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Mantra · Brahma's roll of the nine Durgas, then one dhyana verse for each form

Navadurga Stotram

प्रथमं शैलपुत्री च द्वितीयं ब्रह्मचारिणी । तृतीयं चन्द्रघण्टेति कूष्माण्डेति चतुर्थकम् ॥

Also known as Prathamam Shailaputri

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 Navadurga Stotram is

The Navadurga Stotram is the name given to the verses that call on the nine Durgas, the nine forms of the Goddess honoured one by one across Navaratri. It is printed here in two parts. The first is the three-verse roll of names from the Devi Kavacham, its verses 3 to 5, which opens "Prathamam Shailaputri cha" and counts the forms off by number, first, second, third, through to the ninth, Siddhidatri, before stating that Brahma himself uttered these names. The second part is a set of nine anonymous dhyana verses opening "Vande vanchitalabhaya", one verse for each form in the same order. Each dhyana verse fixes a single image to hold in mind: Shailaputri on her bull with trident and crescent moon, Brahmacharini with rosary and water pot, Katyayani with a gleaming curved sword on a tiger, Mahagauri in white on a white bull. Most close by asking the Goddess to be gracious or to grant what is auspicious. Kalaratri alone receives two shlokas.

Nine names, nine nights, nine shrines

The roll of names did not begin as a separate hymn. It sits near the opening of the Devi Kavacham, the protective hymn read before the Durga Saptashati, where Brahma answers the sage Markandeya. Before any guardian is placed on the body, Brahma counts out the nine Durgas, so the reader meets the whole sequence first. One recension's closing line places the kavacham in the Varaha Purana. The ordering is the kavacham's own, and the dhyana verses that follow keep it.

That order became the calendar of Navaratri. Tradition gives one form to each night, Shailaputri on the first and Siddhidatri on the ninth, and the dhyana verses let each night's form be recognised by her mount, her weapons and her colour. They carry no author's name, and the printed texts give them no scriptural source line.

In Kashi the sequence is walked as well as recited. According to tradition, the Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana calls for a Navadurga pilgrimage during Navaratri, and each of the nine forms has her own shrine in the lanes of Varanasi: Shailaputri near Marhia Ghat in the north, Kushmanda beside the Durga Kund, Kalaratri in Kalika Gali near Dashashwamedh Ghat, and Mahagauri within the Annapurna temple beside Kashi Vishwanath.

The mantra, in six scripts

DevanagariSanskrit & Hindiप्रथमं शैलपुत्री च द्वितीयं ब्रह्मचारिणी । तृतीयं चन्द्रघण्टेति कूष्माण्डेति चतुर्थकम् ॥

Tamilப்ரதமம் ஶைலபுத்ரீ ச த்விதீயம் ப்ரஹ்மசாரிணீ । த்ருதீயம் சந்த்ரகண்டேதி கூஷ்மாண்டேதி சதுர்தகம் ॥

Teluguప్రథమం శైలపుత్రీ చ ద్వితీయం బ్రహ్మచారిణీ । తృతీయం చన్ద్రఘణ్టేతి కూష్మాణ్డేతి చతుర్థకమ్ ॥

Kannadaಪ್ರಥಮಂ ಶೈಲಪುತ್ರೀ ಚ ದ್ವಿತೀಯಂ ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿಣೀ । ತೃತೀಯಂ ಚನ್ದ್ರಘಣ್ಟೇತಿ ಕೂಷ್ಮಾಣ್ಡೇತಿ ಚತುರ್ಥಕಮ್ ॥

Malayalamപ്രഥമം ശൈലപുത്രീ ച ദ്വിതീയം ബ്രഹ്മചാരിണീ । തൃതീയം ചന്ദ്രഘണ്ടേതി കൂഷ്മാണ്ഡേതി ചതുര്ഥകമ് ॥

EnglishRoman transliterationprathamaṃ śailaputrī ca dvitīyaṃ brahmacāriṇī | tṛtīyaṃ candraghaṇṭeti kūṣmāṇḍeti caturthakam ||

“The first is Shailaputri, the second Brahmacharini, the third is called Chandraghanta, and the fourth Kushmanda.”

प्रथमं: prathamaṃ — first
शैलपुत्री: śailaputrī — Shailaputri, daughter of the mountain
च: ca — and
द्वितीयं: dvitīyaṃ — second
ब्रह्मचारिणी: brahmacāriṇī — Brahmacharini, she who keeps austerity
तृतीयं: tṛtīyaṃ — third
चन्द्रघण्टेति: candraghaṇṭeti — called Chandraghanta (moon-bell)
कूष्माण्डेति: kūṣmāṇḍeti — called Kushmanda
चतुर्थकम्: caturthakam — the fourth

Navadurga Stotram lyrics in full

The three verses of the Devi Kavacham that name the nine forms, followed by nine meditation verses, one for each form in order.

All 13 verses, in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, each with its meaning. Choose a script:

Download the Navadurga Stotram PDFAll 13 verses with their meanings, in Sanskrit. Free to print and keep.

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Kavacham 1

प्रथमं शैलपुत्री च द्वितीयं ब्रह्मचारिणी ।
तृतीयं चन्द्रघण्टेति कूष्माण्डेति चतुर्थकम् ॥

The first is Shailaputri, the second Brahmacharini, the third is called Chandraghanta, and the fourth Kushmanda.

Kavacham 2

पञ्चमं स्कन्दमातेति षष्ठं कात्यायनीति च ।
सप्तमं कालरात्रीति महागौरीति चाष्टमम् ॥

The fifth is Skandamata, the sixth Katyayani, the seventh Kalaratri, and the eighth Mahagauri.

Kavacham 3

नवमं सिद्धिदात्री च नवदुर्गाः प्रकीर्तिताः ।
उक्तान्येतानि नामानि ब्रह्मणैव महात्मना ॥

The ninth is Siddhidatri; these are proclaimed as the nine Durgas. These names were spoken by the great-souled Brahma himself.

Verse 1

वन्दे वाञ्छितलाभाय चन्द्रार्धकृतशेखराम् ।
वृषारूढां शूलधरां शैलपुत्रीं यशस्विनीम् ॥

I bow to Shailaputri, the glorious daughter of the mountain, who wears the half-moon as her crest, rides a bull and holds a trident, for the gaining of what is desired.

Verse 2

दधाना करपद्माभ्यामक्षमालाकमण्डलू ।
देवी प्रसीदतु मयि ब्रह्मचारिण्यनुत्तमा ॥

May the Goddess Brahmacharini, the unsurpassed, who holds a rosary and a water pot in her lotus hands, be gracious to me.

Verse 3

पिण्डजप्रवरारूढा चण्डकोपास्त्रकैर्युता ।
प्रसादं तनुते मह्यं चन्द्रघण्टेति विश्रुता ॥

She who rides the finest of womb-born beasts (a great cat) and bears weapons of fierce wrath, renowned as Chandraghanta, extends her grace to me.

Verse 4

सुरासम्पूर्णकलशं रुधिराप्लुतमेव च ।
दधाना हस्तपद्माभ्यां कूष्माण्डा शुभदास्तु मे ॥

May Kushmanda, who holds in her lotus hands a pot brimming with wine and one steeped in blood, grant me what is auspicious.

Verse 5

सिंहासनगता नित्यं पद्माश्रितकरद्वया ।
शुभदास्तु सदा देवी स्कन्दमाता यशस्विनी ॥

May the Goddess Skandamata, the glorious one, ever seated on a lion throne, with lotuses in her two hands, always grant what is auspicious.

Verse 6

चन्द्रहासोज्ज्वलकरा शार्दूलवरवाहना ।
कात्यायनी शुभं दद्याद्देवी दानवघातिनी ॥

May the Goddess Katyayani, slayer of demons, whose hand shines with a curved sword and who rides a noble tiger, grant what is auspicious.

Verse 7

एकवेणी जपाकर्णपूरा नग्ना खरास्थिता ।
लम्बोष्ठी कर्णिकाकर्णी तैलाभ्यक्तशरीरिणी ॥ वामपादोल्लसल्लोहलताकण्टकभूषणा ।
वर्धन्मूर्धध्वजा कृष्णा कालरात्रिर्भयङ्करी ॥

Kalaratri wears a single braid and japa flowers as ear ornaments; she is unclothed, seated on a donkey, long-lipped, with large ear ornaments and her body anointed with oil. Her left foot gleams with an iron thorn-shaped ornament, her banner rises high above her head; she is dark, the Night of Time, the fearsome one.

Verse 8

श्वेते वृषे समारूढा श्वेताम्बरधरा शुचिः ।
महागौरी शुभं दद्यान्महादेवप्रमोददा ॥

May Mahagauri, mounted on a white bull, clad in white and pure, who gives delight to Mahadeva, grant what is auspicious.

Verse 9

सिद्धगन्धर्वयक्षाद्यैरसुरैरमरैरपि ।
सेव्यमाना सदा भूयात् सिद्धिदा सिद्धिदायिनी ॥

May Siddhidatri, the giver of attainments, who is ever served by Siddhas, Gandharvas, Yakshas and others, by Asuras and by gods alike, always be the bestower of success.

Closing

इति नवदुर्गास्तोत्रं सम्पूर्णम् ॥

Thus ends the Navadurga Stotram.

The syllable people get wrong

Kushmanda, kūṣmāṇḍā in Verse 4 (kūṣmāṇḍeti in the first verse), has a long ū, a retroflex ṣ and a retroflex ṇḍ: say koosh-MAAN-daa with the tongue curled back for both the sh and the nd, not a quick "kush-manda" with short vowels and a flat d.

When the Navadurga Stotram is chanted

Weekday. Friday

Festival. Sharada Navaratri, one form for each of the nine nights

Questions

It is verses 3 to 5 of the Devi Kavacham, the armour hymn recited before the Durga Saptashati. In it Brahma, answering the sage Markandeya, numbers the nine forms from Shailaputri to Siddhidatri. The third verse calls them the nine Durgas and says the names were spoken by Brahma, the great-souled one. One recension of the kavacham closes by assigning the whole hymn to the Varaha Purana.

Every printing gives her two shlokas, because her picture is the most detailed of the nine: a single braid, japa flowers worn at the ears, an unclothed, oil-anointed body, a donkey for her mount, an iron thorn-shaped ornament gleaming on her left foot and a banner rising above her head. The two shlokas are printed together as Verse 7 so that the nine forms keep nine numbers.

Pindaja means born from a womb, that is, a mammal, and pravara means the foremost, so the phrase describes Chandraghanta as mounted on the finest of womb-born beasts. The verse never names the animal; it is read as the great cat on which she is shown. The same line arms her with weapons of fierce wrath, and the verse ends by saying that she, renowned as Chandraghanta, extends her grace.

The opening words mean "I bow, for the gaining of what is wished for", and they introduce the Shailaputri verse. There is no separate phala shruti. Instead the ninth verse closes the set by calling Siddhidatri the giver of attainments, served by Siddhas, Gandharvas and Yakshas, by Asuras and by gods alike. Tradition holds that the nine verses together honour the whole sequence of Navaratri.

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