Hymn to the Goddess Bhuvanesvari

Bhuvaneshvari Sthothram

1. Now I pray for the attainment of all blessings to Bhuvaneśvarī,
The cause and Mother of the world,
She whose form is that of the Śabdabrahman,
And whose substance is bliss.

2. Thou art the primordial One,
Mother of countless creatures,
Creatrix of the bodies of the lotus-born, Viṣṇu and Śiva.
Who creates, preserves, and destroys the three worlds.
O Mother! by hymning Thy praise I purify my speech.

3. O Daughter of the Mountain-King,
Thou art the cause of the world-destroying energy of Śiva,
Who manifests in earth, water, fire, ether, the sacrificer, the sun and moon,
And who destroyed the body of Manmatha.

4. O Mother! men only worship the triple-streamed Gangā
Because She shines in the matted hair of Śiva,
Which has been purified
By the dust of Thy lotus feet.

5. As the moon delights the white night lotus 8 and none other,
As the sun delights the day lotus 1 and none other,
As one particular thing only delights one other,
Thou, O Mother! delightest the whole universe by Thy glances.

6. Although Thou art the primordial cause of the world,
Yet art Thou ever youthful;
Although Thou art the Daughter of the Mountain-King,
Yet art Thou full of tenderness.
Although Thou art the Mother of the Vedas,
Yet they cannot describe Thee.
Although men must meditate upon Thee,
Yet cannot their mind comprehend Thee.

7. O Mother of the worlds!
Those who have reached that birth amongst men
Which if so difficult to attain,
And in that birth their full faculties,
Yet nathless do not worship Thee,
Such, though having ascended to the top of the stairs,
Nevertheless fall down again.

8.O Bhavānī!
Such as worship Thee with fragrant flowers and sandal paste,
Ground with cool water and powdered camphor,
Gain the sovereignty of the whole world.

9.O Mother! like the sleeping King of serpents,
Residing in the centre of the first lotus,
Thou didst create the universe.
Thou dost ascend like a streak of lightning,
And attainest the ethereal region.

10.Thy body, having been moistened with the nectar flowing from That,
Thou dost again reach Thy abode by that way.
O Mother and Spouse of Maheśvara!
They in whose heart Thou glitterest are never reborn.

11. O Gaurī! with all my heart
I contemplate Thy form,
Beauteous of face,
With its weight of hanging hair,
With full breasts and rounded slender waist,
Holding in three hands a rosary, a pitcher, and a book,
And with Thy fourth hand making the jnānamudrā.

12. O Bhuvaneśvarī
Yogis who have restrained their senses
And have conquered the six enemies,
In yoga with calm minds behold Thee
Holding noose and a goad,
And making the vara and abhaya mudrās.

13. Thou art Lakṣmī,
Rivalling the lustre of molten gold,
Holding two lotuses in two of Thy hands,
And with the other two making the gestures which grant boons and dispel fear.
Four elephants holding jars (in their trunks),
Sprinkle Thy head with nectar.

14. O Bhavānī! Thou art Durgā, seated on a lion,
Of the colour of durvā grass,
Holding in Thy eight hands various kinds of dreadful weapons,
And destroying the enemies of the immortals.

15. I remember again and again the dark primeval Devī swayed with passion,
Her beauteous face heated and moist with the sweat (of amorous play),
Bearing a necklace of Ganjā berries, 6 and clad with leaves.

16. O Spouse of Śrīkaṇṭha,
I place on my head Thy blue lotus feet,
Which are followed by the Vedas,
As swans are lured by the tinkling sound of an anklet.

17. O Bhavānī! I worship thy body from ankle to knee,
Upon which the bull-bannered one gazes with great love,
And who, as if not satiated by looking thereon with two eyes,
Has yet made for himself a third.

18. I call to mind thy two thighs,
Which humble the pride of the trunk of an elephant,
And surpass the plantain-tree in thickness and tenderness.
O Mother! youth 6 fashioned those thighs
That they may support as two pillars the weight of thy (great) hips,

19. Looking at thy waist, 1 it would seem as if it had been absorbed
And become the great bulk of thy breasts and hips.
By the youth 3 which clothes the body with hair,
May it ever be resplendent in my heart!

20. O Devī! may I never forget thy navel,
As it were a secure inviolate pool,
Given to Thee by Thy blooming youth,
Filled with the liquid beauty of the beloved of Smara,
He who was fearful of the fire from the eyes of Hara.

21. Thy two lotus-like breasts, smeared with sandal,
Which bear ashes telling of Śiva's embrace,
Call to mind the vermilion-painted temples moist with ichor
Of some (impassioned) elephant
Rising from his bath in waters,
Flicked with foam.

22. O Mother! Thy two arms, beauteous with the water
Dripping from Thy body bathed from neck to throat,
Seem to have been formed by the crocodile-bannered One,
As long nooses wherewith to hold the throat of his enemy (Śiva).
May I never forget them!

23.O Daughter of the Mountain-King,
Again and again have I looked upon Thy shapely neck,
Which has stolen the beauty of a well-formed shell,
And is adorning with pleasing necklace and many another ornament;
Yet am I never satiated.

24.O Mother! he has not been born in vain 1
Who oft calls to his mind
Thy face, with its large round eyes and noble brow,
Its radiant cheeks and smile,
The high, straight nose,
And lips red as the bimba fruit.

25. Whoever, O Devī! contemplates upon Thy wealth of hair,
Lit by the crescent moon,
Resembling a swarm of bees hovering over fragrant flowers,
Is freed of the ancient fetters which bind him to the world.

26. The mortal who in this world
Devoutly from his heart reads this hymn,
Sweet to the ears of the wise,
Attains for ever all wealth in the form of that Lakṣmī
Who attends the crowned kings who are prostrate at Her feet.