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Home › Mantras › Bilvashtakam
Rudra (Shiva) Bilvashtakam: Shiva Lingam with three bilva leaves, copper abhisheka vessel, Nandi and an oil lamp
Bilvashtakam: Shiva Lingam
Mantra · Recited while offering bilva leaves.

Bilvashtakam

त्रिदलं त्रिगुणाकारं त्रिनेत्रं च त्रियायुधम् । त्रिजन्मपापसंहारम् एकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥

In Devanagari, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English — with the meaning of every word, and the one syllable most people pronounce wrongly.

What the Bilvashtakam is

The Bilvashtakam is addressed to Shiva solely through the medium of the bilva leaf, the trifoliate offering that Shaiva ritual treats as his most intimate vegetable body. Each verse ends with the declaration that a single bilva leaf is cast upon Shiva; the deity is therefore approached not as dancer, beggar or half-woman, but as the one who receives the cool, three-lobed leaf that mirrors his own three eyes and the three gunas. The hymn never leaves the bilva tree: the merit of offering its leaf, and of seeing and touching the tree, forms the entire horizon of praise. In this way the stotra isolates the botanical sacrament that distinguishes Shaiva puja from every other Hindu offering.

The Hunter’s Unknowing Vigil

The Shiva Purana and regional Skanda Purana recensions tell of a hunter who, on the night of Shivaratri, climbed a bilva tree to wait for deer to come and stayed awake until dawn. To keep himself alert he plucked leaves and dropped them one by one; unknown to him, a lingam stood at the foot of the tree and each leaf fell upon it. At daybreak the celestial attendants of Shiva appeared, declaring that the hunter had performed the complete night-long bilva offering without intent or mantra. The story is not about moral conversion but about the leaf itself: the bilva’s contact with the lingam outweighs knowledge, caste or deliberate ritual. The Bilvashtakam crystallizes that same conviction into eight verses, each insisting that one bilva leaf offered to Shiva constitutes the entire act of worship, echoing the hunter’s accidental yet perfect gift.

The mantra, in six scripts

DevanagariSanskrit & Hindiत्रिदलं त्रिगुणाकारं त्रिनेत्रं च त्रियायुधम् । त्रिजन्मपापसंहारम् एकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥
Tamilத்ரிதலம் த்ரிகுணாகாரம் த்ரிநேத்ரம் ச த்ரியாயுதம் । த்ரிஜந்மபாபஸம்ஹாரம் ஏகபில்வம் ஶிவார்பணம் ॥
Teluguత్రిదలం త్రిగుణాకారం త్రినేత్రం చ త్రియాయుధమ్ । త్రిజన్మపాపసంహారమ్ ఏకబిల్వం శివార్పణమ్ ॥
Kannadaತ್ರಿದಲಂ ತ್ರಿಗುಣಾಕಾರಂ ತ್ರಿನೇತ್ರಂ ಚ ತ್ರಿಯಾಯುಧಮ್ । ತ್ರಿಜನ್ಮಪಾಪಸಂಹಾರಮ್ ಏಕಬಿಲ್ವಂ ಶಿವಾರ್ಪಣಮ್ ॥
Malayalamത്രിദലം ത്രിഗുണാകാരം ത്രിനേത്രം ച ത്രിയായുധമ് । ത്രിജന്മപാപസംഹാരമ് ഏകബില്വം ശിവാര്പണമ് ॥
EnglishRoman transliterationtridalaṃ triguṇākāraṃ trinetraṃ ca triyāyudham | trijanmapāpasaṃhāram ekabilvaṃ śivārpaṇam ||
“A single bilva leaf—three-lobed, formed of the three gunas, marking the three eyes and the three weapons, destroying the sins of three births—is offered to Shiva.”
त्रिदलं
tridalaṃ — three-lobed
त्रिगुणाकारं
triguṇākāraṃ — form of the three gunas
त्रिनेत्रं
trinetraṃ — three-eyed
च
ca — and
त्रियायुधम्
triyāyudham — having three weapons
त्रिजन्म
trijanma — of three births
पाप
pāpa — sin
संहारम्
saṃhāram — destruction
एकबिल्वं
ekabilvaṃ — one bilva leaf
शिवार्पणम्
śivārpaṇam — offering to Shiva

Bilvashtakam lyrics in full

All 9 verses, in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, each with its meaning. Choose a script:

Download the Bilvashtakam PDFAll 9 verses with their meanings, in Sanskrit. Free to print and keep.

Verse 1

त्रिदलं त्रिगुणाकारं त्रिनेत्रं च त्रियायुधम् ।
त्रिजन्मपापसंहारं एकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥

The three-leaved bilva mirrors the three gunas, Shiva's three eyes and his three weapons, and is said to remove the sins of three births. One bilva leaf is offered to Shiva.

Verse 2

त्रिशाखैर्बिल्वपत्रैश्च ह्यच्छिद्रैः कोमलैः शुभैः ।
शिवपूजां करिष्यामि ह्येकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥

With three-pronged bilva leaves, unbroken, tender and auspicious, I shall worship Shiva. One bilva leaf is offered to Shiva.

Verse 3

अखण्डबिल्वपत्रेण पूजिते नन्दिकेश्वरे ।
शुद्ध्यन्ति सर्वपापेभ्यो ह्येकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥

The verse says that when Nandikeshvara, the Lord of Nandi, is worshipped with an unbroken bilva leaf, devotees are cleansed of all sins. One bilva leaf is offered to Shiva.

Verse 4

शालिग्रामशिलामेकां विप्राणां जातु चार्पयेत् ।
सोमयज्ञमहापुण्यं एकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥

The verse likens the offering to giving a single Shaligrama stone to learned brahmins, and to the great merit of a Soma sacrifice. One bilva leaf is offered to Shiva.

Verse 5

दन्तिकोटिसहस्राणि वाजपेयशतानि च ।
कोटिकन्यामहादानं एकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥

The verse ranks the offering with the gift of countless thousands of elephants, a hundred Vajapeya sacrifices, and the great gift of ten million daughters given in marriage. One bilva leaf is offered to Shiva.

Verse 6

लक्ष्म्यास्तनुत उत्पन्नं महादेवस्य च प्रियम् ।
बिल्ववृक्षं प्रयच्छामि ह्येकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥

I offer the bilva tree, born from the body of Lakshmi and dear to Mahadeva. One bilva leaf is offered to Shiva.

Verse 7

दर्शनं बिल्ववृक्षस्य स्पर्शनं पापनाशनम् ।
अघोरपापसंहारं एकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥

Seeing the bilva tree and touching it are said to destroy sin, even the gravest sin. One bilva leaf is offered to Shiva.

Verse 8

मूलतो ब्रह्मरूपाय मध्यतो विष्णुरूपिणे ।
अग्रतः शिवरूपाय ह्येकबिल्वं शिवार्पणम् ॥

To the one who is Brahma at the root, Vishnu in the middle and Shiva at the tip, one bilva leaf is offered to Shiva.

Phalashruti

बिल्वाष्टकमिदं पुण्यं यः पठेच्छिवसन्निधौ ।
सर्वपापविनिर्मुक्तः शिवलोकमवाप्नुयात् ॥

The closing verse says that whoever recites this sacred Bilvashtakam in Shiva's presence is freed from all sins and reaches Shiva's realm.

The syllable people get wrong

The word bilvaṃ is frequently heard as “bel-vam” with an open ‘e’ drawn from the Hindi fruit name bel; the first syllable must remain the short closed ‘i’ of bil-, the tongue high and forward, before the labial v is lightly touched.

When the Bilvashtakam is chanted

Weekday. Monday

Festival. Maha Shivaratri bilva-patra archana

Questions

The Bilvashtakam equates the three lobes with Shiva’s three eyes, the three gunas and the three weapons; a leaf that is broken, insect-eaten or bearing four or two leaflets is set aside because it no longer carries that exact numerical correspondence the verses themselves celebrate.
The text names only ekabilvaṃ—one bilva leaf—and tradition therefore treats the species Aegle marmelos as irreplaceable for this stotra; other leaves may be used in general Shiva puja, yet they fall outside the specific claim of the Bilvashtakam.
The Skanda Purana describes the bilva tree as sprung from drops of Parvati’s sweat that fell on Mount Mandara. The Bilvashtakam presupposes this sacred origin when it calls the leaf trinetraṃ and triguṇākāraṃ, so that the offering returns to Shiva a tree born of the Goddess.
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