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Mantra · Fifteen verses confessing to Shiva a life from womb to old age

Shiva Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram

आदौ कर्मप्रसङ्गात्कलयति कलुषं मातृकुक्षौ स्थितं मां विण्मूत्रामेध्यमध्ये क्वथयति नितरां जाठरो जातवेदाः । यद्यद्वै तत्र दुःखं व्यथयति नितरां शक्यते केन वक्तुं क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

Also known as Adau Karmaprasangat

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 Shiva Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram is

The Shiva Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram, the hymn asking Shiva to pardon offences, is a Sanskrit confession ascribed by its closing line to Adi Shankaracharya, disciple of Govinda Bhagavatpada. The standard printed edition gives fifteen verses opening with adau karmaprasangat. Verses 1 to 4 walk through one life: the heat of the womb, an infancy of crying and illness, a youth bitten by the five serpents of the senses, an old age whose mind wanders without a thought of Dhurjati. Verses 5 and 6 list the worship never done, no Ganga water at dawn, no whole bilva leaf, no milk, honey and ghee poured on the linga. Verses 7 to 11 admit that the Vedic rites, the giving, the Rudra and the yogi's inner stillness were all beyond the speaker. Each of these eleven ends on the same refrain, kshantavyo me'paradhah. Verses 12 and 13 then turn to the speaker's own mind, verse 14 lists callings to be spared in every birth, and verse 15 asks for refuge now.

A boy renunciant speaking for every life

No account survives of when or where this hymn was made, and the attribution rests on its colophon, which names Shankara Bhagavatpada as the paramahamsa disciple of Govinda. That raises a puzzle readers have long noticed. According to tradition Shankara took sannyasa as a boy and lived about thirty-two years, yet the speaker here confesses a householder's youth spent on children, wealth and women, and an old age of failing senses. The usual reading is that the voice is not autobiography but the jiva, any embodied soul, looking back from the evening of life on the faults of each stage, when it is too late to mend them. The order of the confession supports this. It begins before birth, with karma said to be the cause of entering the womb, and climbs from the body to rites, from rites to knowledge, and from knowledge to the state beyond mind called unmani in verse 9. Having failed at every rung, the speaker gives up the ladder: verse 12 says other deeds are of no use, and verse 15, likening fortune to a breaking wave and life to lightning, asks only for protection. Tradition holds that the stotram is said at the close of Shiva worship, to ask pardon for whatever was left undone in the rite itself.

The mantra, in six scripts

DevanagariSanskrit & Hindiआदौ कर्मप्रसङ्गात्कलयति कलुषं मातृकुक्षौ स्थितं मां विण्मूत्रामेध्यमध्ये क्वथयति नितरां जाठरो जातवेदाः । यद्यद्वै तत्र दुःखं व्यथयति नितरां शक्यते केन वक्तुं क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

Tamilஆதௌ கர்மப்ரஸங்காத்கலயதி கலுஷம் மாத்ருகுக்ஷௌ ஸ்திதம் மாம் விண்மூத்ராமேத்யமத்யே க்வதயதி நிதராம் ஜாடரோ ஜாதவேதாஃ । யத்யத்வை தத்ர துஃகம் வ்யதயதி நிதராம் ஶக்யதே கேந வக்தும் க்ஷந்தவ்யோ மேபராதஃ ஶிவ ஶிவ ஶிவ போஃ ஶ்ரீமஹாதேவ ஶம்போ ॥

Teluguఆదౌ కర్మప్రసఙ్గాత్కలయతి కలుషం మాతృకుక్షౌ స్థితం మాం విణ్మూత్రామేధ్యమధ్యే క్వథయతి నితరాం జాఠరో జాతవేదాః । యద్యద్వై తత్ర దుఃఖం వ్యథయతి నితరాం శక్యతే కేన వక్తుం క్షన్తవ్యో మేఽపరాధః శివ శివ శివ భోః శ్రీమహాదేవ శంభో ॥

Kannadaಆದೌ ಕರ್ಮಪ್ರಸಙ್ಗಾತ್ಕಲಯತಿ ಕಲುಷಂ ಮಾತೃಕುಕ್ಷೌ ಸ್ಥಿತಂ ಮಾಂ ವಿಣ್ಮೂತ್ರಾಮೇಧ್ಯಮಧ್ಯೇ ಕ್ವಥಯತಿ ನಿತರಾಂ ಜಾಠರೋ ಜಾತವೇದಾಃ । ಯದ್ಯದ್ವೈ ತತ್ರ ದುಃಖಂ ವ್ಯಥಯತಿ ನಿತರಾಂ ಶಕ್ಯತೇ ಕೇನ ವಕ್ತುಂ ಕ್ಷನ್ತವ್ಯೋ ಮೇಽಪರಾಧಃ ಶಿವ ಶಿವ ಶಿವ ಭೋಃ ಶ್ರೀಮಹಾದೇವ ಶಂಭೋ ॥

Malayalamആദൌ കര്മപ്രസങ്ഗാത്കലയതി കലുഷം മാതൃകുക്ഷൌ സ്ഥിതം മാം വിണ്മൂത്രാമേധ്യമധ്യേ ക്വഥയതി നിതരാം ജാഠരോ ജാതവേദാഃ । യദ്യദ്വൈ തത്ര ദുഃഖം വ്യഥയതി നിതരാം ശക്യതേ കേന വക്തും ക്ഷന്തവ്യോ മേഽപരാധഃ ശിവ ശിവ ശിവ ഭോഃ ശ്രീമഹാദേവ ശംഭോ ॥

EnglishRoman transliterationādau karmaprasaṅgātkalayati kaluṣaṃ mātṛkukṣau sthitaṃ māṃ viṇmūtrāmedhyamadhye kvathayati nitarāṃ jāṭharo jātavedāḥ | yadyadvai tatra duḥkhaṃ vyathayati nitarāṃ śakyate kena vaktuṃ kṣantavyo me'parādhaḥ śiva śiva śiva bhoḥ śrīmahādeva śaṃbho ||

“In the beginning, through the force of past deeds, impurity takes hold of me lying in my mother's womb, and the fire of the belly scorches me constantly amid filth. Who can describe the pain that tormented me there? O Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, O great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.”

आदौ: ādau — in the beginning
कर्मप्रसङ्गात्कलयति: karmaprasaṅgātkalayati — through the press of past deeds, seizes
कलुषं: kaluṣaṃ — impurity
मातृकुक्षौ: mātṛkukṣau — in the mother's womb
स्थितं: sthitaṃ — lying
मां: māṃ — me
विण्मूत्रामेध्यमध्ये: viṇmūtrāmedhyamadhye — amid filth and waste
क्वथयति: kvathayati — scorches, boils
नितरां: nitarāṃ — constantly
जाठरो: jāṭharo — of the belly
जातवेदाः: jātavedāḥ — fire
यद्यद्वै: yadyadvai — whatever
तत्र: tatra — there
दुःखं: duḥkhaṃ — pain
व्यथयति: vyathayati — torments
नितरां: nitarāṃ — intensely
शक्यते: śakyate — can
केन: kena — by whom
वक्तुं: vaktuṃ — be told
क्षन्तव्यो: kṣantavyo — is to be forgiven
मेऽपराधः: me'parādhaḥ — my offence
शिव: śiva — O Shiva
शिव: śiva — O Shiva
शिव: śiva — O Shiva
भोः: bhoḥ — O, hear me
श्रीमहादेव: śrīmahādeva — great god
शंभो: śaṃbho — O Shambhu

Shiva Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram lyrics in full

The fifteen verses of the standard printed edition, from adau karmaprasangat to the plea for refuge in verse 15. The printed closing line is given at the end.

All 16 verses, in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and English, each with its meaning. Choose a script:

Download the Shiva Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram PDFAll 16 verses with their meanings, in Sanskrit. Free to print and keep.

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Verse 1

आदौ कर्मप्रसङ्गात्कलयति कलुषं मातृकुक्षौ स्थितं मां विण्मूत्रामेध्यमध्ये क्वथयति नितरां जाठरो जातवेदाः ।
यद्यद्वै तत्र दुःखं व्यथयति नितरां शक्यते केन वक्तुं क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

In the beginning, through the force of past deeds, impurity takes hold of me lying in my mother's womb, and the fire of the belly scorches me constantly amid filth. Who can describe the pain that tormented me there? O Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, O great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.

Verse 2

बाल्ये दुःखातिरेकान्मललुलितवपुः स्तन्यपाने पिपासुर्नो शक्तश्चेन्द्रियेभ्यो भव मलजनिता जन्तवो मां तुदन्ति ।
नानारोगातिदुःखाद्रुदितपरवशः शंकरं न स्मरामि क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

In childhood, from excess of suffering, my body soiled and longing only for the breast, I had no mastery over my senses, O Bhava, and creatures born of filth stung me. Overcome by weeping from many illnesses and pains, I did not remember Shankara. O Shiva, great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.

Verse 3

प्रौढोऽहं यौवनस्थो विषयविषधरैः पञ्चभिर्मर्मसंधौ दष्टो नष्टो विवेकः सुतधनयुवतिस्वादुसौख्ये निषण्णः ।
शैवे चिन्ताविहीनं मम हृदयमहो मानगर्वाधिरूढं क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

Grown into youth, I was bitten at my vital joints by the five serpents of the sense objects; my discernment was lost and I sank into the sweet comforts of children, wealth and women. Alas, my heart, mounted on pride and arrogance, had no thought for Shiva. O Shiva, great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.

Verse 4

वार्धक्ये चेन्द्रियाणां विकलगतिमतश्चाधिदैवादितापैः प्राप्तै रोगैर्वियोगैर्व्यसनकृशतनोर्ज्ञप्तिहीनं च दीनम् ।
मिथ्यामोहाभिलाषैर्भ्रमति मम मनो धूर्जटेर्ध्यानशून्यं क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

In old age, with my senses failing in movement and thought, my body wasted by afflictions from fate and the elements, by diseases, separations and troubles, my mind is dull and wretched. Driven by false delusion and craving it wanders, empty of meditation on Dhurjati. O Shiva, great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.

Verse 5

स्नात्वा प्रत्यूषकाले स्नपनविधिविधौ नाहृतं गाङ्गतोयं पूजार्थं वा कदाचिद्बहुतरगहनेऽखण्डबिल्वीदलं वा ।
नानीता पद्ममाला सरसि विकसिता गन्धपुष्पैस्त्वदर्थं क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

Bathing at dawn, I never brought Ganga water for the rite of your ablution, nor ever gathered whole bilva leaves from the deep forest for your worship. I never brought you a garland of lotuses blooming in the lake, nor fragrant flowers. O Shiva, great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.

Verse 6

दुग्धैर्मध्वाज्ययुक्तैर्दधिगुडसहितैः स्नापितं नैव लिङ्गं नो लिप्तं चन्दनाद्यैः कनकविरचितैः पूजितं न प्रसूनैः ।
धूपैः कर्पूरदीपैर्विविधरसयुतैर्नैव भक्ष्योपहारैः क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

I never bathed the linga with milk mixed with honey and ghee, with curd and jaggery; I never anointed it with sandal paste, nor worshipped it with golden flowers. I never offered incense, camphor lamps or foods of many flavours. O Shiva, great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.

Verse 7

नो शक्यं स्मार्तकर्म प्रतिपदगहने प्रत्यवायाकुलाढ्ये श्रौते वार्ता कथं मे द्विजकुलविहिते ब्रह्ममार्गानुसारे ।
तत्त्वेऽज्ञाते विचारे श्रवणमननयोः किं निदिध्यासितव्यं क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

I cannot perform the rites of the Smritis, difficult at every step and full of the risk of lapses; how then can I speak of the Vedic rites laid down for the twice-born on the path to Brahman? When the truth is not known through enquiry, hearing and reflection, what is there to meditate upon? O Shiva, great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.

Verse 8

ध्यात्वा चित्ते शिवाख्यं प्रचुरतरधनं नैव दत्तं द्विजेभ्यो हव्यं ते लक्षसंख्यैर्हुतवहवदने नार्पितं बीजमन्त्रैः ।
नो तप्तं गाङ्गतीरे व्रतजपनियमै रुद्रजाप्यं न जप्तं क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

Meditating on the name of Shiva in my mind, I never gave abundant wealth to the learned; I never offered oblations to you into the mouth of the fire with seed mantras counted in lakhs. I did no austerity on the Ganga's bank with vows, japa and discipline, nor chanted the Rudra. O Shiva, great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.

Verse 9

नग्नो निःसंगशुद्धस्त्रिगुणविरहितो ध्वस्तमोहान्धकारो नासाग्रन्यस्तदृष्टिर्विदितभवगुणो नैव दृष्टः कदाचित् ।
उन्मन्यावस्थया त्वां विगतगतिमतिः शंकरं न स्मरामि क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

Never have I been seen as a renunciant, unattached and pure, beyond the three gunas, the darkness of delusion destroyed, gaze fixed on the tip of the nose, knowing the nature of worldly life. In the state beyond the mind, with movement and thought stilled, I have not remembered you, Shankara. O Shiva, great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.

Verse 10

स्थित्वा स्थाने सरोजे प्रणवमयमरुत्कुम्भिते सूक्ष्ममार्गे शान्ते स्वान्ते प्रलीने प्रकटितविभवे दिव्यरूपे शिवाख्ये ।
लिङ्गाग्रे ब्रह्मवाक्ये सकलतनुगतं शंकरं न स्मरामि क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

Seated in the lotus place, with breath held as the sacred syllable Om in the subtle channel, with the inner mind calm and dissolved in that radiant, divine form called Shiva, I have not remembered Shankara who dwells in every body, at the summit of the linga, in the words of the Veda. O Shiva, great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.

Verse 11

हृद्यं वेदान्तवेद्यं हृदयसरसिजे दीप्तमुद्यत्प्रकाशं सत्यं शान्तस्वरूपं सकलमुनिमनःपद्मषण्डैकवेद्यम् ।
जाग्रत्स्वप्ने सुषुप्तौ त्रिगुणविरहितं शंकरं न स्मरामि क्षन्तव्यो मेऽपराधः शिव शिव शिव भोः श्रीमहादेव शंभो ॥

In waking, dream and deep sleep I have not remembered Shankara, the beloved one known through Vedanta, shining with rising light in the lotus of the heart, the truth whose nature is peace, known only in the lotus-minds of all sages, beyond the three gunas. O Shiva, great god Shambhu, forgive my fault.

Verse 12

चन्द्रोद्भासितशेखरे स्मरहरे गङ्गाधरे शंकरे सर्पैर्भूषितकण्ठकर्णविवरे नेत्रोत्थवैश्वानरे ।
दन्तित्वक्कृतसुन्दराम्बरधरे त्रैलोक्यसारे हरे मोक्षार्थं कुरु चित्तवृत्तिममलामन्यैस्तु किं कर्मभिः ॥

For the sake of liberation, make your thought pure and fix it on Hara, Shankara, whose crest shines with the moon, destroyer of Kama, bearer of the Ganga, whose neck and ears are adorned with serpents, from whose eye fire springs, who wears the fine garment of an elephant's hide, the essence of the three worlds. What use are other deeds?

Verse 13

किं यानेन धनेन वाजिकरिभिः प्राप्तेन राज्येन किं किं वा पुत्रकलत्रमित्रपशुभिर्देहेन गेहेन किम् ।
ज्ञात्वैतत्क्षणभङ्गुरं सपदि रे त्याज्यं मनो दूरतः स्वात्मार्थं गुरुवाक्यतो भज भज श्रीपार्वतीवल्लभम् ॥

What use are carriages, wealth, horses and elephants, or a kingdom won? What use are sons, wife, friends, cattle, this body or a house? Knowing all this breaks in a moment, O mind, give it up at once and from afar; for your own true good, as the teacher says, worship, worship the beloved of Parvati.

Verse 14

पौरोहित्यं रजनिचरितं ग्रामणीत्वं नियोगो माठापत्यं ह्यनृतवचनं साक्षिवादः परान्नम् ।
ब्रह्मद्वेषः खलजनरतिः प्राणिनां निर्दयत्वं मा भूदेवं मम पशुपते जन्मजन्मान्तरेषु ॥

Serving as a hired priest, wandering by night, headship of a village, servitude, heading a monastery, speaking untruth, bearing witness for others, living on another's food, hatred of the learned, delight in wicked company, cruelty to living beings: O Pashupati, may none of these be mine in birth after birth.

Verse 15

आयुर्नश्यति पश्यतां प्रतिदिनं याति क्षयं यौवनं प्रत्यायान्ति गताः पुनर्न दिवसाः कालो जगद्भक्षकः ।
लक्ष्मीस्तोयतरङ्गभङ्गचपला विद्युच्चलं जीवितं तस्मान्मां शरणागतं करुणया त्वं रक्ष रक्षाधुना ॥

Life wastes away before our eyes, youth wears down day by day, days gone never return, and time devours the world. Fortune is as fickle as a breaking wave and life as quick as lightning. So in your compassion protect me, who have come to you for refuge; protect me now.

Closing

इति श्रीमत्परमहंसपरिव्राजकाचार्यस्य श्रीगोविन्दभगवत्पूज्यपादशिष्यस्य श्रीमच्छंकरभगवतः कृतौ शिवापराधक्षमापणस्तोत्रं संपूर्णम् ॥

Thus ends the Shiva Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram, a work of the revered Shankara Bhagavatpada, the paramahamsa wandering teacher and disciple of the revered Govinda Bhagavatpada.

The syllable people get wrong

In the refrain, me'parādhaḥ is me plus aparādhaḥ joined, the mark ' standing for the swallowed a: say it as four syllables, me-pa-raa-dhah, not me-a-pa-raa-dhah. The word before it, kṣantavyo, begins with the cluster ksh, so it is kshan-tav-yo, never shan-tav-yo.

When the Shiva Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram is chanted

Weekday. Monday

Festival. Close of Shiva worship

Questions

It means 'my offence is to be forgiven: O Shiva, Shiva, Shiva, O great god Shambhu.' Kshantavyah is a verbal form meaning 'to be pardoned', aparadhah is a fault or offence, and bhoh is a calling-out, like 'O' or 'hear me'. The line closes verses 1 to 11, so each confession, whether of the womb, of youth or of a puja left undone, ends by handing the fault to Shiva rather than defending it.

Verses 1 to 4. Verse 1 is the womb, where past karma brings the speaker into impurity and the belly's fire scorches them. Verse 2 is infancy, soiled, crying, unable to govern the senses. Verse 3 is youth, when the five sense objects bite like serpents and pride fills the heart. Verse 4 is old age, a wasted body and a mind that wanders without meditating on Dhurjati, the matted-haired Shiva.

Both are pardon hymns ascribed to Shankara, but they confess different things. The Devi hymn speaks as a child who does not know the mantras or mudras and leans on a mother's forgiveness. The Shiva hymn is a review of a whole life, then of rites, giving, Rudra chanting and yogic practice never achieved, and it closes by renouncing possessions and asking Pashupati for refuge before time runs out.

The hymn circulates in more than one recension. The standard printed edition has fifteen verses ending with ayur nashyati. One widely circulated form adds three verses after it, among them vande devam umapatim and the karacharanakritam prayer for pardon of faults of hand, foot, speech and mind. Another printing gives fourteen, leaving out the paurohityam verse. The fifteen-verse form is printed here.

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Shiva Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram

What the Shiva Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram is

A boy renunciant speaking for every life

The mantra, in six scripts

Shiva Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram lyrics in full

The syllable people get wrong

When the Shiva Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram is chanted

Questions

Have your chart read before you decide

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