഓം ഭദ്രകാല്യൈ നമഃ ॥
oṃ bhadrakālyai namaḥ ||
Om, salutations to Bhadrakali, the auspicious Kali.
कालि कालि महाकालि भद्रकालि नमोऽस्तु ते ।
कुलं च कुलधर्मं च मां च पालय पालय ॥
காலி காலி மஹாகாலி பத்ரகாலி நமோஸ்து தே ।
குலம் ச குலதர்மம் ச மாம் ச பாலய பாலய ॥
కాలి కాలి మహాకాలి భద్రకాలి నమోఽస్తు తే ।
కులం చ కులధర్మం చ మాం చ పాలయ పాలయ ॥
ಕಾಲಿ ಕಾಲಿ ಮಹಾಕಾಲಿ ಭದ್ರಕಾಲಿ ನಮೋಽಸ್ತು ತೇ ।
ಕುಲಂ ಚ ಕುಲಧರ್ಮಂ ಚ ಮಾಂ ಚ ಪಾಲಯ ಪಾಲಯ ॥
കാലി കാലി മഹാകാലി ഭദ്രകാലി നമോഽസ്തു തേ ।
കുലം ച കുലധര്മം ച മാം ച പാലയ പാലയ ॥
kāli kāli mahākāli bhadrakāli namo'stu te |
kulaṃ ca kuladharmaṃ ca māṃ ca pālaya pālaya ||
O Kali, Kali, great Kali, Bhadrakali, I bow to you. Guard my family, the ways of my family, and me; guard us, guard us.
The syllable people get wrong
In the name mantra, bhadrakālyai has three syllables after bhadra, not four: say "bhad-ra-KAAL-yai", with a long first a in kāl and the l running straight into yai, never "kaa-li-yai". Kerala priests often say the l with the curled Malayalam sound, which is why some romanisations write bhadrakāḷyai.
When the Bhadrakali Mantra is chanted
Weekday. Friday
Festival. Kodungallur Bharani, Kumbham to Meenam
Questions
Have your chart read before you decide
Chanting is yours to do, and free. But which deity your situation calls for — and whether a mantra alone is the right response — depends on your chart. Sometimes it is; sometimes it is not.
- Over 30 years in the Guru–Sishya Parampara, from the age of five
- He reads every chart himself — 60 minutes, one to one, never delegated
- Charts are read only between sunrise and sunset, following tradition
