A Prayer to Bhavani
This blog
presents an English translation and a brief appreciation of Bhavani Ashtakam by
Adi Shankaracharya.
Bhavani Ashtakam by Adi
Shankaracharya
A Prayer
to Bhavani in eight verses
(Translation
by Prasanna Dash)
None can save from hazards -
Father or mother,
Friend or provider,
Son or daughter or servant,
Husband or wife,
Nor can learning or vocation provide relief;
You, and only You are my sole refuge,
O Bhavani. (1)
Tossing in the endless ocean of life,
Terribly frightened am I;
Lustful, greedy, and arrogant,
Shackled forever,
To this unreal, meaningless world;
You, and only You are my sole refuge,
O Bhavani. (2)
I know NOT
The rites and rituals
Of pious offering, meditation,
Tantra, hymns, mantras,
Worship or nyasa* yoga;
You, and only You are my sole refuge,
O Bhavani. (3)
I know NOT
How to seek liberation
By earning punya,
Undertaking pilgrimage,
Through steadfast focus,
Devotion, or penance;
You, and only You are my sole refuge,
O Bhavani. (4)
A sinner am I,
Keeping unrighteous company,
Mind vitiated with evil thoughts,
A crooked servant to my master,
A renegade for my clan,
I have strayed from the righteous path,
My vision polluted,
My speech corrupt and vile;
You, and only You are my sole refuge,
O Bhavani. (5)
I know NOT,
I seek NOT,
Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh,
Indra, Surya, Chandra, or any other deity,
I always seek your shelter and protection;
You, and only You are my sole refuge,
O Bhavani. (6)
Whenever mired in -
Strife, sadness, or distress,
In alien land, in water, fire, or on a mountain,
In a dangerous forest, or surrounded by enemies,
In all other crises
I always call for your protection;
You, and only You are my sole refuge,
O Bhavani. (7)
An orphan, destitute,
Ravaged by old age, afflictions,
Feeble, helpless, dumb, and
Frozen with fear,
I walk into impenetrable maze of miseries,
Always battered and crushed;
You, and only You are my sole refuge,
O Bhavani. (8)
***
Note: Sanskrit text of the stotra in Devnagari
script.[i]
*Nyasa –
assignment of parts of the body by the worshipper to various deities, and
marking that part with sandalwood paste along with the appropriate gestures.
Brief Appreciation of Bhavani Ashtakam
Adi Shankara’s Stotras
Stotra is a
hymn of praise, a homage to the deity being worshipped. A lyrical, melodious composition
with thoughtful choice of words, pleasing alliteration, often with a refrain, and
meant to be sung to the accompaniment of music. It can be sung solo or in a
chorus in a group prayer.
Adi
Shankaracharya’s stotras are beautiful hymns, each one a masterful creation - intensely
devotional and excellent poetry, too. That is why these are still very popular long
after their composition.
Of Shankara’s
stotras for Devi, Soundarya Lahari with a hundred verses is the longest;
but his panchakams (five verses), ashtakams (eight verses), and other
compositions for Durga, Lalita, Annapurna Bhavani, and Meenakshi are more
popular.
Bhavani
Ashtakam is a prayer to Goddess Bhavani in eight verses. You may like to listen
to an excellent rendition of the stotra by the talented Madhvi Madhukar Jha, for
which the link is given in the endnotes.[ii]
Bhavani
Adya Shakti
has several aspects, attributes, forms, and iconography, and has several sahasranama
stotras (Devi, Durga, Bhavani, Annapurna, Lalita, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kali, etc).
Over the centuries, the Supreme Goddess has been visualised in myriad forms which
is evident from the diverse iconography. How many arms does the Goddess have -
two, four, six, eight, ten, sixteen, eighteen, or a thousand? Non-Hindus are
often confused and perplexed, but the devotees aren’t.
Goddess
Bhavani has four arms in Bhavani Sahasranama stotra, but eight arms in Tuljapur
temple in Maharashtra and the Tulja Bhavani temple in Chittorgarh. A specific
form of Devi has a special reason for her appearance, and the number of arms
and the ayudhas are assigned as per the special need.
Devi
Mahatmya, a part of Markandeya Purana, is the cardinal treatise for the Shaktas
who hold that Devi is the Supreme Divinity - the Creator, Preserver, and
Destroyer of the universe. She is the Divine Mother, but when required assumes the
fearsome form of Mahakali, Durga, Chandika, Chamunda, etc. A devotee worships a
specific form of Devi as per her need and preference.
Bhavani,
like Kali and Chandika, is one of the fearsome forms of Devi. She is an ugra
(fierce) murti. However, Adi Shankara’s ashtakam makes no mention of her
terrible mien. She is addressed as Mother, protector, and a haven of refuge by
the devotee. This stotra is a prayer, a petition, a supplication by a deeply
distressed devotee to Mother, Saviour, and Protector.
The word Bhavani
is derived from bhava (being, existence) which is also a name of Siva, the
Supreme Being. Bhavani is the wife of Sadasiva; ‘a goddess identified in later
times with Parvati, who is the wife of Siva in her pacific and amiable form.’[iii]
Structure of the Stotra
Being an
ashtakam, it has eight verses. Each verse has four padas of which the first
three are negations, and the final line is an assertion. The final pada is the
refrain for all the eight verses; thus, there are 3*8 negating padas, and 1*8
asserting padas. However, the refrain repeats Tvam (YOU) thrice which makes 3*8
invocations of the Supreme Goddess to comprehensively extinguish and annihilate
the negative energy of the negating padas.
Further, in
a group aarati, the lead singer would sing the first three lines of each verse since
not all devotees may readily recall the lyrics, and the rest of the
congregation would join in with the refrain – easy, memorable, and hence
repeated zestfully and devotionally thrice.
Three
repetitions are not incidental or ad hoc; a solemn truth is often repeated
thrice (ex.- AUM Shantih, Shantih, Shantih). Vedas are often called Tri-Vidya,
and divine grace relieves devotees of tri-tapa – the three miseries or
afflictions of life. Thus, the three negating padas of each verse are cancelled
out by the refrain repeated thrice.
Bhavani, the sole saviour, extinguishes all
miseries of the devotee at each critical moment of life.
An Unusual Stotra
Bhavani
Ashtakam is an unusual stotra, significantly different from Adi Shankara’s
other stotras like Shiva Panchakshara Stotram, Shiva Ashtakam, Lalita
Panchakam, Meenakshi Pancharatnam, each of which is a traditional hymn singing
the praise of the concerned deity. But in this stotra, the poet does not dwell
upon her form, ornaments, weapons, attributes, or her victory over one or more asuras.
To this extent, it is less about Bhavani, the Goddess, and more about the
devotee and the myriad miseries and challenges of life. There is little eulogy
of Bhavani – about her form, attributes, and special powers.
Here, the introspective
devotee performs a self-appraisal and finds himself wanting. Adi Shankara’s
Nirvana shatakam is also introspective, but it celebrates brahmanubhava –
the realisation by an evolved soul of the truth propounded by the mahavakya
– aham brahmasmi. Chidananda roopah Shivoham Shivoham, the
realised soul declares joyfully.
In Bhavani Ashtakam,
the devotee is an ordinary person – inadequate, imperfect, a sinner. But he is
confident that Bhavani will provide shelter and save him. That is at best an
indirect praise for the Goddess. Other
divinities may possibly bless the pious and the righteous devotees, but only Bhavani
saves everyone including the least eligible. She is an extraordinarily generous
divinity, as indulgent and protective as a mother.
The devotee readily
admits of ignorance of the rituals of worship or the modalities prescribed by
the shastras for liberation, and hopes to be blessed by Bhavani through the act
of total surrender and simple prayer.
Bhakti Yoga: Devotional Surrender
How to obtain
divine grace? The Vedas recommended
performance of yagyas and sacrificial offerings to the deities. Buddha rejected
these practices, and the mediation of priests and brahmins. Alvars, the Tamil
Shaivite saint-poets and Nayanmars, the Tamil Vaishnava saint-poets asserted
that a devotee can reach and experience the Supreme Divine through simple love
and total surrender. In Gita, Krishna also proclaimed the efficacy of surrender:
सर्वधर्मान्परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज |
अहं त्वां सर्वपापेभ्यो मोक्षयिष्यामि मा शुच: || 66||[iv]
Bhavani
Ashtakam is in the tradition of the sahaj bhakti of the Alvars and the Nayanmars,
and a precursor of the Bhakti movement that would spread over the next several
centuries from the South to east to north and west.
Pure
devotion and simple prayer suffice to reach and attain the Supreme One. No
mediation of priests is needed.
***
Resources:
[i]
भवान्यष्टकम्
न तातो न माता न बन्धुर्न दाता
न पुत्रो न पुत्री न भृत्यो न भर्ता ।
न जाया न विद्या न वृत्तिर्ममैव
गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि ॥ १॥
भवाब्धावपारे महादुःखभीरु
प्रपात प्रकामी प्रलोभी प्रमत्तः ।
कुसंसारपाशप्रबद्धः सदाहं
गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि ॥ २॥
न जानामि दानं न च ध्यानयोगं
न जानामि तन्त्रं न च स्तोत्रमन्त्रम् ।स्तोत्रमन्त्रम्
न जानामि पूजां न च न्यासयोगं
गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि ॥ ३॥
न जानामि पुण्यं न जानामि तीर्थं
न जानामि मुक्तिं लयं वा कदाचित् ।कदाचित्
न जानामि भक्तिं व्रतं वापि मातर्-मातर्
गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि ॥ ४॥
कुकर्मी कुसङ्गी कुबुद्धिः कुदासः
कुलाचारहीनः कदाचारलीनः ।
कुदृष्टिः कुवाक्यप्रबन्धः सदाहं
गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि ॥ ५॥
प्रजेशं रमेशं महेशं सुरेशं
दिनेशं निशीथेश्वरं वा कदाचित् ।कदाचित्
न जानामि चान्यत् सदाहं चान्यत् सदाहंशरण्ये
गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि ॥ ६॥
विवादे विषादे प्रमादे प्रवासे
जले चानले पर्वते शत्रुमध्ये ।
अरण्ये शरण्ये सदा मां प्रपाहि
गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि ॥ ७॥
अनाथो दरिद्रो जरारोगयुक्तो
महाक्षीणदीनः सदा जाड्यवक्त्रः ।
विपत्तौ प्रविष्टः प्रनष्टः सदाहं
गतिस्त्वं गतिस्त्वं त्वमेका भवानि ॥ ८॥
॥ इति श्रीमदादिशङ्कराचार्यविरचितं भवान्यष्टकं सम्पूर्णम्
॥
[iii] A Sanskrit English Dictionary – M. Monier-Williams
