Devi Aparadha Kshamapana Stotram
verse 1
न मन्त्रं नो यन्त्रं तदपि च न जाने स्तुतिमहो
Na mantraṃ no yantraṃ tadapi ca na jāne stutimaho
न चाह्वानं ध्यानं तदपि च न जाने स्तुतिकथाः ।
Na cāhvānaṃ dhyānaṃ tadapi ca na jāne stutikathāḥ |
न जाने मुद्रास्ते तदपि च न जाने विलपनं
Na jāne mudrāste tadapi ca na jāne vilapanaṃ
परं जाने मातस्त्वदनुसरणं क्लेशहरणम्
Paraṃ jāne mātastvadanusaraṇaṃ kleśaharaṇam
Meaning
I know no mantra, no yantra, and alas, no hymn of praise either,
nor invocation, nor meditation, and I know no telling of Your praises,
I do not know Your mudras, nor do I know how to weep before You,
but this I do know, Mother: that following You takes affliction away.
verse 2
विधेरज्ञानेन द्रविणविरहेणालसतया
Vidherajñānena draviṇaviraheṇālasatayā
विधेयाशक्यत्वात्तव चरणयोर्या च्युतिरभूत् ।
Vidheyāśakyatvāttava caraṇayoryā cyutirabhūt |
तदेतत् क्षन्तव्यं जननि सकलोद्धारिणि शिवे
Tadetat kṣantavyaṃ janani sakaloddhāriṇi śive
कुपुत्रो जायेत क्वचिदपि कुमाता न भवति
Kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati
Meaning
Through not knowing the rite, through want of means, through sheer sloth,
and through being unable to do what ought to be done, whatever falling away from Your feet has happened,
all of that must be forgiven, Mother, You who lift up every one, O auspicious one,
a bad son may be born somewhere, but a bad mother never.
verse 3
पृथिव्यां पुत्रास्ते जननि बहवः सन्ति सरलाः
Pṛthivyāṃ putrāste janani bahavaḥ santi saralāḥ
परं तेषां मध्ये विरलतरलोऽहं तव सुतः ।
Paraṃ teṣāṃ madhye viralataralo'haṃ tava sutaḥ |
मदीयोऽयं त्यागः समुचितमिदं नो तव शिवे
Madīyo'yaṃ tyāgaḥ samucitamidaṃ no tava śive
कुपुत्रो जायेत क्वचिदपि कुमाता न भवति
Kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati
Meaning
On earth, Mother, You have many sons, and honest ones,
but among them all, I, Your son, am the most unsteady,
yet to cast me off would not be fitting for You, O auspicious one,
a bad son may be born somewhere, but a bad mother never.
verse 4
जगन्मातर्मातस्तव चरणसेवा न रचिता
Jaganmātarmātastava caraṇasevā na racitā
न वा दत्तं देवि द्रविणमपि भूयस्तव मया ।
Na vā dattaṃ devi draviṇamapi bhūyastava mayā |
तथापि त्वं स्नेहं मयि निरुपमं यत्प्रकुरुषे
Tathāpi tvaṃ snehaṃ mayi nirupamaṃ yatprakuruṣe
कुपुत्रो जायेत क्वचिदपि कुमाता न भवति
Kuputro jāyeta kvacidapi kumātā na bhavati
Meaning
Mother of the world, Mother, no service at Your feet have I offered,
nor have I given You much wealth either, Devi,
and yet the love beyond compare that You pour upon me:
a bad son may be born somewhere, but a bad mother never.
verse 5
परित्यक्ता देवा विविधविधसेवाकुलतया
Parityaktā devā vividhavidhasevākulatayā
मया पञ्चा शीतेरधिकमपनीते तु वयसि ।
Mayā pañcā śīteradhikamapanīte tu vayasi |
इदानीं चेन्मातस्तव यदि कृपा नापि भविता
Idānīṃ cenmātastava yadi kṛpā nāpi bhavitā
निरालम्बो लम्बोदरजननि कं यामि शरणम्
Nirālambo lambodarajanani kaṃ yāmi śaraṇam
Meaning
The gods I have left behind, worn out by service of so many kinds,
and now that more than eighty-five years of my life have been spent,
if even now, Mother, Your grace is not to come,
then with no support left, mother of Lambodara, to whom shall I go for refuge?
verse 6
श्वपाको जल्पाको भवति मधुपाकोपमगिरा
Śvapāko jalpāko bhavati madhupākopamagirā
निरातङ्को रङ्को विहरति चिरं कोटिकनकैः ।
Nirātaṅko raṅko viharati ciraṃ koṭikanakaiḥ |
तवापर्णे कर्णे विशति मनु वर्णे फलमिदं
Tavāparṇe karṇe viśati manu varṇe phalamidaṃ
जनः को जानीते जननि जननीयं जपविधौ
Janaḥ ko jānīte janani jananīyaṃ japavidhau
Meaning
One of the most despised station becomes eloquent, his speech like honey newly made,
the pauper, all fear gone, disports himself long with ten million gold pieces:
this is the fruit, Aparna, when the syllables of Your mantra enter the ear.
What person knows, Mother, what is brought to birth in the practice of your japa?
verse 7
चिताभस्मालेपो गरलमशनं दिक्पटधरो
Citābhasmālepo garalamaśanaṃ dikpaṭadharo
जटाधारी कण्ठे भुजगपतिहारी पशुपतिः ।
Jaṭādhārī kaṇṭhe bhujagapatihārī paśupatiḥ |
कपाली भूतेशो भजति जगदीशैकपदवीं
Kapālī bhūteśo bhajati jagadīśaikapadavīṃ
भवानि त्वत्पाणिग्रहणपरिपाटीफलमिदम्
Bhavāni tvatpāṇigrahaṇaparipāṭīphalamidam
Meaning
Smeared with ash from the cremation ground, poison for His food, the open directions for His clothing,
matted-haired, the lord of serpents worn as a necklace at His throat, Pashupati,
the skull-bearer, lord of the bhutas: yet He holds the one rank of Lord of the world.
Bhavani, this is the fruit of the good fortune of having taken Your hand.
verse 8
न मोक्षस्याकाङ्क्षा भवविभववाञ्छापि च न मे
Na mokṣasyākāṅkṣā bhavavibhavavāñchāpi ca na me
न विज्ञानापेक्षा शशिमुखि सुखेच्छापि न पुनः ।
Na vijñānāpekṣā śaśimukhi sukhecchāpi na punaḥ |
अतस्त्वां संयाचे जननि जननं यातु मम वै
Atastvāṃ saṃyāce janani jananaṃ yātu mama vai
मृडानी रुद्राणी शिव शिव भवानीति जपतः
Mṛḍānī rudrāṇī śiva śiva bhavānīti japataḥ
Meaning
I have no longing for liberation, nor any wish for worldly splendour,
no hope of knowledge either, moon-faced one, and no desire for pleasure again,
so this alone I beg of You, Mother: let my life go by
in repeating: Mridani, Rudrani, Shiva Shiva, Bhavani.
verse 9
नाराधितासि विधिना विविधोपचारैः
Nārādhitāsi vidhinā vividhopacāraiḥ
किं रुक्षचिन्तनपरैर्न कृतं वचोभिः ।
Kiṃ rukṣacintanaparairna kṛtaṃ vacobhiḥ |
श्यामे त्वमेव यदि किञ्चन मय्यनाथे
Śyāme tvameva yadi kiñcana mayyanāthe
धत्से कृपामुचितमम्ब परं तवैव
Dhatse kṛpāmucitamamba paraṃ tavaiva
Meaning
You have not been worshipped by me by the rule, with varied offerings,
and what have I not done with words given over to harsh thinking?
O dark one, if You Yourself still bestow even a little
grace upon me who am without protector, Mother, that befits none but You.
verse 10
आपत्सु मग्नः स्मरणं त्वदीयं
Āpatsu magnaḥ smaraṇaṃ tvadīyaṃ
करोमि दुर्गे करुणार्णवेशि ।
Karomi durge karuṇārṇaveśi |
नैतच्छठत्वं मम भावयेथाः
Naitacchaṭhatvaṃ mama bhāvayethāḥ
क्षुधातृषार्ता जननीं स्मरन्ति
Kṣudhātṛṣārtā jananīṃ smaranti
Meaning
Sunk in calamities, I make remembrance of You,
Durga, mistress of the ocean of compassion.
Do not take this for guile in me:
those tormented by hunger and thirst remember their mother.
verse 11
जगदम्ब विचित्र मत्र किं
Jagadamba vicitra matra kiṃ
परिपूर्णा करुणास्ति चेन्मयि ।
Paripūrṇā karuṇāsti cenmayi |
अपराधपरम्परापरं
Aparādhaparamparāparaṃ
न हि माता समुपेक्षते सुतम्
Na hi mātā samupekṣate sutam
Meaning
Mother of the world, what is strange in this,
if Your compassion towards me is complete?
Though he is given over to an unbroken succession of offences,
a mother does not disregard her son.
verse 12
मत्समः पातकी नास्ति पापघ्नी त्वत्समा न हि ।
Matsamaḥ pātakī nāsti pāpaghnī tvatsamā na hi |
एवं ज्ञात्वा महादेवि यथायोग्यं तथा कुरु
Evaṃ jñātvā mahādevi yathāyogyaṃ tathā kuru
Meaning
There is no sinner to equal me, and no destroyer of sin to equal You.
Knowing this, Mahadevi, do as You see fit.
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